The Galileo Seven

Hey, Joe. Hi. So, we're back in Star Trek, the original series, and it's series one, and I'm going to say episode 16, although maybe it's 13. One more, 17. 17. It depends on how we counted, I think. But we haven't done much series one before. And so this is interesting. This is kind of from the 1st run of Star Trek, and I imagine it's from a time where they don't know what their reception is yet. And so this is very definitely the Spock episode that they've decided to do. You know, I think that in that respect it succeeds quite well and it does such a good job that it becomes, I think, a template for some later episodes in the franchise, but in other respects. It's kind of a bit of a failure. Some later episodes. The shuttle crash becomes a Star Trek cliche, doesn't it? There's a bit of a joke on. Well, no, it's not a joke. That's the problem on Voyager, that a shuttle crashes sort of twice a year. They lose a shuttle, but they keep going, we've got a full complement of shuttles. You know? The sort of thing lower decks should be taking their Mickey out. You know, I figured after creating a ton of moral complexity that didn't exist in the equinox that we would skip back to TOS and have a rip roaring adventure because the last one we did was assignment Earth, where we effectively just laugh for 50 minutes solid. Yeah, had a great time. This was a little less adventurous and colourful and exciting than I like my TOS. Like, I'm not going to say I wasn't bored throughout this. And the Scott McNulty, every TOS episode is 10 minutes long. Two minutes too long. I mean, I said to you, I think it's about 25 minutes too long. This would make a good animated series episode, I think. Just enough to get him down on the planet, have him sort of go into his logical dilemma, find a way out of it and we're back on the ship again. Cut out all those interminable scenes on the Enterprise where they're like, wow, have we found him yet? No, okay. So I actually don't mind some of that stuff, because that's the sort of procedural stuff, and this is the 1st time we get to see them searching a planet for people or whatever, or maybe it's not. We certainly see it later. But this episode reminded me more than anything else of Redemption 2. And there's a B plot in redemption too, where remember all the senior officers on the enterprise are assigned to other ships and they're, I don't know, they're doing something with the Romulans or something and and data gets assigned to the Sutherland and there's a guy there called Lieutenant Hobson who questions his ability to command because he's a robot who doesn't experience human emotions. And I think that that is very likely taken from this where you've got Boma, um, the handsome, uh, is he a lieutenant? I don't know, but the handsome Starfleet officer who is on the Galileo constantly questioning, and in fact, the other characters as well, questioning Spock's fitness to command because he's not a proper person who experiences human emotions. That's, uh, that's Beaumont without the apostrophe for anyone who's paying attention. Well, that stuff was actually pretty good. And it's Led Nemoy. So he make this is his 1st big shining a light on Spock episode. He's quoted as saying, actually, that he didn't think he did a great job in this on memory alpha. And that because Shatner wasn't there, he felt a little nervous sort of taking this much of the limelight. So Shatner's gotten them all so scared at this point, you know. How dare you take the focus? But I do think we sort of do the same set piece over and over again, you know, the monster attacks. Spock for acts in a certain way that ain't working out. They all condemn him because he's not feeling the emotions. And we do that about 3 times before he finally figures away off the planet. Yeah. It's good. I see what they're doing. And what you said there about when this came out. I think 2 episodes are transmitted at this point. So from creating the episodes to them going out, it was about 15 episodes apart. Right. They knew Spot was instantly popular and this was commissioned quickly because they wanted to give him the limelight because there's been such a great reaction to him in those first too. And, you know, as we go along, they will keep giving Spock lots of work because he is the most interesting character on this show. I think. One thing I did like about this was it gives a chance to have lots of scenes between Spock and McCoy, where McCoy wasn't coming across as an incredible racist for once, but actually, it was sort of gentle criticism rather than some of the pointy ear bollocks that we get usually. He seems to be on Spock's side a bit. Yeah. Yeah. it's nice What was a shame was that all those other subsidiary characters on the shuttle apart from Beaumar. But Ma, whatever it is. They didn't really get much focus at all. I said, you, what was the woman there for? And you were like, well, she's a section, she's taking notes. they literally say that. She's there to record everything. She's literally doing stenography. Fucking hell on her. on the ship is just there at her console every now and again saying something technical. Yeah. No, she's doing the phones and then this lady is, is, uh, her name's Phyllis Douglas as Yeoman Mears and she's hit me here to take notes about the, uh, away mission. But, as you said, this is a template for a lot of episodes to come that's for a reason because it works. Yeah. I know if it works spectacularly here, but the potential is there. And, you know, you get episodes like DS9's waltz, when Cisco and you can't crash the shuttlecraft on the planet and you can't see all those crazy visions and things, like you get some great stuff out of this premise. So, yeah, I'm pleased I did it. Yeah, well, I think the most recent season of Discovery had an episode called All is Possible, which was Tilly's last regular episode, and she and a deer crash on a moon with a group of cadets you know, in a very similar sort of circumstance, there's a monster outside as well, and they have to kind of work out how to deal with a monster when they're cadets that have all kinds of possible, you know, into species conflicts and historical beefs and stuff. And it sounds properly an interesting episode. What about battle lines? Do you remember battle lines when they take the kai through the wormhole and the shuttlecraft crashes on that planet where nobody can die and she's stuck in that perpetual cycle of violence? That's another good. So they're all, and all those episodes are doing more interesting things than a man in a monkey suit, a 2nd than with a spear. It's so bad We'll get there, but that monster is so bad. And I had kind of forgotten how incredibly low effort it is. It's really bad. I can't wait to make fun of it. One thing you said in the thread. I will go in in a sec. But one thing that really stood out to me when we were talking about this beforehand was when you said how TOS veers between being surprisingly very good television. That's really enjoyable and just being the deer of what they were bringing out in the 60s. And I think this episode's somewhere in the middle. It's got a bit of both. It's got some great character work. And I think some of the production value is, oh, okay, you know you're going to say the production value is terrible. I know you are. Okay. Some of the acting is very good. Yeah, but it is a bit boring. It is a bit long and the monster is shockingly shit. I think there's one bit, you know, where the monsters attacking a man and they haven't even bothered to put the head on him. I don't think there's a head. I don't even know what it is Like, I think it's just like a bean guide. You know, like a huge fur coat. Yeah, yeah. I