Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On this episode of the Star Trek Universe Classic rewatch
first watch f he and I fight to be vendid
as thralls while wearing tin full of bikinis and getting
eye fucked by Galt.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Ah. That's right, it looks good on me, man.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
We're over here talking Star Trek two seventeen, the Gamesters
of Triskellion, right after these weepings from Mystery Shatas who
just got served the old Jim kirk peck and punch
wish to be fair is better than his cock and sock.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, I was, I was. I was about to make
a packer joke. Absolutely, Yeah, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Welcome to Star Trek Universe, the classic rewatch slash first
watch that we're doing. I am David c Roberson, who
has rewatched all of the Star Trek numerous times.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I am Filpeller's who has not seen anything beyond this point,
but I've seen this episode, so so this was a
first watch. Yeah, and probably an only watch for the
foreseeable future. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yeah, some of them you gotta hold off. Yeah, let's
set this memory off of summary. Kerkahura and checkof are
kidnapped by aliens and forced to fight other aliens so
that a mentally superior race can gamble on the winter.
It's kint of the long and short of it? Is it?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah? That's that's that's all of it.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah. So my wife is like taking a nap while
I started this episode. She wakes up, she starts watching
this episode, and you know, she's making fun of it,
of course, and every right too. But when we get
to the brains the Protectors, they're yelling. Yeah, they're yella,
like fourteen quat lose, two thousand quat lose. She's like,
(02:00):
you say that all the time. You're always yelling about
quat lose.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I wonder why.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I'm like, yep, now you know this episode is why?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Well do the quap lose ever
return quat louse? Should? I should have wager that they never.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Do, not that I remember fair enough?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Oh boy?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Uh so. Yeah. One of the things about Star Trek
when it's bad, like really bad, yeah yeah, yeah, they
do seem to know.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, and there is more of a tongue in cheek
quality to it when it goes full campy.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, but also like it's like the designers go, oh,
it's one of these episodes and then the designers out there, yeah,
like slap on their strap ons and just go to
fucking town because yeah, they really jazz up this iconic,
(03:13):
insane imagery. And they do that every time it's a
really terrible or most of the time when it's a
really terrible episode. Yeah, and this is an iconic episode.
This has been.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Clearly for for mostly aesthetic reasons, I imagine.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Oh yeah, like they've done bits on The Simpsons where
they're inside of the the the the this arena with
the blue and yellow try stripe design.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
The little swast go missing one arm. Yeah yeah, the
try thing.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, well that I think that was to uh to
indicate the the three sons and the three brains, Like
that's thet to go along with that great fucking design.
But like uh, Chandra with the UH or Shauna with
the uh the foil bikini, that's iconic. Like, so the
(04:04):
three brains are iconic. Like when you talk about like
Star Trek Aliens, people remember those damn blinking brains of.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Of course, so it's you know, and somehow, somehow I
feel like how often is the yellow person in a
bright pink neon outfit reference? Like I feel like that
that she she sort of went by the wayside, she did.
It was a giant ten tenfoil beginning to compete with so.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right, and based on the the way they handled her character,
I think that's probably for the best. Absolutely, It's just
like we're gonna have a slightly big gal and make
jokes about how she might not be a woman. Okay, yeah, cool.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, it felt at times just a dad on the
Oh your your your mask, I get it now. Yeah,
you're you're, you're, you're too much woman for Chekhov to handle. Yeah, yeah,
it sort of went in in that direction. Yeah, poor
poor actress must have feel weird to be cast for that.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
But whatever, Yeah, that was odd. Uh So. I also,
I guess should bring up the fact that this is
totally like kink Keaven. You've got like the slave master
with his bald head and his like Dracula Kate and
like everybody's wearing like straps and collars and ship and.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, there's a lot of yeh, leather involved and yeah,
shirtless Kirk of course has a big role in this,
this fucking episode.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Well, I don't know, he wasn't that overweight.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I didn't know. I didn't say that, Oh.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I thought you meant.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
No, No, I like this meant he was on screen
shirtless quite a bit of the episode once they had
literally whipped the clothes off.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It like, if you think he had a big role,
now wait until season three.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
No, we all get older. I get it, I have
I have big roles to Phil. I guess yeah, no,
oh yeah no, No, I'm like, I'm not getting it's
not getting better soon.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Look Edith Keeler. Uh, woman that played to Edith Keeler,
I can't remember her name, Joan Crawford, Joan Collins, whichever
one it was. I don't know why I can never remember.
She said, Well, she did that episode. She she wanted
to meet William Shatner, handsome, tall, you know, wonderful man.
