Starting to trek through Star Trek
Jun. 26th, 2014 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tardis_stowawayI wandered over to Mark Watches the other day and was super excited to see that he's starting a watch through of Star Trek. All of it. I think I'll follow along at least for a while. To that end, I watched three episodes of Trek yesterday (The Man Trap, Charlie X, and Where No Man Has Gone Before) to catch up with MW. Please note for anyone following the link that the site's premise is that Mark watches things completely unspoiled (he somehow grew up in a weird vacuum where he avoided learning lots of things most of is consider part of the cultural backdrop), so if you do go there don't comment until you've read the spoiler policies.
I adored Star Trek in my elementary and middle school years. In fourth grade I convinced my truly wonderful mother to sew me a TNG uniform for Halloween (gold, if you were curious). I read piles of tie-in novelizations of every era and everything Trek-related my local library had, including the autobiographies of much of the original series cast. (Nichelle Nichols was my favorite.) I was old enough to see a few of the later seasons of TNG as they aired, then Voyager. (The original series cast I knew primarily through the movies, though I watched episodes when I could. I didn't really get into DS9, though I'm excited to try it again as an adult.) However, this was the era of VHS tapes, not DVDs or streaming. I couldn't exactly buy whole seasons on video with my allowance, so I only saw old episodes if they were available for rent at my local Blockbuster or happened to be rerun on TV. By the time access became easier with new technology, I had long since moved on in my fandom. I've stuck my toes into reboot fandom a little, but that hasn't led to returning to the original canon until now. So while I can't remember a time when I didn't know these characters, there are still LOTS of episodes I've never seen. I think this will be an excellent excuse to remedy that lack.
Here are some very brief thoughts on the first three episode. Spoilers abound, for anyone worried about being spoiled on a nearly 50 year-old show.
-The Man Trap: Pretty effectively creepy. I like that we are asked to pity the creature as well as fear it. Bones says "he's dead, Jim." Yeoman Rand's Future Hair is one of the marvels of the galaxy.
The credits voiceover still gives me chills (though IMHO the TNG version is vastly superior both for the wording and Patrick Stewart's delivery.)
-Charlie X: It seems that back in 1966 Star Trek was calling out guys on the fact that being socially awkward doesn't excuse acting entitled to women's bodies or failing to respect boundaries. I am torn between offering huge kudos to the show and being deeply pissed off that this still feels so relevant. I like the ambiguity of the ending. I want to believe that a seventeen year old kid who has been raised apart from other humans deserves a chance and that he might learn better respect for others in time, and I think the Enterprise crew agrees. However, he has not responded well at all to their initial efforts to teach him some consideration, and his powers are just so dangerous that they can't risk keeping him around to try to reform him. They let the incorporeal aliens take him to a lonely fate, because sometimes there are people you might want to help but can't without hurting yourself.
Maybe if they'd found someone more effective than Kirk at delivering the sex and consent talk things would have turned out differently. Paging Captain Jack Harkness!
Also, I love the break time in the rec room. Uhura and Rand are clearly friends, Spock plays an instrument, and Uhura flirts with him (possibly making up her songs on the fly?). Meanwhile, Kirk's red workout tights with underwear band showing at the back are HILARIOUS.
-Where No Man Has Gone Before: Basically the same "human attains superhuman mental powers and loses all sense of compassion for others" plot as the previous episode, only less well executed IMHO. I did think the portrayal of Gary Mitchell as a longtime friend of Kirk's was pretty well done. Is it just me or did the technobabble make less sense than usual? Like, they flew out of the galaxy? I thought in Trek that was considered too much distance. Even Voyager is still set inside the Milky Way.
I'm so glad those terrible beige mock turtlenecks from the uniforms in this episode didn't stick around. Kirk's shirt got ripped during his fight, so at least we're on somewhat familiar ground. I've just learned that the creepy eye effects were apparently made from TINFOIL sandwiched between two contacts. *shudders*
I adored Star Trek in my elementary and middle school years. In fourth grade I convinced my truly wonderful mother to sew me a TNG uniform for Halloween (gold, if you were curious). I read piles of tie-in novelizations of every era and everything Trek-related my local library had, including the autobiographies of much of the original series cast. (Nichelle Nichols was my favorite.) I was old enough to see a few of the later seasons of TNG as they aired, then Voyager. (The original series cast I knew primarily through the movies, though I watched episodes when I could. I didn't really get into DS9, though I'm excited to try it again as an adult.) However, this was the era of VHS tapes, not DVDs or streaming. I couldn't exactly buy whole seasons on video with my allowance, so I only saw old episodes if they were available for rent at my local Blockbuster or happened to be rerun on TV. By the time access became easier with new technology, I had long since moved on in my fandom. I've stuck my toes into reboot fandom a little, but that hasn't led to returning to the original canon until now. So while I can't remember a time when I didn't know these characters, there are still LOTS of episodes I've never seen. I think this will be an excellent excuse to remedy that lack.
Here are some very brief thoughts on the first three episode. Spoilers abound, for anyone worried about being spoiled on a nearly 50 year-old show.
-The Man Trap: Pretty effectively creepy. I like that we are asked to pity the creature as well as fear it. Bones says "he's dead, Jim." Yeoman Rand's Future Hair is one of the marvels of the galaxy.
The credits voiceover still gives me chills (though IMHO the TNG version is vastly superior both for the wording and Patrick Stewart's delivery.)
-Charlie X: It seems that back in 1966 Star Trek was calling out guys on the fact that being socially awkward doesn't excuse acting entitled to women's bodies or failing to respect boundaries. I am torn between offering huge kudos to the show and being deeply pissed off that this still feels so relevant. I like the ambiguity of the ending. I want to believe that a seventeen year old kid who has been raised apart from other humans deserves a chance and that he might learn better respect for others in time, and I think the Enterprise crew agrees. However, he has not responded well at all to their initial efforts to teach him some consideration, and his powers are just so dangerous that they can't risk keeping him around to try to reform him. They let the incorporeal aliens take him to a lonely fate, because sometimes there are people you might want to help but can't without hurting yourself.
Maybe if they'd found someone more effective than Kirk at delivering the sex and consent talk things would have turned out differently. Paging Captain Jack Harkness!
Also, I love the break time in the rec room. Uhura and Rand are clearly friends, Spock plays an instrument, and Uhura flirts with him (possibly making up her songs on the fly?). Meanwhile, Kirk's red workout tights with underwear band showing at the back are HILARIOUS.
-Where No Man Has Gone Before: Basically the same "human attains superhuman mental powers and loses all sense of compassion for others" plot as the previous episode, only less well executed IMHO. I did think the portrayal of Gary Mitchell as a longtime friend of Kirk's was pretty well done. Is it just me or did the technobabble make less sense than usual? Like, they flew out of the galaxy? I thought in Trek that was considered too much distance. Even Voyager is still set inside the Milky Way.
I'm so glad those terrible beige mock turtlenecks from the uniforms in this episode didn't stick around. Kirk's shirt got ripped during his fight, so at least we're on somewhat familiar ground. I've just learned that the creepy eye effects were apparently made from TINFOIL sandwiched between two contacts. *shudders*
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(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-27 12:57 am (UTC)Oh jeez, that's a little terrifying. The horrible special effects on TOS are so endearing though, I love the alien that's basically a little dog in a fur suit with a unicorn horn. :P
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Date: 2014-06-27 06:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-27 01:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-27 06:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-27 03:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-27 06:17 am (UTC)