think it's men in fur coats. Giant 12 foot man in fur coats inhabit this planet, apparently. Pretty crap. So I won't say this is a sort of topple TOS because I always think this is the most fun shows to talk about on Star Trek project, but it is probably the most boring one we've done of the lot so far. Yeah, I mean, I don't think Spock's brain is as much fun as everyone else thinks it is. You're mad. I was pretty bored by that Brain, brain. What a brain. I know, I know. All right, what do you think? Should we go in? I want to watch Spock's brain. Yeah, Discovery. All right. I'll count us in. Five, four, three, two, one. And we're off. You said to me that you originally watched this with the special effects of the time, and I watched this with the new effects. So perhaps you can give me a little insight as to how this nebula looked originally. Yeah, it just looked like cigarette smoke. Essentially someone has taken a photo of some cigarette smoke and put a bit of a green tint on it. We're still preserving the green, but it just doesn't look like anything. I actually did see this version that you're watching with the new special effects, but then I went back and looked at what the original special effects look like. You know, if you go to memory alpha, they do a wonderful contrail. So all special effects in pictures, which is, you know, they're doing their duty for us. Yeah. So this guy, so this is what is he? His name is something. Commander, Commissioner Ferris, and he is really not very good, and the relationship here is in no way believable. Oh, isn't it? It's really boring. This is a stock Star Trek character, this. The person that comes on the ship and is going, I'm not having any delays, you know, we've got to get to where we're going. And then obviously the plot takes us off and there are plenty of delays. Yeah, I didn't get anything from him at all. not from the performance. And usually, you know, we had the intransient person in trouble with triples. Do you remember? And he was great fun. Yeah, well, because Shatner is making... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's great. Yes. Look at these special effects in the shuttle bay. Yeah, they look pretty good. They're tasty. Yeah. I like the fact that they've made the exterior shuttlecraft. say it as well on the planet. Yeah, well, I think that's a big thing. And you might remember that the reason that we have transporters is that we didn't think we'd be able to afford this. And it turns out that all of the footage, and I only know this from memory alpha, so I couldn't vouch for this personally. But all of the footage of the shuttlecraft going from place to place comes from this episode and is then just reused later episodes whenever they need a shuttlecraft. But they build a full-size shuttlecraft. A bit like the Enterprise shots from encounter a foul point. make it through all 7 seasons of Star Trek, the Nation, right? Oh, look at this shot of how they're all lined up in the shuttle. 3 this side, 3 this side, camera in the middle. Yeah. And the and the thing is that they can't afford to realise the windows, so we can't see space out the front window. And so that's why the camera's there. And it actually makes the scene look surprisingly boring. I see that Yeoman Mears has still been... got her filter. you notice that? Yeah, yeah. Second week up to her. There's like a mist. There's some Vaseline on the field, on the lens. Do you know how short they are of sort of looking at them all head on? It reminded me very much of the Enterprise D bridge set, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So designers were paying attention. We're meeting Don Marshall as Boehmer and he is very pretty. And he does spoiler alert survive the entire episode. I was absolutely convinced as an attractive black man in 60s television that he was going to die. So that was my one. I love that, the fact that he's not. Yeah, yeah. he was talking back to the white people in the show. It was kind of hard to imagine that he wasn't going to be punished for it. But it turns out in a later book, in a later book, uh, we learned that uh, Mr. Scott does report him for insubordination and he is stripped of his uh, commission. Well, of course, you know. The 2nd he started arguing against Spock. I'm like, well, the episode's never, ever going to be against Spock, you know, he's our popular character. What's a how occurring here? By the way, did you hear what the name of the colony was? They are just taking the... No, it's called Mockus 3, the planet. Mock, yeah. Taking a piss. They're not even trying. Look, this weird shot too. This is such a weird shot. It's just to get a shell in, isn't it? We just sort of wanted to get our legs in the shot, you know? Yeah, why is he blowing the frame? Yeah, that's it. I still maintain, though, that there is more ambition and imagination in the camera work of original Star Trek than there was in 90s Trek. Yeah. Yeah, well, 90s, you know, has a house style, and I remember being impressed by it at the time. It looked modern to me, but like I probably wasn't watching any other 90s television. So I wouldn't have really. The thing is, when we're watching 90s trek, you and I point out when there is a shot that is different from the norm, which goes to show just how dull it normally is. Yeah that's right. Well, I was very pleased about in this episode was that they bring in the studio planetary set. which we haven't seen in Untitled Star Trek Project for at least 20 episodes. I'm starting to worry if it was all a myth because we've been on out of location about 3 times in the last 5 episodes. When I can't think of Spectre of the Gun, maybe. It was a long time ago. Yeah, and that was that... Yeah, yeah, yeah, a mock time, that would be it. I think that's definitely it. Um, Yes. So. Like, I kind of, I mean, I kind of like some of these procedural stuff on the ship. I think it's the least interesting thing. So, you know, we have an A plot and a B plot. The A plot is the Galileo 7 stranded on the um, planet having to survive and perhaps having to make their, oh, look, she's brought the coffee, brilliant drinks for everybody. Oh, for the man. so awful. But anyway. It's so embarrassing, isn't it? That they can't picture, like people can be on spaceships and stuff, but we can't imagine anything for the women to do other than bring drinks, answer the phones or taste stenography. That's right. Oh, look at Nichelle though. She's doing a job. She's bringing them the readings and stuff. The day we get the very last episode, you know, the body swap episode with the crazy woman and I really want to see how they depict. I woman that wants to be in command in the original series. She says that women can't be Starfleet Starship captains in that episode. So this is great, isn't it? Like that, that, that's a full size shuttle that they've built and that they've put on the, on the stupid, um, set and that's where all the money's gone because the planet looks lamentably bad. It is, and there's no sort of dry ice. It's too bright. Everything's too bright. So, and the sky has no depth to it at all, you know? they can, they can do these perspective sets, but there's no effort to do that here at all. So it just, it feels like they're in quite a small room on location. They can't do convincing blood on Boehmer's face. Yeah, it's sort of purple, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. He must be Klingon. What are they trying to suggest? I'm not going there. I'm not sure why Scotty's in this area. He don't do an awful lot. No, he's here to lag on Boma later on when we go back. In fact, it's kind of funny because you have the two. I think you have the 2 other main leads on the show supporting Spock