1×20 – Court Martial

Premise: After surviving an ion storm, the Enterprise is orbiting Starbase 11 for repairs. One man was killed in the storm – Lt. Commander Finney, who had been aboard a research pod. Kirk submits a testimony that he jettisoned the pod after red alert, but the ship’s log shows he did so before red alert. Finney’s daughter and other officers at the Starbase all think Kirk murdered Finney. Kirk is put on trial…

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16:15 – The computer in the courtroom reads Spock’s credentials:

Spock
Serial number: S179-276FP
Service rank: Lieutenant Commander
Position: First Officer, Science Officer
Current assignment: USS Enterprise
Commendations: Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor, Awards of Valor, Twice Decorated by Star Fleet Command

I want to learn more about the “Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor” – it sounds pretty awesome. Think they have a yearly research symposium?

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Vulcanian vs Vulcan

17:45 – Spock calls himself a “Vulcanian.” Is this interchangeable with “Vulcan”?

Spock: “I’m half Vulcanian. Vulcanians do not speculate.”

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18:00 – Spock defends Kirk’s honor, like a good first officer (and good friend) should.

Spock: “Gentlemen, human beings have characteristics, just as inanimate objects do. It is impossible for Captain Kirk to act out of panic, or malice. It is not his nature.”
Prosecutor: “In your opinion.”
Spock: [Unhappy with the qualifier, but acquiescing.] “Yes. In my opinion.”

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45:30 – Hooray, it’s the return of ripped-shirt Kirk! Finney has sabotaged the Enterprise, and Kirk has moments to “effect repairs” before the ship falls out of orbit and burns up in the planet’s atmosphere. Apparently, “effecting repairs” consists of nothing but crawling through a tunnel and yanking a few rubber tubes out of the wall.

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49:20 – A shot of our threesome at the helm:

Star Trek References – The X-Files, Criminal Minds

I’ve been sitting around watching way too much TV this evening. To my surprise, both The X-Files and Criminal Minds brought me back to Star Trek!

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The X-Files, Demons:

Mulder: “You’re a doctor, not a lawyer, Scully.”

OK, this obviously isn’t intended to be a Star Trek reference, but for the rest of my life, every time I hear someone say “I’m a doctor” or “You’re a doctor,” I’m going to think of Bones.

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Criminal Minds, Compulsion:

Garcia: “Okay you know how on Star Trek when captain Kirk asks McCoy to do something totally impossible and McCoy says ‘Dammit Jim I’m a doctor, not a miracle worker?’”
Morgan: “Hey, what are you telling me, not to expect a miracle?”
Garcia: “No, I’m saying I’m not a doctor.”

Here are two more Criminal Minds Star Trek references:

1×19 – Tomorrow is Yesterday

Premise: After accidentally traveling back in time to 1969, the Enterprise rescues USAF Captain John Christopher from his crippled fighter jet. The crew struggles to return to their own time, while simultaneously returning Christopher to the Air Force, removing his knowledge of the future, and all record of contact with the Enterprise. (I took this from Wikipedia…too lazy to write my own summary this time.)

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My first thought — oops, did I put on the wrong show? I’m not certain, but I think every episode so far has started with a shot of the Enterprise. This episode begins with a shot of an Air Force jet. But soon I realize that we are on Earth in the 60s – somehow the Enterprise has traveled back in time! Look at how adorable the cardboard cut-out Enterprise looks against the blue sky:

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3:00 – Ooh, it’s a Spock/Uhura moment! Er, sort of. Uhura is lying pitifully on the floor, after the ship has been violently rocked by a cosmic event. Spock asks “Are you alright, Lieutenant?” Then, in one swift and rather unsympathetic motion, he hoists her up and puts her back in her chair, revealing a sliver of her white underwear in the process. Be a little more gentle, Spock!

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13:03 – Eye roll!! We’ve got some blatant sexism here…but that’s part of the charm of Star Trek, right? The ship’s computer is broken – it’s stuck speaking in a sexy female voice, and it keeps calling Jim “Dear.” Spock gives a huge eye-roll (which unfortunately is too difficult to capture in a still). The computer is “affectionate” and “has an unfortunate tendency to giggle.” Spock gives a second mini eye roll when he explains that the computer was previously repaired on a female dominated-planet where they gave it a personality – “female, of course.” Their disdain for the female computer is irksome, but I’ll admit I wouldn’t want my computer talking to me in a phone sex voice either.

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25:35 – We learn that Spock is an amazing multitasker and can do complex theoretical mathematics in his head. Spock is standing at a podium with his hands behind his back when a frantic McCoy comes up and asks him a few questions. Then McCoy interrupts Spock’s answer:

McCoy: “Shouldn’t you be working on your time warp calculations, Mr. Spock?!?”
[Pause]
Spock: [Eyebrow raise] “I am.”

McCoy looks shocked and annoyed. Ha.

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31:00 – This is a hilarious fight sequence – you have to watch it. It makes me want to take a stage fighting class. The best part is when Kirk leaps into the guards’ arms:

I also love his skillful jump over a crawling guard:

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38:24 – Sulu performs an amazing neck-chop that seems to work equally well as the Vulcan nerve pinch:

Baby Boomers, admit it – you tried both the neck-chop and the nerve-pinch on your friends. And someone always wound up crying.

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38:50 – Spock touches Jim’s hand!!! After Jim punches out another guard, Spock takes Jim’s wrist and asks, “Don’t you find that painful, Captain?” Jim’s response: “Yes, I do.”