(06:45):
She says, she got there, she looked around. She didn't
see William Shatner. She did see a fat, little bald
man walk into a dressing room, into the and then
when he came out, suddenly he had lifts in his shoes,
and he had the corset, the binds his gut and
(07:08):
they had the Now look, I've seen that man's shirtless
during that season, so we know she had damn lie
about that damn corset sucking in his gut. But because
I've seen that man shirtless in that season, he.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Was fawn yeah, yeah, like he looks fine here, right,
He also a bubble of brains in front of him, but.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
You know that'll that'll sort of transform your gut a bit.
But he looks he looks fine, looks in shape enough. Yeah,
we weren't in six era times back then anyways.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
But for real, like when you get to the third season,
it is like very clear because he keeps stealing the
wigs that they have gone they have just said, we
ain't got the budget for this, So he's very clear.
He's wearing a bad, really bad toupey.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Oh no, but he could have just brought the ones
he stole that were better.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Well, they do wear out, and he wears it, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I guess, yeah, that's fair enough. I heard so much
about two pays man.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'm not bald, Yeah, well I am, but I don't
wear too.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
That would be no exactly, So what do we know?
Speaker 1 (08:19):
I keep seeing people on the internet doing that where
they're like gluing those head pieces of the hair pieces
onto people, and that just makes my head itch immediately.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I'm like, yeah, it seems awful.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Doing young and being young and having hair is not
worth it, Like, let's love through me, right the fuck up.
I can't do it. I can't have a bunch of
glue on my head.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
And let's be real, it looks it looks fine on you.
You have enough of the beard going for you that sure,
keep to keep the head bald. On the other hand,
every time you see a picture of you with luscious
curls back in the day, you do sort of look
in the distance.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And oh yeah, there's there's a.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah. I've heard you swoon at yourself plenty of times,
which I get like, I looked hot too when I
was younger. That's that's just how it goes man looking back. Yeah, shame,
I'm not into that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
But I look good, Yeah, I I mean when I
was thin and I had hair.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yes, yes, good times like beauty standards.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Look look at him, look at him, look at.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Good times. Good time.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, I'll see myself in the mirror now, I look
at that old knob, fucking chuck of coal.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Oh god, it is, is it? We're already not talking
about the episode there to talk about. I don't know man,
Like I went into this and very quickly realized, oh,
it is one of those episodes where it is very
much oh, they're again kidnapped to be held against their
will and like fight for their freedom and probably have
(10:05):
some monologue about that being the strength of man and oh,
we're so cunning and we need to be free, and
then it's it just goes on for a while fighting,
I guess, and I don't know many escape attempt really
results in fuck all, Like there's just it just sort
(10:27):
of meanders, I have something, finally get the wager.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I have something. How fucked up was it that? Like
she ain't been there five minutes and they already have
Lars this intergelected dude bro mmm trying to uh, I'll
just say it rap Ahura because he's been selected for her,
(10:52):
and they totally just treat it like it's just like
it's just a big climactic thrill to go out on
for a commercial and kirk through the bars no and yeah,
and then we come back. Now. I do love it.
When they come back. She had beat the ship out
of him and was holding like that, holding that pot,
(11:13):
and he was like that's good. Yeah, yeah, And that
was full. He was like, that was fun. He was like,
it is not allowed to refuse selection, you know, take
that frat brouh.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So at the same time, they then go on the
flip side with Kirk. It's like, no, you haven't been
selected for each other yet. But also right, there's so
much chemistry. Oh my god, the difference in how those
two handled.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
We can we can go for a three fur yeah,
humor selection for checkof like want want, Like, oh, maybe.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
You gave them less hot girl without the BIGINNI yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
And and then it's a total love story for Kirk,
like he will teach a love and help.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, you've you were born, You don't know how important
it is to make out Like what's happening guys?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, I get it because that's you know, when you're
backs up against the wall and you got you know,
weird skull looking motherfuckers showing up in caps no matter
where you go, you know, you kind of have to.
Like this girl has been she was born and raised
in captivity. She does not understand a damn thing other
(12:33):
than the protectors protect us. The protectors feed us, they
take care of us. We cannot make them angry. That
is a bad idea and it hurts this caller. Yeah,
And Kirk is like, I don't have much to go on,
like there's nothing I can do except use my manly
(12:53):
wiles teach her something she doesn't.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Know, and.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I do, like I hate the way he uses her. Yeah,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Because it it The reason it feels so fucked is
because she is so naive, so much younger, Like it
feels very abusive of that difference, that that imbalance in knowledge.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
And power emotionally younger. She does not look younger than
Shatter to me, she looks about the same age. I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It's hard for me to tell because she has a
giant green wig. But she feels so much younger that
Shatner looks older because I don't know, tough times and
all the women cast feel like they, you know, are
in their twenties still. Really, I don't know how old
she really was, but like generally not all of them,
(13:50):
like depending on the character, but the love interests.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, I don't know how old she was. For all,
she was born in forty three.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Forty three, so she's mid twenties. Because this was in
AIRD in sixty eight, so when was it produced?