here. And I guess that's why Nichelle gets to do a little bit more on the bridge because there's really no one else there. Is that there's Sulu at this point, but that's all. Sulu barely gets aligned, does he? in this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the focus is on Nemo, and I can see why, because I can't take my eyes off him whenever he's on the screen. And there's certain sequences in the middle of this episode where he's losing his shit. He's getting a bit angry where I'm really south and started paying attention. It reminded me a bit of the Nemoy in the original pilot, you know where he was a bit more emotional before they decided to tone him down a bit. Yeah. It's nice though. Chance to do some proper acting. But I do like it. I do like because he is being sort of annoying. So, you know, um, McCoy has these sort of homely ways of talking about the the atmosphere and stuff and comparing it to, you know it would make a great summer resort or whatever. And he's kind of trying to get him to stick to the fact. So we're bringing that conflict in really early. And I don't mind the conflict. Like I think, you know, it's a pity. I'm sorry. I'm just seeing the yeoman there. She's just got the thing and she's twiddling the knob and she's gone to it. You're taking this all down, aren't you? She goes of course, sir. And then she looks so bored, the actress. She's just sitting there twiddling Miss North. Playing with the tricorder bra. Whilst the boys will go off to have fun, you know? Oh, it's terrible. So the boys are kind of terrible though, aren't they? So we have Latimer. And we have uh, who else? We've got Gaetano, and they're both kind of terrible. Oh, we go. I think, like, because he's just said that we might be here for a long time, doctor, but they are going to be stranded on this planet for the rest of their lives. Is that what they're trying to convince us? No, I don't know. I mean, we've already established that it's a hard place to locate because of the green nebula thing. Oh, they can't even beam people. See this? They beam down some practice stuff and it came up looking weird. Michelle's trying to do some accent air beyond. She's pushing a few buttons. She's touching her ear every now and again as she's getting a signal coming in. See, Celia has so many more buttons to play with on Strange New Worlds. I don't see, I don't, women don't usually sit at a desk like that though, with their legs out for us all to look at. But there's no space under that desk. See how, do you know what I mean? Like, it's absolutely designed. You usually face the desk. But you can't. Do you see what I mean? Like that desk is like it doesn't, it's so badly designed that you can't swing around and put your legs under it. I always love the ones, those ridiculous ones on the Enterprise D where they seem to have like pull out chairs that you can sit at the panels with. Have you seen them? At least they thought of their kung fu. I like, you know, with a recently discovered alcove at the side in Voyager. you know, where someone's sort of tucked away in there sitting there, pressing buttons. It probably feels like it's the safest person in the ship because it's like, well, none of the rocks are going to get in here, are they? I'm in very small space. Oh, here we go. Right. they're sending out another shuttle? Yeah, the Columbus. That is fantastic. I love that shuttle set. And in fact, it's obscuring the terrible planet set at the moment as well. So it's doing a double job, which is just sort of chicken wire isn't it? And sort of papier mesh, you know, like it's really not very good. I just wonder what Deforest Kelly and let it need my fault as they're standing there on this planetary landscape, trying to make a, or jumpstart, a space shuttle, where their careers had gone. Like, you know, he was doing Westerns before this, wasn't he? Defra Kelly. I mean, this is Western, you know, like they must have just been pinching themselves going, we're getting paid to do this. It's great. This look pretty great. I mean, I really like, like Spock is such an interesting character and like here, we're getting him talking about his attitude towards command and him thinking that making logical decisions is the best way of, you know, exercising your authority. And he's right quite a lot of the time, I think. And I think, you know, the episode tries to prove him wrong at the end by having him with that lamentable final joke. Well, it's not even a joke. No. Yeah, yeah, no, that's terrible. But I mean, I mean, at the end where he kind of goes, oh, screw it I'm just going to vent all the plasma because we're going to be dead anyway, so let's just do that. Um, and that's, so he takes a gamble and wins and that scene is not being particularly logical. Although in a sense, I think it is. They try and give it an emotional reading, don't they, at the end? In a way that feels like sort of school ground bullying. They're sort of whispering amongst themselves and then they go over to Spock and saying, oh, Spock, you know, at that logical decision that you made. you sure it wasn't an emotional one. I'm like, what are we doing? So here we're talking about the fact that we've got to lose some people, uh, if we, if we want to take off again. We don't have, you know, we've got to lose 3 people. And Spock's saying, well, I will have to choose then in that case. And like, I don't think that's any different from anyone else in that situation. Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't know quite what they're expecting. I mean, obviously the right thing to do is to find another way of doing it. Do you know what I mean? But I don't know that Spock's not open to that. And I think the best bit of this whole conflict is when he gets angry at them for going out to rescue him. because he's logical which means that he's not favouring his own survival over theirs. There's no reason to do that. And so he'll be logical even when it costs him. Whereas everyone else is saying, oh, you won't let us bury little Billy, whatever his name is, Latimer, this kid here, the blonde kid, you know, you won't let us bury him, and Boemer actually, and he, like when Boemer says we need to go out and bury it, it might even be, does Gaetana get killed as well? Yeah, he does. Um, I think we, you know, we go out to bury Gitano and Spot goes with him eventually. He can't dissuade him, and so he goes with him, and he's prepared to put himself at risk. You know, he's saying there's a great risk here. I don't think we should do it. He says I'm going to do it anyway, and Spot goes out with him. You know, like, I think that Spock actually comes off pretty well here. Oh, for out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought I thought he was the character with integrity throughout this. That premise then of exploring Spock's logic and everybody else's reactions to it in this sort of situation of jeopardy. Does that have 50 minutes worth of material in it? Well, no, I don't think it does. Oh, no. Here we go. Jesus Christ, so there goes... Who suddenly turns into the stunt performer and then falls off the cliff. I thought for a 2nd because that spear was so enormous that we were in sort of planet of the giants territory, you know? that everyone was very small and the monster was massive. So the dialogue says that they're sort of 12 feet tall, but obviously it's just some big guy. Like, I don't even know who plays the monster. But, um, he's just shooting into the myth there. Did you say? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Open to randomly hit this creature. But the, I mean, the thing is, right, they've got these massive spears, and like a spear travels really very quickly, and that's why it goes through you because it has a lot of force, but all I have is like stage hands listlessly tossing the thing into shot. There's a bit later, right? where there's about 6 spears being thrown. But there's only supposed to be one creature, but they're coming from about 8 directions. No, no, no, there's more than one creature, I think, at that point. But, like, the way that they throw the spears is so limp, like look how lightweight it looks. It looks like a fountain pen, doesn't it? Oh, remarkable, says Spock. The old world calendar is very strange, isn't it? Because, yeah. It's because we have space star dates now, I guess. Because we go back in the past so often, it's fresh in their minds. And every time I see that name Beaumont, you know. Yeah, he's doing a good job. See, I liked all of this. When he's going, there's a man dead there and spot's going, well that's not going to help our situation, is it? Come on. Yeah. Yeah, like and he's being reasonable. Like, I think, I think too, there's something a little bit odd about their insistence on burying the 2 men. It seems to me. Star Trek, do we? No, it seems like. It does seem like an old-fashioned way of thinking. I mean, we do bury people and it's important that the bodies of our dead loved ones are treated properly and we're horrified to learn that, you know, when they're being eaten by wild beasts or whatever, cut up by medical students and brought to a party. I thought most for the most part, people were just sent off in like torpedo tubes and things. Yeah, that comes, that's from Star Trek 3, isn't it? Two, Star Trek two. Oh, no, wait. Do you remember in Endgame, when Janeway buries Chakotay. That's a grave side, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so, like, the bearing the dead is a thing, but it just seems to be a little bit more like, like mid 20th century, a little bit a little bit more kind of religious than we are now. And I think that we'd be less shocked in a military situation or a survival situation. If someone said, actually, no, you can't go outside to bathe the dead. I know it's terrible, but it's too dangerous, you know. It seems a very unusual thing to insist on doing in a situation of peril. So it's literally just there in the script to highlight that Spock seems a bit cold. Yeah, but to us, he seems reasonable. Well, we determined this last week, you know, I'm a bit of a git. I always did. Let's get on with it. I love this too. So this thing is, why does it make any difference if we start skipping bits on the planet surface? Because we, like if we just search one contiguous area, or if we skip, we go 2 degrees and we skip bits in between our passes. What difference does that make? Like, we're still discovering the same amount? I don't know what's happening there. I would have preferred if they had taken the walks approach with those scenes, where it's not so much the procedure of what they're doing, because that's kind of boring. It's just a load of technobabble, but it was actually character scenes. So in Walsh, you get conflict because they're having to go off to go to the next war thing or whatever. And so they've got 3 more planets they can go to before they got our abandoned Cisco. And there's lots of character conflicts. There's none of that going on on the bridge at all. Well, there is. Ferris and and and Kirk is supposed to be having that conflict. But it's so kind of... I don't think we care too much about Mr. Ferris though, do we? But what about the people of new Paris who are suffering from the play? Oh, that's another great Star Trek cliche, isn't it? You know. Beverly Crusher running in. The terrible plague on this plane. We don't get there, Jean-Luc. They're all going to die. Yeah, it's absolute word parallel. It's completely fake urgency and they need it for some reason. So of like TOS, you know, setting the staff down and the other show's all picking it up and running with it. You know, the template was here. They did a good job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just think, like, it's super inept, isn't it? That the conversations between Ferris, and you're right to compare it to Trouble with Tribbles, where you've got another intransigent guy, where that relationship is funny, and Shatner's enjoying it. They don't seem to like you, Mr. Barris. I wonder why. You don't get any conclusion like that, Ian. No. I've got guards around the green. I've got guards around the tribbles. Chat that's not having any fun. That's another big sticking point, you know. Yeah, oh, Spock's having all the fun in it. Maybe he's got the shits because he's not the focus of the episode. That's entirely possible. Oh that's sad. Look at it. Look at the wrong. And the painted rock? Yeah, the rocks are terrible. Oh, there is an attempt at a perspective shot there. There's a small bit at the bottom of the backstrop where you can see something in the. Yeah, they've painted a rock on there. Yeah. I think this is a true testament to the actors, you know, to convince us that they're on an alien planet. Oh, at least they're lovely ladies come out of the shit. She's gone outside. Does she get a gun? Did she get a gun? I hope so. She can't be sitting there twiddling that knob for the entirety of the episode. So so this is the bit where he gets it wrong. Is that right? I'm frequently appalled by the low regard you have for other life forms. Yes, me too, Mr. Spong. Me too. That's really good. Don't you think? I think that's a great line. And it's still a sort of restrained anger. But you can tell when he's ready to go, you know, any minute. But to take its life indiscriminately. Yeah, exactly. It's really good, isn't he? And this, it's not a democracy. Do you know what I mean? I'm not interested in what you think. We're going to do what I say. We have duties to these life forms. It's really... If he was limping his way through the Delta Quadrant, he would have been murdering those slimers, would he? No way. That's always going to be my moral gauge now, you know. She does have a gun. Look, look, look, look. You have a very short skirt. Bustle dirt back off to the ship. Come on that. You've had your moment. You've had your moment in the sun. You're trying to frighten. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he, he's wrong in a sense because that doesn't scare them off. Yeah, and they do come back and kill Gaetano, who is a bit of a dick anyway, so whatever. Trouble is not conflicted because he's wrong, but he's pre, you know. No, Bowman will survive. He's fine. Oh, now they've got a bit of dry ice in there, like, yeah. Yeah, I know. That sort of misty place. Maybe it all should have been a bit. Oh, here we go. What the hell is that in the mist? Is that one of those creatures? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it looks so shit that they're like... Remember Alpha says, right? Apparently the production team, they refused to shoot the face in close-up because it was so horrific. I'm not sure it was dreadful. I mean, like, oh, God, don't speak. It's wearing a sort of jacket as well, isn't it, the monster? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. They're like, I'm saying monsters in jackets. I'm sort of judging on their appearances here. It could be a very nice fella. Yeah, it could be. He does seem to be gently throwing spears at them though. This really is the upper end of the production value from Assignment Earth. Remember when we was out on location in all the normal streets and that? It looks amazing. Oh, well, remember how they used the planet set in Spectre of the Gun, which we just thought looked magnificent? Well, it was that weird, the objects hanging in the air, and, yeah they were they were doing British, trying to freak us out, but it worked. But I mean, the thing is that he's kind of upsetting is that they still think, you know, 30 years later that it's acceptable to realise an alien planet in this way. For several... In fact, wolves, which is season 6 of DS9 has one of these dreadful sets. Oh, really? Now, what they do in that is they fill it full of wind and lightning. They've got the strobe light going to try and distract you, but you look at the backdrop. It is just flame red, you know? But you remember, you remember, um, was it the enemy? Where that, do you remember it's the, um, the guy who we were unimpressed by in the masterpiece society, but this time he's a pretty injured Romulan who makes strange. Yeah. I can still see there's a huge sort of cliff face water and they're throwing in lots of water. So there's a storm going. And so it's all running down and glistening. looks really impressive. So Stockcave said one actually had a name during next gen, a, like the next one. They called it Planet Hell, and, um, yeah, yeah. And it was mostly because, you know, like Marina would get sand in her contact lenses and everyone would get the shits and stuff like it was hell to shoot on it. But, you know, like they did manage sometimes to make that look acceptable, I think. I'm not sure we've seen a planetary set aside for inspector with a gun in TOS that they've, they've put too much of an effort into. But I feel like they go they do go out on location more in the original series. Yeah, I think they do. Yep. Yeah, for sure. I'm wondering if in terms of budget, you know, if you sort of I know they were made in different times. I wonder if TOS had a larger budget than the average 90s trek episode. No, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, they have a very definite kind of, I, you know, they're shooting 26 of these. I don't know, I don't know. Like other dramas at the time are outside all the time, but they're trying to realise alien planets outside and maybe that's what's expensive. There was a bit of an issue here, you know, the way they were all sort of sitting around quite casually talking about the problems. I'm like, we're not really getting the drama of this situation because everyone is very relaxed on the shuttle right now. I do like the idea. I mean, the phases thing is stupid. Like they've all got enough power if you put our phases together to be our alternative power source, but it is actually quite a good idea, isn't it? We have to use the phases so we can't use them to attack the whatever the hell those guys are. It puts us in another disadvantageous position on this planet. Which then means that we need the enterprise to find them all the more urgently. Yeah. So here we're beaming up some boxes and shearing. Do you know, you can buy gift boxes just like that now, you know those sort of silver ones that shine. They look like space gift boxes, though. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I didn't really find much interest at all in these enterprise scenes. I guess if it's the kind of 1st time that we do it. Like I've got... I've got a sort of soft spot for, you know, the people going to work for, you know, during the day on a starship and seeing what they do. I think that is kind of fun. Um, but it's, you know, something that's now been done 100 times since. The thing is, is when we come back to the planet... We come back to that planet. We've got the stage ads throwing every bit of set, they can at these people, and that's much more fun. What is he trying to do crawling up that rock face? No, he's going to be menaced by... Is this a clear shot of the guy? This is the bit where the camera is literally following the creature. So it looks like a man in a gets a costume. how bad that is. That like, what is it? Well, you cut to a POV shop because it is so terrible. But the fella actually looks like he's having quite a lot of fun. The victim. That's so better. The actor brings his hands down in a very unanimalistic like way. Yeah, he's going roar. You actually, you're not even wrong. The noise is wrong. That's so bad. They couldn't have found an animal noise they could have treated. It's clearly a person. Yeah, yeah. It's just... It's so bad. It's astoundingly bad. I think the last time we saw a lazier creature on a planet was those primitives, remember? Fox's brain down in the caves. Yeah. Remember? Yeah. But, I mean, there's a lot of B movie in Star Trek's DNA, and so you know, I like it so much. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, that's pretty poor, even, I mean, we've had the Mugato or the Gamato or whatever they're called. And they also look terrible, but nowhere near as terrible as that. Sometimes they really surprise us. I don't remember nomad floating about and things like that. Yeah, yeah. It's just, it's, I don't know. Is it entirely dependent on the creativity of the designers that week? Well, and what the directors feel I can do as well. Like, you know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know why you saw that the full body shot from behind if that thing advancing on Gaetana was so bad. What you got to remember as well is we're now just over halfway through that 1st season. So they're, we're in the sort of churning it out stage now. Yeah. So, and I think if you look at the sort of the 1st run of episodes a lot of the production value is quite impressive, maybe a little bit of complacency is, is heading in. Yeah, yeah. I, like, I think they're probably in a weird position where they can't work out yet quite what they can get away with as well. And you say that on next gen too. Sorry to interrupt you there. No, it was nice before the, but you've got the rocks here. It's being shot as if we're looking through lots of rocks and then there's loads of myths in the background to obscure the background of the scene. Yeah, that's true. I'm looking for something here. No, no, no. But those spears, like a... It's just spears coming out from behind the things. because we can't afford to realise the monsters and the spears are just being gently tossed. It's so bad. Terrible. Oh, I see. There was a window in the show. It was at the front there. Look. No, they've just opened it. We did actually see that picture before and it, those were blank. And so now they've now in these shots, they've been opened up, but we did see it from that viewpoint before. Did I ever tell you about my mum watching the original series? She used to go around her best friend's house because my mum only they only had a black and white set and they had a colour set. So she used to go... Yeah, they literally would sit and cram around this massive TV and watch these TOS episodes. I love to think of her doing that as a kitchen. She loved it. She absolutely loved it. This. you know, when it came back in the 90s, there was no question that she was going to watch a lot. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think, like, in terms of science fiction, they weren't saying anything like, you know, well, we rip this now and say this looks shocking, but we'd never seen, but they had never seen anything like this at the time. Yeah. Yeah. And like what's, is there anything comparable? is like in space comparable. It's a little bit more of a family drama and stuff and has even worse special effects. Well, and in the UK, sort of, the only comparison is Doctor Who which had just had its 6 black and white season. Look at this. What's Scottie doing? No, no. Scottie's looking in the ground, but they've actually got one of the things facing us with a big polystyrene rock. He's standing behind the shuttle and he's lifting the polystyrene rock above his head and smashing it onto the shuttle, which is making the cameras shutter inside the shuttle. But it was just so bad. Oh, no. That rob looks so light, doesn't it? I believe it's a rare form of mineral called Jabalite. Yes, exactly. How much longer do we have, Mr. Scott? Oh, but Spock's made a mistake, hasn't he? At least as far as they're concerned, he's made a mistake because he didn't hit them. Here we go again. He didn't hit them hard enough earlier. And so that's why they're all cross at him. There was a, there was a TV documentary series in the 90s calls. They didn't, they don't make it like they did in the dot, dot, dot and they do one for each 60s, 70s, 80s. Man, 0 man, that shot of him with the rock there. That was ripe for that documentary. Great. Oh my. It's still more fun than these scenes on the Enterprise, though. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ahura's got her space pencil now. She's got her space pencil. She's got an iPad. She's got an Apple Apple Pencil there. There's you and I have talked before about how impressively they can shoot this set sometimes. It has none of that going on here either. It's very point and shoot. Yeah, I don't know who directed this, but I think that they're probably partly to blame for how limp the how bad the production looks generally, I think. And there's a kind of lack of tension here as well. Like, and we've seen them create proper tension on the bridge. And there's great music at different points in this as well. Like, you know, quite um, noticeable atmospheric music and things. But it is the, I did notice it is a lot. Stop music. It's the music you hear. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, look, see, there's the sign on the wall behind Kirk's head. You know, we were talking about the sign on the equinox. That's the Enterprises commissioning plaque. It's been there ever since the original series, so that all the ships have them. Now, see, things are getting very tense now. Yeah, it's been shaken. the actual set. People are contributing as well. The, you know, yeoman, whatever face is doing a pretty great job at being shaken in a Star Trek way. Nathan, this episode is directed by Robert Gist. Yeah, that is, I think. See, this is great. I love this. Like they're now they're just kind of electrifying the shuttle and the guy's not liking it very much. That's pretty good. flashing lights and sparks and shit. come on You're okay, desperate, you're okay, desperate now. I regret to inform you that Robert just only directed this episode know why. just have to watch it. And and you see, now Spock has learned from the previous interaction and he can successfully guess at their behaviour. He's surprised by how unpredictable they are and kind of blames them for not doing what he thought they would do, but now he can do you know what I mean? Like, they're seeing, they're seeing his logic as a liability, but in fact, Yeah, look, look at this. I'm sick of tired of this machine. I would have insisted on a barrier, even if you was out there, even if you, yeah, terribly. And then he calls him a machine. He's getting very racist now. Yeah, so that's why Scott shops him, you know, like, tells on him so he loses his commission in one of the books. I'm not sure, you know, that James Duhan has the LeVar Burton skill of making this technical stuff seem realistic. It sort of, he was, he was struggling with a box on the wall there whereas LeVar Burton was there. He'd make it all very smoother effortless. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but he mostly had little. Oh, I like this too, this bit. Look at that. Those screens actually work. They don't just show random pictures of things. There's a guy being... Talking to them. Well, I don't know why he's. Oh, I took her earpiece off. Like she suddenly was paying a lot of attention to this man. He got a spear for his body. He must have been standing very still. Maybe he ran into it. He was running in that direction and there was enough momentum. I mean, I think we both know, this is supposed to be a lot tenser. And scarier than it actually is. If the monster was scarier, if the direction was tighter, this would work. Like gangbusters, I think. I mean, even if you darkened it, even if can you do that now? Like there's a really strong key, like they don't... Can they turn the lights off? Well, we have seen scenes in original series, Trek, where there has been a lot of, um, like practical shadow, like dark in the frame. You know how Star Trek, the Next Generation, has a really very even way of lighting and, you know, yeah. In the doomsday machine. It was incredibly well lit. Like, that's how they sold the difference between using the Enterprise set for, you know, Decker's ship and using it as the Enterprise set. They're lit very differently. I mean, you know, like even just these normal shots on the Enterprise. There's there's light and shade, but somehow down on the planet. It's all kind of lit to buggery. It looks terrible. I see, I see to remember shots as well, where there was just lots of shadows on people's faces as well. It just increased the drama, no end. Yeah. So, I mean, these shots are unnecessarily beautiful, aren't they? And when we, when, in the original show, we just have a green planet, that's all, and we don't have this green nebula background that's just a green planet in space. Did you see that? That was an attempt at dynamism there. We pulled away from Ahura, across the Kirk, and then we swung very fast, ran on Zulu, and then pulled right back. I'm surprised you didn't get dizzy. No, she stopped going on about those drones again, all right? That's about as much I can handle. 60s camera work. I'm such an old fart. That's what I. Look, she still looks terribly bored, doesn't she looking at that? No, she's looking at her. She's on the phone. She's just sort of scrolling through. Look, she's so pretty. She's taking selfies. This could be my last chance. That's it. Feeling cute might delete later. I don't think it helps as well, but this shuttle set is a bit dull as well. You know, it's very flat. It's boring colours. Well, I mean, we consistent talks about... of the enterprise. That's true, but the Enterprise has those fabulous corridors with all the jails and things, you know, making a bit, yeah. very exciting. We often talk about the colour palette in TOS and how it appeals to us. Well this doesn't rank, I'm afraid. No. Oh, there's a bit of colour. Ahura. Bright red. Oh, look at I love her earrings too. Gosh, she's stunning. Oh, Michelle. You know, though, if she, if she, well, I was about to say, if she was in a Star Trek series now, what am I saying? She is. But she's been given all the opportunities now that Michelle Nichols should have had back then. Yeah. Yeah. What's the new actress's name? The newer home. Gooding. Oh, she's... so good. Yeah. Look at that. Who is that gonna kill? Like, hold that rock. That rock almost pinned Leonard Nemo. Oh, yeah, no, no, no, no. The rock. the rock. This is great. Go back. You're going to stop us from getting off the planet. So his logic. Do you know what I mean? Like, and he's sort of cross with them. Good for him. I really like that. But I can't concentrate on the logic when enormous polystyrene boulders are being thrown about the place, you know? Well, it's some action. Come on. Oh, finally, some action. This is the bit in a minute where you see like 8 spears coming at the shoal. No, but they're outside holding the shuttle down, right? That's why I can't take off, but we're not going to see it because they look so shit. here we go Also, are they literally hanging from the bottom right now because the shuttle's going up. I don't know, actually. Well, yeah, we just got up above the rocks. We are above the rocks. No, I think they must have just