Sulu is also not left-handed. Are there any true left-handed fencers out there? I'll have to find out. But first, the review!
So I'm sure you all know already that this was easily the best of the episodes I've seen so far. The Scottish guy was back! I like Scotty. We got to see not only the ship's engineer, but also his engine room, which looks pretty good through the lens of the rest of the ship's design, which... well, I shouldn't grumble about that too much. Folks, I had fun.
We've got three new crew members, who I think will round out the cast. There's the nurse, whose name I didn't catch; this will mean more McCoy time, I'm sure, and McCoy is the man. We've got Riley or Reilly (I think Riley) who is the ship's navigator, I believe? And then of course Mr. Scott who is just delightful. Hope we get more of him.
It hurts to laugh sometimes, and Captain Riley's Ice Cream and Acappela Hour was just like torture of the best kind. "No dance tonight" in that mopey tone like he didn't just endanger everyone's lives. I loved it. Sulu makes a case for stealing the show as a crazy swashbuckler chasing people through the halls, but for sheer comedy it's got to be I'LL TAKE YOU HOME AGAIN WITH MEEEE and ICE CREAM FOR EVERYBODY.
Which brings me to the most excellent part of the episode. Exploring the two lead characters by way of the weird drunkenness infection. Mr. Spock's breakdown was actually sort of hard to watch because I just didn't expect it out of him - alien and all that. I don't understand why he's ashamed of being the Captain's friend, but I expect I'll get more of that as the series goes on? Hopefully? Captain Kirk, meanwhile, is just inches away from performing Romeo and Juliet with THE SHIP, which was awesome.
I'm confused by the "threat" in this episode - not the wacky infection, but the idea that they're going to crash into the planet or whatever it was. I thought something in orbit would just stay orbiting, but they're making it out like if the engines aren't on full blast at all times they'll drop like a rock. I could be wrong, though, or it could have something to do with the breakup of the planet. I can shrug at that easy enough. But time traveling??? Did I hear it wrong or did they actually travel backward in time because if so that's really stupid and my really stupid meter's kind of running low at the moment.
Anyway, best episode so far. Looking forward to more like this. :D
Nurse's name is Chapel. She was the mistress, and eventually the wife, of Gene Roddenberry, and also does the voice of the ship's computer in all Star Trek incarnations (except the most recent movie due to her passing.)
ReplyDeleteRiley... he just sort of bounces around doing whatever. This is a fun episode, and possibly Sulu's most entertaining part.
Sulu (Mr. OhhhMyyyyyy George Takei) bouncing shirtless onto the bridge and grabbing Uhuru is one of my favorite "Getting Crap Past the Censors" moment ever (my all-time favorite won't come until "Wink of an Eye," a season 3 episode). Sulu promises to defend the "Fair maiden" and she replies "Sorry, neither."
ReplyDeleteCracks. Me. Up.
A proper orbit is actually hard to get. Once you are in it, it's easy to maintain, but it's like being on a tightrope. Not having engines is like not being able to balance, which results in either eventual orbital decay, or eventual escape velocity. (The moon, for instance, gets a tiny bit further away from earth every orbit, even though it's thought to be a stable orbit).
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting! So satellites, are they always sort of making little corrections, then, or are they small enough compared to Enterprise that they wouldn't have so bad of an issue?
Deletethink of orbit as "controlled falling". All satellites' orbits eventually decay and they break up and fall out as space junk. May take decades but it does ultimately happen.
DeleteIn this case the planet was about to break up, I believe, requiring constant adjustments to maintain a stable orbit.
ReplyDelete(Also, "I'll take you home again, Kathleen" ;) )