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So Shetnon was born in thirty one.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
So that's yeah, fair enough, that's the NA difference.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, that's about what Yeah, yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
That's what I meant. Like, not like I was curious,
but they like he's older.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Come on, I mean, I hadn't thought about it because, like,
to be fair for me, when you know, when I'm
watching these old shows, most of the time, I just
don't like they had because of the surrounding real world things,
like people smoked a lot more back then. There was
(14:53):
the Great Depression. Like I feel like people in their
twenties look like they're in their late thirties, and a
lot of this.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Was about that before. Like part of that is why
Shatner looks older than he is sometimes.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
So when I'm like looking at Hi, I'm like, I
don't know how old any of these people are.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, But the opposite way, like that that would be
a reason to be like, oh, she's probably ten years
younger than she looks, except when she looks young already
that that that doesn't mean she's gonna be older but
still look younger because of the hard times. Like that
goes the other way.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Also, I will say this, I am a little color blunt,
and a lot of times I'll see green is gray.
So to me, a lot of her her hair does
look very gray to me.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
That's good to know. Yeah, that's a very different vibe.
I get that.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yeah, certain certain shots like oh yeah green green, I
know it is. It's like this toxic waste green.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, absolutely, that's that's the right way of putting it
in Jesus.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, like super teased toxic waste green. But like under
certain lighting and certain shots, it looks great to me.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
That's that's fun. That's no I see that that that
would throw me off to But yeah, a girl in
her twenties with like that really really gray white hair
could be hot. It works sometimes for some people, not
damn hair.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I guess I'm not saying death. I'm not making an
attraction call on it. I'm just I.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Just just popped into my head. This podcast is is,
you know, a sort of one of those memory boxes
you bury to be dig dug up in a couple
of centuries, and a capsule of all our worst impulsive
thoughts that I you know, then pronounced out loud to you, right,
and people will hopefully be forgiving.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, someday when you're running for office. Someone would be like, than, well, here,
I have a manuscript of every podcast you did.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Hey, I helped me go through it, and then our
control f the word hot girl.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
So let's see. You said plank on a clip five
hundred and seventy three times.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I mean I did I forgot last episode?
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh oh yeah you did, didn't you.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I just told them to eat a dick. I guess
the planking. You know, you kind of gets tired. Take
a week off, it's fine.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yeah, yeah, you don't have to say that part every time.
You can come up with something else too.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
That's the ab. But that would require both creativity and
uh less panic in the moment when I'm like, goddamn it,
I need to do the outro. Fuck, I didn't think
of anything. But you can also eat a clip or
plank on a dick. I don't care. It's it's all.
It's all for you are out there?
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So yes, you as you? Sorry, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I don't know either. No, as you alluded to last episode,
I'm dating again. So this was happened to be the
first episode where my now girlfriend was sitting next to
me and watching along and I was like, God, damn it.
Couldn't you have done this the previous episode instead of this?
Because she was she was making dinner. I think when
I watched the first episode and then this one, she
was she she came up and sat next to me
(18:12):
and was just like oh and I thought my bras
were ill fitting, Like I'm like, god, damn it. I know.
I know she's wearing a tinful bikini and and it's
pretty oversized and oh god yeah, and then they kept
fighting and Lord.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
It was are you guys okay? Now? Are you okay?
Like did you survive it?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I think the relationship survived. Yeah, I think I'm good.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Was there any any explanation at all? Was it? Were
there questions like what the fuck are you doing with
this American? Like what was like, No, no, I didn't
go that far.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
It was I I didn't have to explain. I just
I probably felt the internal shame of assuming she would
have those questions afterwards of like, is this this is
the show you wanted to do with podcast about And
I would have to be like, okay, but there's there's
there's uh, there's so there's also good episodes. There's just
(19:12):
like less less stupid. Bright colored fights. Yeah, anyway, and
and I didn't like that. But that's also the fun
part of the cast where I don't know going into
it what I'm gonna end up with. If it's gonna
be the Portal to U some what was the Yesterday tomorrow?
