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Old 10-04-2018, 01:35 PM
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October 4th, 1968, "The Paradise Syndrome"

Fiver (by Kristina)
Transcript
Memory Alpha


I'm going to sound negative, but let me say that this is another episode that has good character work and works more or less okay if you take it in isolation from all other episodes. It's a shame that there are so many episodes in TOS that only work if you do this, particularly where the Prime Directive is concerned.



The Episode

Key points:
* Why is the Enterprise saving a prewarp society? That seems like anti-Prime Directive behavior, especially given events from "Pen Pals" and "Homeward."
* Why is our crew here when there's such a slim safety margin before they have to go off and divert the asteroid?
* Even if the Preservers seeded all these planets with humanoid species, did they really transplant similar plant species as well?
* Kirk suddenly wanting a simpler life is just silly. He had to actively choose this life many many times until now. How many girlfriends has he had that he could've married?

SPOCK: An alien metal of some kind. An alloy resistant to probe. Readings can't even measure its age accurately.

Thank you! For once the writers remembered that it's enough to say that an object is hard to scan. You don't have to keep claiming miraculous properties when it's not required.

SPOCK: Doctor, that asteroid is almost as large as your Earth's moon.

The largest asteroid on record is Ceres, which is nowhere near the size of Luna. The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was less than 10 miles across. Yet another example of the writers not doing their research and throwing impossible numbers around to impress the ignorant viewer.

MCCOY: Back to that planet? Without warp speed, it'll take months, Spock.
SPOCK: Exactly fifty nine point two two three days, Doctor, and that asteroid will be four hours behind us all the way.

So you're telling me that not one Starfleet or Earth ship can get here in less than two months? Not one?

SPOCK: The obelisk is a marker, just as I thought. It was left by a super-race known as the Preservers. They passed through the galaxy rescuing primitive cultures which were in danger of extinction and seeding them, so to speak, where they could live and grow.
MCCOY: I've always wondered why there were so many humanoids scattered through the galaxy.
SPOCK: So have I. Apparently the Preservers account for a number of them.

It seems odd that the Preservers would put their mission statement on their technology.

The Fiver

Kirk: We should alert them. Hey, here's an ancient instrument -- Mr. Tambourine Man!
McCoy: Hold the singing, Jim, and let's go look at the obelisk again.

Time to inflict Shatner's singing on you.

McCoy: Warp out of orbit? With the Captain still missing?
Spock: If we can deflect the asteroid from far away, we won't need to use the Force.
McCoy: But the captain is missing! Do we consult a spirit guide or what?
Spock: I am certain Mr Scott will be happy to talk about whisky once our mission is accomplished.

I get the chain of humor here, but the shift changes are a bit abrupt. Cue transmission joke. Don't get me wrong, there's solid writing elsewhere in the fiver.

Memory Alpha

* TOS episode that covers the longest time period.
* In the remastered version phasers were replaced with a beam from the deflector dish, similar to instances in TNG.

Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil is also confused about the basic mission; especially given that it's likely that another asteroid will impact the planet eventually. Is Starfleet going to send a ship every time one is heading for the planet?
* Whether or not parallel development is to be expected keeps changing from episode to episode. Wasn't Hodgkin's Law specifically invented so they don't have to waste time with this stuff?
* Phil wonders how they'll fix the warp drive without access to a starbase. I'd say that another ship could tow them, but then I'd have to ask why the script couldn't just say that the next ship won't get here in time.












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Last edited by Nate the Great; 10-04-2018 at 01:48 PM.
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