stopped. I think we were still shaking ourselves loose. We go a little wobbles as we go into the action. We need to get in a chair. Like, I don't know why. No, did you see those 2 CGI people in the front of the special effect there? Very funny. We've made it. And yet, look, no one looks sweaty or concerned in any way. Oh, no, we're just getting shots of everyone being concerned. Boehmer's concerned for sure. Well, Deforest Kelly looks like he's thinking about what he's going to have for dinner. Oh my. Look, that's Jimmy Dewan having a bad head, eh? Look, he's got a kind of coiffe thing happening there. I'm sorry, the way she delivered that line. I'm sorry. I do not want to die up here. I'll be there, can you get me out of here? All right, Spock. But I mean, why is he being a prick about that? Like, that seemed like a reasonable thing to say? So maybe that's it. Maybe this exchange is really good. I love that. Where, um, Scott says, um, you said there were always alternatives. And and Spock looks genuinely puzzled. Kind of, did I say that? You know, and I must have been mistaken. And then, uh, De Forrest Kelly comes straight in with, oh, well, at least I live to see that, that was great. That was a proper interaction. There we go. Scotty just said, we've got another 45 minutes. I bloody hope not. No, we don't. The last 45 minutes has been tricky enough. I think actually that you just hit the nail on the head there about the objections. There's too much false tension in this, I think. Characters have to behave in ways. Yeah, yeah. that don't feel natural in order to highlight what the episode is about. Yeah. and so the the major tension. So between everyone and and Spock all just seem fake or like just kind of just they don't ring true and and the same with the conflict between, um, you know, Ferris and and Kirk. Like the conversations are bad, the dialogue is bad. Interestingly, I think in the future, they decide, you know what? So we'll have Spock in this row again where the logic's been questioned, but we'll always make it McCoy, because he's a character we know and care about, and that's more interesting to see those 2 going at each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's a sort of weird, like the 3 of them, you know, like uh, 3 sort of different aspects of the way human beings make decisions. Like there's something like, I don't know. It's going... reason why every single 90s trek series had the Spock McCoy dynamic, Odour and Quark, Melix and Chewvok. Oh, who was the TNG one? Data and... Yeah, I don't think they quite... have it, no. Because they all got on to far too well. But I don't think I don't think you ever quite get the the Spock and McCoy thing because McCoy makes decisions with his heart and and Spock makes them with his brain and and that's a really sort of sort of basic fundamental thing and then you've got the ruling principle in the middle who has to decide between those 2 things. And I think that's so well judged. And I think, I don't think it can have been intentional. I think it's just developed out of the way they find the characters interact and work together. Um, and it's, you've got to remember, the execs, the execs wanted Spock gone, this demonic character. They didn't want him to have focus. It's only because the audience went. This is amazing, you know? Yeah, it's alien character. Yeah. I don't think it was good. That sort of trio. I think that trio was in the show's DNA, really. No, no, I think it develops. Yeah. Yeah for sure. And you love a bit of that, don't you? Seeing how these things develop. But this, and this is quite nice. The 2 of them talking about this plan, so they burn up, they're going to die anyway. So why don't we just sort of vent all the plasma and try and get seen, you know, and this is the shot that they disappear in, isn't it? Like we're filling the thing with smoke. Oh, it's getting hot, she explained to the audience, even though they're all sweating. And so... So this is just a lock of their chances is this. Bach had no clue that they are going to get seen, but since they're all going to die anyway, there's a remote chance that we might get seen. Which is better than none. So it's a completely logical decision to make. And I've got to say, the special effects on the new version are a lot of fun. The sort of the trail of plasma and all that. That's nice to look at. After an episode where there hasn't been too much to look at. No. Yeah. What does that look like originally then? Did you see that? It's really, it's, yeah, there's nothing to it. I did see the green planet with a little line across it was even that was not particularly impressive. Look at the look on Shatler's face. He's like, right. As soon as Nemoy gets back on this ship. I'm going to tell him this is my show. Why did they have to call it mockus 3? That's such a main name, isn't it? I don't know what that is. Oh, see, this is the thing. I don't like this scene at all. You've got... Kirk and McCoy sort of talking amongst themselves going, right when can we pull this prank on, Spock? Yeah. Oh no, so we're going to ask Spock a question. Ahura knows. Because she's at the side of the set with a smirk on her face, so she knows what's coming. There's just one thing I don't understand, Spock. Yeah, you knew there was virtually no chance. seems to me to be an act of desperation, Mrs. Buck. That just doesn't make any sense. Like, it doesn't make any sense. You knew there was nearly no chance. And I had he had a choice between no chance and nearly no chance. So why wouldn't you choose nearly no chance? Oh, I would have just said to him, Captain, you would have done exactly the same thing in my situation. Yeah, look at shut up. That's basically what he says. Look, it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that the only possible course of action was doing something desperate, good for you, and he's right and don't mock him because he was the star of the show this week. But the non-punchline of this is, oh, Spock, you're, you know you're such an unreasonable man, aren't you? Yeah. Is he stubborn? Yeah, are you a stubborn... It's an absolute non-joke, isn't it? Like, it's absolutely not funny. at all. It's a crap joke. But it just weirdly feels like a gentle form of bullying as well. Yeah, it's the episode on... Ahura thinks it's hilarious, though. Oh, yeah, Nichelle is absolutely going for it. God, Shatner. It's the 1st emotion she's been allowed to show it in the whole episode. Yeah, she's so into it. It's the funniest thing she's ever heard. Look at that. Forrest Kelly looks like he's going to fall over. He blasts it so much. And look, it goes on for about 15 seconds. Keep going, keep going, keep going. Okay, all right. stand down. I mean, I would say that that is a typically TOS problem, but we have watched take me out to the holosuite, if you recall. They do laugh for a long time at the end of that. A very similar joke about a Vulcan being irrational as well. Well, I'll tell you what, right? There was something to that. Yeah, but there was a lot to that. And there certainly wasn't enough for you and I to have complex conversations like we did last week. Yeah, it's funny. It is that thing where sometimes Star Trek is just brilliant and then sometimes you kind of think this is barely competent. Like, what the hell? How did this even go out? Like, you know, it's kind of like clearly this went out because it was either that or the test pattern. you know what I mean? Like it, like, you know, it's just not very good. I'll compare this to probably the other worst episode we've done so far, Wolf in the Fold. Okay. And I think that's probably our worst episode because it was very dull and it didn't take its concept anywhere