(19:37):
What the fuck? The great episode? God damn it, I
keep forgetting titles. I am bad at titles.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
What are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
The god damn it? The Portal two? Back to the fifties,
trying to prevent the war? That the good episode, the
really the.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Good episode on that one, sitting on the edge of
her Ever, that's stuff and nowhere fucking every so many
yesteryear speak of? Is the Guardian forever?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Thank you forever. I'll try and remember ship. Yeah, hopefully
the listeners are forgiving. Yet again, no one's listening to
this exactly. That is why I hope they are forgiving.
If I knew people were listening, I would have no hopes. Oh,
because I know people aren't forgiving on the internet.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Come on, now, let's be fair. The people who listen
to our show even before you came aboard, Like, it's me,
It's my fault, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Right, right, right, right right. I was I thought you
were going to say, oh, those are the best people
you can find out there. They are really the Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
They actually are.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Yeah, no, they are.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I know they're the best, very forgiving of my chicanery,
but yeah, everything we.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Come for your chicanery. I don't know how to spell that,
but I can reproduce the sounds.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
I feel like this is the episode that I am
referencing the most whenever I make fun of the original
series for the Alien Women being like what is love?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, is absolutely not helpful in that regard,
but it's very much over the top in terms of
naivete of oh but how do I you gave me feelings?
I'm not sure I should say. You know, there's there's
that vibe of oh, well it works. Does this count
(21:51):
as one of the episodes where Kirk technically talks to
a computer and lows it up, but not quite like
it is close to that. It's once again him trying
to outsmart superior intellect. Not that I actually buy into that,
because they seem like they've just you know, discarded their bodies,
(22:12):
but otherwise are just as fucking dumb.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yeah, well, I think they just.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Like they are. They're they're like the mentally superior bullshit.
It just feels like this is the ship that people
tell themselves when they no longer see any other people
outside of their little group of three.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
I like the idea that even intellectuals creatures who are
far beyond are mental capacity.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
If they are. I like my thing feels like the
difference between intellectualism and being actually intelligent, where it goes
to that point of like no, no, no, where you
guys are being intellectuals rather than actually being intelligent enough
to keep things.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Yeah. I think though, the point is they got so
they were so smart, and they moved beyond most of
their bodies so much they got bored, and now.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
They also regressed, Like yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
They absolutely once you get yeah, once you get bored
and you see yourself as above everything.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That's the point the Americans. It is my my issue.
It is not that they're because because nothing really points
to we're so smart. It just points to, no, you
have a fucking you. You've devised a way to make
people listen to you by way of like literally the
(23:44):
simplest form of behavioral applied behavioral analysis of just shock
them if they don't listen, just condition them, like, come on,
it's not that it's not not that deep, bro, Like
you're just you're just dicks.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Yeah they are, And they could have done a.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Lot of good if they actually had something interesting to say,
like if they had some some intellectual conversations, like they
shouldn't have gotten bored. There's worlds out there.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
But there is a reason this episode. I consider this
episode bad. And one of those reasons is, Okay, they're
gambling quat loose. Where the fuck quat louse are? It's
fun to say, like fucking matter, what are they gonna
do with fucking brains? What do you do with quat lose?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Like apparently nothing. They're just keeping score, I suppose, because
it's not like they can spend the money. If it's money,
maybe there's just points.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
They just are they spending money on the technology to
beam more thralls in.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
What I don't know, Uh maybe yeah, maybe maybe. Maybe
it's just a currency to like, oh I want a
lot of battles, now I can buy more good thralls.
It's sort of a stupid it's a really stupid economy
in that sense, because it's just gamely to a monopoly. Yeah,
it's just bad capitalism with three people. God, this this
(25:05):
isn't thought through. On the other hand, did I say
bad capitalism? That feels like uh tutology.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But on the other hand, though, yeah, I can see.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It, I can see that this would be where something goes.
I just don't buy into them actually being that much cleverer.
You're stupid enough to agree to this terms like is
Come on, now, they're clearly very easy to manipulate. It's
(25:42):
not that hard. They just Kirk had to figure out, Okay,
what is it about? What do you want from your wages?
Why does this interest you? Okay, let's make the stakes
real now. I figured out what makes you tick. That's fun. Also,
the rules about staying to your color Jesus Christ. That
that made zero sense.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
It didn't make any sense, and they didn't do it
at all.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
No, exactly. He continuously steps off into the green neck.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
They all do.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
It's just a reason for the other three to stick
to their corners more or less. But they can also
jump to the other sides because Kirk can.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah, none of them.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Say no, no, they step outside the lines continuously. It
was a terrible, terrible Yeah, there's no choreography. It is
very clearly no stunt work. Besides, let's just do roughly
this and this and sort of grapple. I don't just
smash it and then then that thing is going to
break apart and you kill him and throw that and
(26:39):
it's it's rough. It's it's very much from the script
and not from a second series of people actually good
at fighting.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Now on the on the ship, we have Spot trying
to figure out where everybody is.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, that's a long discussion, man, thats filler.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
It does feel filler, and it feels like the characters regressed. Yeah, yeah,
because it's like every like McCoy and Scottie are just
like given Spock shit, and I'm like, y'all have not
like learned to trust as motherfucker a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Like no, But also it is very clear throughout that
there is like, of course we have the dramatic irony
of knowing they're no longer in that solar system. But
the problem is, yeah, Spock's fucking argument makes sense, is logical.