Cute cute cute!

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Just a nice picture of Spock with a new hand position:

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Note: Vulcan nerve pinch #4 and #5 occur in this episode.

Back in Action – For Real This Time!

Hello! As you can tell, I kind of let this blog go by the wayside during the summer and fall. But I just re-watched the movie on DVD with my dad, and it reminded me how much I love the characters – Spock especially, of course. So I am going to continue my journey through TOS! Thank you soooo much for the positive feedback you’ve given me on my previous posts.

I’ll write more about the movie later, but here’s one question I have upon seeing it for the 3rd time – why does Spock Prime just wait around on Delta Vega for Vulcan to be destroyed? If he knows there is a Starfleet outpost on the planet, why doesn’t he go there to warn everyone about Nero? It seems as though he’d been stranded on Delta Vega for 25 years, so he had plenty of time to prevent billions of people from dying. Is this just a plot flaw? Other than this, I am pretty impressed with the alternate reality plot and how it still allows the original crew to come together.

Back from Hiatus

As you may have noticed, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted on this blog. I spent the summer in a different city doing a very time-consuming internship, and needless to say, Hot4Spock slipped down a bit on my priority list. But now I’m back at grad school and I will have some good pockets of time in which to continue my Star Trek Journey. Hooray! Last night I saw a rerun of the William Shatner roast on Comedy Central, which was just the nudge I needed to start watching episodes again.

Thank you for your comments on my posts! Knowing that at least a few people read this blog motivates me to keep posting. I hope to write posts on several more episodes over the weekend.

1×18 – Arena

Premise: Kirk and his team beam down to a colony called Cestus III and are alarmed to find it’s been destroyed. The Enterprise attempts to chase down and destroy the alien ship that attacked the colony, but both ships are abruptly disabled when they enter the territory of an alien race called the Metrons. The Metrons pit Captain Kirk in a fight-to-the-death with the captain of the other ship, with the rule that the winner’s ship will be set free and the loser’s ship will be destroyed.

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Between the theme song and the 10:30-mark, we get a pretty cool war scene on Cestus III. It’s always fun to see Kirk & Spock rolling in the dirt, ducking behind barriers, and dodging grenades.

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15:45 – Kirk wants to destroy the alien vessel that attacked Cestus III. Spock tries to argue against killing any form of life, but Kirk isn’t in the mood to hear any Vulcan viewpoints:

Spock: “The destruction of the alien vessel will not help that colony, Jim.”
Kirk: “If the aliens go unpunished, they’ll be back – attacking other Federation installations.”
Spock: “I merely suggest that a regard for sentient life–”
Kirk: [Interrupting, snapping at Spock] “There’s no time for that.” [Gets up from his chair and stands next to Spock, speaking in a softer tone] “It’s a matter of policy. Out here we’re the only policemen around. And a crime has been committed. Do I make myself clear?”
Spock: “Very clear, Captain.”
Kirk: “I’m delighted, Mr. Spock.”

Oh, Kirk…. When Spock calls you “Jim,” you’re supposed to listen. Instead, you’re taking out your frustration on your faithful first officer.

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23:10 – Kirk is suddenly whisked away from the bridge by the Metrons, and Uhura lets out a fantastic high-pitched scream! Then we get our first glimpse of the foe that Kirk is going to have to battle:

Bahahahahahaha. It’s a plastic-headed dragon with disco-ball eyes!!! I like his neck scarf – very fancy. He dressed for the occasion.

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37:00 – The Metrons beam a live recording (streaming video?) of Kirk’s battle onto the bridge, so the crew can prepare for Kirk’s death. Everyone sees Kirk limping across some rocks, looking exhausted and disheveled. I’m trying to find an expression of worry on Spock’s face, but he doesn’t really show it. I guess he has to remain brave and calm for his crew. Everyone else looks worried, especially Uhura.

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The funniest thing about this episode is that Kirk manages to create a gun-like weapon out of nothing but potassium nitrate, sulfur, coal, diamonds, and a bamboo-like plant. Amazing!

Trekkie vs. Trekker

When I first started this blog, I wasn’t sure whether to call myself a Trekkie or a Trekker. In my life before Star Trek, I’d heard the term “Trekkie” much more often, and of I’d heard of the film Trekkies. So I that’s what I chose. According to Wikipedia, “Science Fiction editor Arthur W. Saha applied the term “trekkies” when he saw a few fans of the first season of Star Trek wearing pointy ears at a science fiction convention” back in 1967. So it seems that Trekkie came before Trekker, which would make it the original, correct term. However Wikipedia also tells me that “in the 1991 TV show Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special, Leonard Nimoy attempts to settle the issue by stating that the term ‘Trekker’ is the correct one.” Whatever LN says, goes!

I’ve perused the web on the subject and found a lot of contradiction. According to one web site, “Trekker” refers to someone who takes a more intellectual approach to the show, nitpicks the scientific accuracy, and appreciates the writing, production, etc., while “Trekkie” refers to someone who is more obsessed with the characters, storylines, and entire fictional Star Trek universe. In that case, I’m a little of both!

In my search, I also came across a clip of the the William Shatner “Get a Life” sketch from SNL, in which the fans are referred to as “Trekkers” by the convention leader.

I hope that the Trekkers out there aren’t scoffing at my self-proclaimed Trekkie-ness. Which term do you prefer?