and there was no decent character work in it. And there was good character working. But Wolf and the Fold was more visually interesting. I thought that weird planet, the floppy streets and all of that. So it does go to show you even if TOS isn't firing on all cylinders, there is something. There's always something good. I think, yeah, absolutely. And I think that there is a reason that this becomes a template for so many later episodes because it's a good idea. It's just that they can't do the realistic dialogue really to kind of support it. And that never really works. Does it? Do you ever think it rings true when people call Spock kind of racial things? It just seems super bizarre. Sometimes it really does push over into being... like unpleasant. So it makes McCoy, especially a really unlikeable character. And Deforest Kelly, it's so charming. Why would you do that? Yeah, exactly. The movies get it right, I think. They say they've had time to think about it. I mean, you know, they push push away from the classic series. And then it's all about the warmth that's between them. But it's just like a grumpy old man, isn't he, McCoy? Yeah. But the movies move away from the idea that these are all space people as well, don't you think? Like, that's the fun thing about the movies is that these people who, they're more chill than they are in next generation, but they're still space people, and then they're in movies, but they're in movies after we've known the characters for a long time so they're much, much more comfortable and much, much more relaxed and much more fun to watch. First time I knew we were in sort of different ballpark was in Star Trek 2 when Shatner needs to read that book and he goes, oh for God's sakes. And he has to put on a pair of glasses. like an old man. And I'm like, oh, okay. So Shatner of the original series. I don't think we would ever even... He has a flaw. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's wandering around the ship with his shirt off, for God's sake. I mean, I'll also say the greatest enjoyment of that episode, the Galileo 7 was the terrible creatures in it because they were highly amusing to watch. Yeah, if only they'd been more of them and they hadn't wisely tried to keep them off screen. I think, again, some stiff competition, they may be the shittest creatures we've seen yet in untitled Star Trek project. think they might be. All right, it's the end of the episode and it is time for us to work out what we're going to watch next time. I was the one with the excellent taste last week to choose the Galileo 7. And so I'm going to let Joe make the decision this week and see if he can't do any better. On average, you know, your choices of the last 10. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Although, although in within some of those episodes, there was a lot of fun in them being. yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am taking us back to 90s Strek again. You know, I always will. But it's just because the 3 shows I've chosen are underrepresented. They're the lowest percentages in simply because there's so fucking much of them. So we are going to be either doing Star Trek, The Next Generation Voyager or Enterprise. Excellent. All good choices. I've done guarantee a good episode, but yeah. Okay, your ra- Oh, your random Star Trek Voyager episode is season two, episode 25, resolutions. Ooh, that's the one where we've mentioned a strong hint of a romance developing between Captain Janeway and Commander... We have actually mentioned it on the podcast. I think. And are they in a shuttle crash as well? A sexy shuttle crash, unlike the one we just watched. They basically, they go down in these pods. They haven't got... have they got a shuttle? No, they do. They do. Yeah, it is it's not a crash, but they have to go down because they've been infected with some poison or something. that's right. Some reason why they can no longer travel in space and they have to set up shop. Janeway gets obsessed by this pet monkey that's visiting all the time. And Chakotay makes a beeline for, well, he's he's interested. I'll say that. Okay. It's got the funniest, one of the funniest convention anecdotes of all time when Kate Moker goes, do you remember that time when they suggested a romance between Janeway and Chakotay, but Janeway was far more interested in the monkey that kept coming to visit than she ever was in Chicago. Robert Belgium's like, what was that all about? She's like, well, look at you. Come on. She's savage in conventions, you know, it's great. Brilliant. I'm actually quite tempted to watch that. What do you think? We have mentioned it. It is a kind of, there are things to say, it's an important episode. What do you reckon? And it's got, it's Chewbok on the ship. Oh, he gets lost. Taking the ship, taking the ship away from them. He's in command now and Harry Kim has strong objections about leaving Mummy behind on the planet. So that's the tension on the ship. Oh, let's do it. It sounds really fun. All right, you're on. All I want to see is your reaction to how lame, the complete lack of fucking that goes on on that planet is... They touch at one point, and that's supposed to be enough to suggest that they've had it off. Oh, it's great. All right. Wow, let's find a resolution, shall we? Let's do that. He's been listening to entitled Star Trek Project with Joe Ford and Nathan Bottomley. where online at untitled Star Trek project com, where you can find subscription links and links to our social media accounts. Our podcast artworkers by Kayla Ciceran, and the theme was composed by Cameron Larm. This episode was recorded on the 3rd of October 2023 and released on the 6th of October. We'll see you next time for Star Trek Voyager Resolutions. Okay. Another boy show. Another boy show. It's weird enough. It's a great quote from Jerry Taylor about this episode about how she wanted to put to bed any suggestion of Janeway and Shakotay having a romance. And that's how she did it. That's the episode she did it in. Yeah. to say. Because it doesn't really end it. We should like, or am I thinking of attached? There's some sort of line where they talk about whether they should think about exploring a relationship or not or what something. So, you'll be pleased to know, Chakotay couches it all in one of his metaphors. Yeah. Instead of just saying, I really have feelings for you and I'd like to be in a relationship with you. But he does confess that. He does say I want to, I want to be in a relationship with you. He doesn't say it in those sort of words. And then the implication is that something's happened and then they save them and they basically just sort of straighten their uniforms on the bridge and it's never spoken about. I never speak of this again. So it might give you a great chance to run. Excellent. But you do get some good 2 box scenes. Yeah, well that would be nice. That makes it change. I'm going to send you the website image for the episode we've just watched. It's going to be that creature in it somehow. Yes, that's perfect. Yeah. It's got the word Galileo on it. So, like, it's Galileo, and it's a guy with the Polystyron rock. I can see why they didn't do a close-up. It's absolutely chilling I did actually, there is actually quite a good shot. Like if I was being more sensible uh, of them sitting in the in the ship and everyone's just looking at Spock and Spock's kind of making a decision like it's a sort of group shot, which is actually quite good. But I thought I'd go for stupid instead. It's perfect. Yeah, it's just brilliant. Oh, okay, back to Voyager again. All right. Yeah, I'm up for that. maybe I'll wash that in a minute. If I order some food. I might order some food and stick it on.