There's no fucking reason to go back because you couldn't
find them there, so why the fuck could you find
(27:40):
them now if you stuck around, right, makes no sense,
So it just makes the human characters seem like dumbasses
next to Spock, which feels it just sort of flattens
those three characters to him being smart because he's logical
and them be dumb because they're emotional, and it's like,
(28:02):
that's not the fun of that. That little triangle, Yeah,
now just takes too long.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
They had some fun dialogue, sure, yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
No, there were some fun zingers, but it just like
from a character perspective, I do get that there's no Brook,
there's no there's just McCoy being a dumb ass stuck
in his ways, Spock doing the right thing eventually because
he's following the fucking clues, and Scotty being around I
guess yeah, I mean on the McCoy side.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Like mother, I did enjoy even though it was out
of character for to some degree for McCoy and Scotty.
When he's like, hey, can we go to warp seven
and Scotty's like, I don't think that's a good idea
because we should do this or whatever, and like Spot
gets up and like walks over and like just like
very quietly like walks him through to the logical conclusion
(28:55):
that oh, are you is this a mutiny? Oh well no, no, sir, ahar.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Are you are you proposing that we just don't listen
to the person in command and you're gonna be punished
in a court martial? Like what are we doing?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yeah, it's it's it's impressive to have characters acting out
of character, but the actors are so good that they
made it work and it was still a very enjoyable
bit it is.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It is fun. It just sort of overstays it welcome
for me where I'm like, okay, we're going back and forth.
I get that, but they should have just arrived a
bit sooner, like it could have been one fewer scene
something like that where it's like, okay, we've covered this ground.
You can combine two of them, I feel like into
one dialogue. It's just like, yeah, there's no reason to
turn back. That's I feel like that's both the second
(29:50):
and the third intermission or something whatever. That's and there's
also and it's also a shame because there's really very
little point to them actually finding Kirk story wise. They
just get held hostage and then it's still Kirk. Like
(30:11):
whether or not they would have been there, Kirk still
has to find his way out of this fucking planet,
this thrall circumstance. So it's it adds very little besides
the character bit that doesn't really add that much to
the characters. But yeah, we're just yeah, we're just analyzing
why it doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Now, I'll tell you this. I did laugh when we
find that when they're escaping. First of all, my favorite
scene may be in the original series, and I never
know which one it is. I can never remember which
one it is. I remember right now, of course, but
in three months, four months, maybe I won't remember again.
(30:52):
He passionately kisses shawna yeah, and then just fucking sucks her.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Did not see that coming. I was just like, wait,
what just did he just? Okay? And I guess this happens.
This was absolutely a moment where my girlfriend was sitting
next to me, and I was like, oh God, how
do I explain this?
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Was the look on her face.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
I didn't dare look away from the screen.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
Oh my god, like, did you're killing me?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I know, I know she was pretty chill about it.
I think she wasn't that interested. I just felt like,
oh God, why is this the thing you're seeing? The Okay,
So when I said I was podcasting to.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Be fair, Yeah, to be fair to Kirk, he had
already tried everything.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah, very little choice.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
He had very little choice. She was not gonna just
be chill nop uh.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
At the same time, I feel like he could have
tried this sooner, like before seducing her, he could have
just fucking knocked her out, stolen the keys and they
would have found out the same way that. Yeah, that
motherfucking Dracula cape is everywhere.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah he really is, He really is, but that's already
been established, like by the trees and everything.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
He also just pops up like he's watching, you know,
motherfuckers is watching.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Going going back to his designing, his design, all their designs,
the design of the set. It is just so gorgeous.
It's so like even the stuff is garish and it's
it looks like an old pulp magazine, like an old
pulse sci fi magazine, especially that dude he looks like.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
And it makes sense, it makes enough sense because it
is like a bunch of different species kidnapped from all
over the galaxy. Like it makes sense that they're all
very different, and like, because you that that's why they
got to have a lot of fun with it, and
that really shows.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
That real tall dude with the teeth.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, got so funny.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
I've pointed him out to my wife. I'm pretty sure
I worked with that guy out of Papa John's one time, like.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Sometimes you have an underbide man now I don't remember, anyway.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
I think he had, probably, but yeah, like it is
just like such a such a timeless iconic look, and yeah,
it looks like it's from the sixties, but also it
looks like it's from the forties. It looks like it's
just from old science fiction. And I love that it.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Looks timeless in that sense that you know it's not
from this fucking century. But like my girlfriend miss judged
the decade, like, yeah, it could have been the eighties
for all I care, Like, as long as it's pulpy
enough to have sort of that budget, like it could
have still looked like that. Just throw on a tin
foiled Bikinia. It is a stable now.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
So yeah, we saw my wife was woke up and
was watching the show with me and saw Kurt kiss
her and then knock her out, and we both just
d We both started howling. This is the funniest ship,
Like oh my god, what.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
It's so stupid. It also like the stunt itself looks
so weird too. It is very much the way he
does it. It's just like it makes it. Yeah, it's
not even the right side of the fists is barely
a punch, and you're like, oh, she's she's a warrior
that's supposedly be able to keep her own against those
(34:32):
other weird ass cavemen. So okay, I guess she's just
knocked out that easily. Uh he made her feel things.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Yeah, she got weak in the knees. Look so makes
the eskate. We find that it's been a plan of theirs,
like they've all got their people tied up. My favorite.
I did laugh at Chekhov having tied up Tamoon and
said this is going to kill our romance, damn it.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
They got Yeah, yeah, that's fair, that's fair. God, it's
a weird episode, but it is. It's fun.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Now now now, now let me say this. I am
pissed at Kirk. I get it, like leading this poor
girl on and then you knock her out, and then
you know, you do the fight of the death like
uh bet with these blinking brains with the protectors. You
(35:35):
free her, yep, and they're gonna the protectors are gonna
be like, you're gonna learn. We're gonna teach you how
to do all this ship. You're gonna toil in the
field and the rock will bruise your heel. We're going
right back to the garden of Eten by the way,
expulsion from Eden. Uh.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
It is very much a oh, you're gonna learn, in
the sense that we're gonna build a civilization from fucking scratch.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Yeah. Uh So then she wants to come with Kirk.
She says, take me with.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
You, yeah, and he's like, go to the fucking stars.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
I can't. And she's like, well then how can I
do it? And he says, all your people must learn
before you can reach for the stars. He doesn't tell
her it's going to take fucking centuries, which it will.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah, yeah, fucking generations like your fucking grand grand grand
grand grandchildren might look up to my grand grand grand
grand grandchildren and meet somewhere. But that's not very useful
to her.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
But I'm going to say this, like, there's a thing
they do on the rest of the Star Trek series,
and I don't know that they've really done and here
yet in the original series. But from where I come from,
that shit that she did when she said take me
with you, that's requesting asylum.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
Ooh, yeah, you're right, that's that's correct.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
And uh, I feel like Jim Kirk should have granted
her asylum if that's what she wanted, especially after leading
her on. But he was like, I wasn't actually really
into you, you know.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Yeah, yeah, he doesn't want to deal with that emotional fallout.
He also doesn't want to have to tell his superiors
that I'm assuming or her to tell anyone, which which
makes sense, but it's yeah, it's shitty, and but indeed
I get that, Like the only reason would be if
he could deny asylum based on the fact that her
planet is now safe and freed just now because of him.
(37:29):
M let's ignore the fact they shouldn't in fear. It's
it's it's it's a shitty situation. But yeah, asylum is
a thing and good it should be.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Yeah. Also, here is this question.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Because it suggests like, oh, this is a military ship,
we can't bring fucking anybody. No, you could call in
a Federation ship to come and help out. You've done
that before. For civilizations. Why why are the brains smart
enough to take care of the without supervision?
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Well, you know, there is an idea, there is past
ability that uh I didn't I haven't seen this anywhere.
I just thought of it. Like, if he takes a thrall,
does that break the agreement with the with the protectors?
Will the Protectors be like oh no, no, no, you
were supposed to.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Take anybody that could could make sense? But also how
do they stop him? They can stop him from leaving
because they can take over the ship, but they can't
hurt him anymore technically because he's gotten rid of the collar.
So right, Colla, the colors, callers whatever.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
At least ask him, is okay if I take her?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Can I can I bring this one along? You know,
not as it not as a slave just just yeah, yeah,
just just sexy times.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
Interesting thing though, considering uh Gene Coon's Colonizer bits with
the Starfleet, there's a bit that Kirk says says, you
will educate and train them to establish a normal, self
governing culture, and then he says we have done the
same with cultures throughout the galaxy. Ooh, what happened to
(39:05):
the prime directive Kirk fucking nothing. Who don't like that?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Boy?
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah, I mean do it but yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
Absolutely we have. But it is it does very much
suggest that the Federation sees itself as bringing civilization wherever
we heard that before from the US, and so it
has that that definitely that that connotation, that that undertone
where it's not not just letting people figure it out. No, no,
(39:39):
you have to teach them the way of civilization. But
we know it doesn't have to go by human development,
but it does because we're normative like that and we
want it to go our way. It is, there is
that double standard, there's there's a hypocrisy and yeah, yucky,
yucky yucky.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah uh let me say though, uh to Angelique Petty
John's credit m h for a lady with some teased out,
toxic green hair and in a tinfoil bikini.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Yeah uh.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
When she looks up at the stars, that says goodbye,
Jim Kirk. I will learn and watch the light the
lights in the sky and remember as those tears streamed
down her face.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Fuck that that cry was good. Like she's selling her like, yeah,
she's she's she's giving it.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Her all out. I was damn how she became a
good actress right here.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Yeah. No, she wasn't like given a lot necessarily, but
that was something she definitely sold. I mean, the tears
might have just been drops.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I don't know they weren't. I've actually got an answer
for what happened, how she was ready to do it.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Okay, so let's go.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
We're gonna talk about it. We're gonna get into this
the trivia here. Uh So, the original title was The
Gamesters of Pental Pentathlawn. I can't say that Flawn Jesus
Christ Pentaflaw.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
But they could only afford three sides, so you know,
never mind, we only have three brains.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
First draft script from May first, nineteen sixty seven, or
her His Drill Thrall was originally written as a large,
muscular black man, but Robert Justman complained that it would
reinforce the different but equal policies presented in some network
programs and opted to cast a white actor in the
role instead. Thank you, Robert Jusman.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
Thank goodness. Yeah no, that would have been besides this
selection then being very against missagenation for some reason, like
it would have been weird. It would have been weird,
Mark trying to have that that giant do be be
a white guy yea, instead of just casting the black
Eye as the brute.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Absolutely, it's not great good. Margaret armand Margaret Ormand's original
script featured a slithering vine named a Delkavine, grabbing Shauna
and tossing her into a pond, and Kirk having to
rescue her by wrestling the tentacle vine. Robert Justman found
this idea much beyond the scope of the series budget,
(42:17):
and the scene was scrapped. Gene Nelson was the first
new director to be hired for the second season. All
previous episodes of the season were directed by either Joseph Pevney,
Mark Daniels, or Ralph Seneski. Absolutely, despite finishing on schedule
and leaving a good impression on the producers, he was
never asked to direct more episodes, as.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
If he was like he did what he could with
his script man like he was just handed a bad episode.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
Come on why. When asked why his character was never
developed more, George de Kay stated that one episode of
Star Trek would have developed would have helped to develop
Zulu very much, and that was the Gamesters of Trisk.
The first draft of this episode did feature Sulu. However,
to Kay was away on location in Georgia for the
(43:07):
filming of The Green Berets, and despite his intentions to
appear in the episode, he was unable to return to
Los Angeles to make the appearance due to complications on
the film set. Much to Takay's disappointment, he did not
appear in this episode. Yet despite this, to Kay said quote,
things turned out well anyway. I got to do The
Green Berets and they rewrote all of Sulu's lines for Chekhov,
so Walter got a good break. And to that, I
(43:30):
wish I could say to George to Kay, have you
watched this episode?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (43:35):
What the fuck? Character development? Did you think you were getting?
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Fuckle? It would have been screen time period, that would
have been it, and it would have been fun to
have Sulu there. But like that, and I guess you,
but you would have had to rework a lot because
Chekhov is, you know, more of a Klotz, more of
a He's more comic relief than Sulu could have been.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
Yeah, he could.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Sulu could have been awkward around the woman the same way,
but he wouldn't have Like outside of that, I don't know, man,
it would have.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
I don't think they played.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Enough less the vibe, I guess, but.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
I don't think they played enough into what makes check
Off funny. Yeah, on his own character wise, like I
think I can absolutely just see Sulu being like, oh, ma'am,
you know, like the same stupid joke, the same.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, no, that's that's fair, But it would
have rang different. Like I feel as soon as you
involve Chekhov in this way, the whole thing becomes lighter
in the sense that I am less willing to take
it seriously. It does add to the like if it
was Sulu, I feel like it would have been like, oh,
(44:48):
you're kind of taking a piss out of Sulu and
and nobody's really you know. It wouldn't have added a
fucking thing to his character. It would have just been
harder to go, oh, this is this is a comic
relief episode of just yeah, random shit in action and
no fucking thought.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Mm hmm. I agree. So this is the first episode
ending with a Paramount Television logo instead of the Desi
Lee logo after Dazilie was sold to Paramount Pictures.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Uh huh, I should have paid attention, didn't watch the
crowds far enough.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
Apparently, now here's the big one. Here's the thing I
was talking about earlier, according to Angelique Petty John, and
this I have found this corroborated. The producer came in
during lunchtime and made an announcement to the cast of
the crew that he was sorry to say that the
network had canceled the series. Oh and then everyone was
(45:42):
very depressed. And so the last two days of shooting,
everyone was kind of down around the set because of that,
and because they all loved working together so much. On
my she says, on my last day of shooting, I
had a particular speech where I said, goodbye, Jim Kirk.
I will watch the Lights of the Sky and remember,
and I had several tears in my eyes. And those
tears were real at the time, because I was thinking
(46:04):
as my motivation as an actress that seriously, it was
goodbye to star Trek. I will watch the film and
the Lights of the Sky and I will remember this
experience with all of you, and it meant a great
deal to me. And I cried at that, and that's
how I meant it, because I knew that the series
wasn't going to be shooting anymore. It was literally like
they were not going to be able to shoot another episode.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Hot damn.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Now, this was a cancelation that was so short lived
that it happened. It happened before the famous letter writing
campaign by the fans, and within two days NBC reversed
that decision and ordered eight more episodes to complete the
second season. Yeah, but they came in and said we done.
This is it? So she thought this was the series
(46:46):
finale of the show.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Yeah, yeah, oh wow, well that worked out. Yeah, but no,
so but like, wait, how many was it already re
uncanceled before she like shot that? Or what's that after?
Speaker 1 (47:06):
No, well she shot it and then a few days
later they came back in.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
Yeah, no, I thought it at first, I thought like
a few days after it had been canceled, being three
days before she shot that. Whatever. I was trying to
do the math. But no, no, no, okay, good because
otherwise it would have been an extra fuck to just know,
let her believe this is the final shot of the show.
She needs that motivation.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
Yeah we now. Uh yeah, that was pretty much the
best bit of the whole episode.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Yeah, it's it really ended on a good note for
that reason alone. Yeah, but yeah, everything before that is
just it felt like a long hour. I think I
watched it in two sittings because I was just like, Okay,
I get it, We're finding I'm going to go to
the bathroom for a bit, and then got distracted by
my phone for half an hour, you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
Of course, sometimes your brain needs an escape patch.
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, and the escape patch usually tends to be the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
About about this is a terrible episode.
Speaker 2 (48:09):
Start, Oh gosh, I suddenly need to be I feel
the arch to go sit in a different room.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
For some reason, for some reason, probably because of all
the iconic imagery, it will be the one that everyone
mentions on TV shows for decades.
Speaker 2 (48:24):
It's that or the Giant Lizard Man that was also
a great episode. Yeah, yeah, it tends to be how
it goes. Yeah, but like you said, it is also
because the production value suddenly seems far more interested in
doing weird shit when they need to bridge that gap
left by the plot holes.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
Yeah. If it's not gonna be good, by god, it's
gonna be remembered.
Speaker 2 (48:46):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
Yeah, all right, I don't think I have anything else
in this episode. How do you feel me neither.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
I'm just I'm happy to move on. It's it's not
a great one, but it is like, yeah, yeah, at
least we had the bikini to look at. I guess.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Yeah. Well, so next time on the Star Trek Universe
Classic Rewatch, first Watch, I won't keep the premise of
the next episode under shroud. Captain Kirk must face guilt
and a Vampire Cloud. We're doing Star Trek to eighteen obsession.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
I'm looking forward to it, no clue.
Speaker 1 (49:29):
I just like this. I like saying vampire Cloud does
that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
It does sound ridiculous. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (49:36):
Let's go. So until then, Joelan True, live long and
prosper and of course.
Speaker 2 (49:44):
Eat a dick. People eat a dick. I'm plank on
that clip. I added it in.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
Yeah you got it, I did, I got it.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
Got an extra clip in there. Always always a good
addition to an episode.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yeah, always, always, always.
Speaker 2 (50:05):
Always remember the clip.
Speaker 4 (50:08):
Thank you for listening to The Star Trek Universe Podcast,
a Stranded Panda production. If you'd like to hear more
from David c. Robertson, check out the DC on Screen
podcast or Malagus dot tv for his web videos. If
you'd like to hear more from Matthew Carroll, check out
the Marvel Cinematic Universe podcast, or listen to his music.
(50:28):
Just search for Matthew Carroll anywhere you get music