[Nate the Great]

December 1st, 1967, "Friday's Child"

Fiver (by Scooter)
Transcript
Memory Alpha

The Episode

Let's get this taken care of right off the bat: another prewarp culture that our crew is visiting because there's a material critical to ship's systems there. No mention of the Prime Directive, and the locals don't seem to have been affected all that much by the knowledge that aliens exist. Ugh.

That being said, if you ignore the PD this episode at least was entertaining and had good characterization for our regulars.

MAAB: Halt! You are of the Earth vessel?

Insert another reference to Azetbur's homo sapiens-only club quote, moving on...

GRANT: A Klingon!
KIRK: Grant, no!
(Too late. A Capellan kills him with a kligat.)

One, why didn't the redshirts get briefed on this culture? Two, last time I checked we aren't at war with the Klingon Empire, so why was Grant attacking without being ordered to by Kirk (this wasn't a self-defense situation)?

CHEKOV: It's just at the edge of our sensor range, sir. Hard to get an exact reading.
SULU: You think it's a Klingon ship?
SCOTT: Who else would be playing cat and mouse with a starship?

The Romulans, the Tholians, the Orions...

MCCOY: They're offering you a chance for combat. They consider it more pleasurable than love.

I didn't remember this line. Kind of icky if you ask me. I'm also reminded of O'Brien refuting "latinum lasts longer than lust" by saying that lust can be a lot more fun.

KRAS: A small scout ship, Captain. We need the mineral, too. I was sent to negotiate.

This is a nonaligned world, right? A prewarp nonaligned world, but let's pretend that the Prime Directive doesn't exist for a minute. Being nonaligned means that until the Capellans join one side or another (extremely unlikely since this culture seems to be clan-based with no central government) they can sell their tormaline to both sides if they want, right?

UHURA: I have the signal clear now, Mister Scott. It is a distress call. It's from the SS Dierdre.
SCOTT: Dierdre? That's a freighter.
UHURA: Reporting they're under attack. They're running, trying to manoeuvre. It's a Klingon vessel attacking.

It's a shame that saucer separation doesn't seem to be a routine procedure. It'd be nice to leave the saucer in orbit and take the stardrive to rescue the freighter, right?

SCOTT: We were forced to leave Capella to aid a Federation vessel under attack by a Klingon vessel. We were unable to contact our landing party before we were forced to answer the distress signal. Our inability to reach the landing party is strange and I am concerned.

So...beam down another set of security officers to assess the situation and help Kirk if necessary? And maybe send down a subspace transmitter with them? Or even send them down in a shuttlecraft, possibly commanded by Sulu? Give Kirk some backup and support?

SCOTT: A vessel doesn't just disappear.

Stupid line. At the very least Romulan cloaking devices have been seen by now.

ELEEN: McCoy. Bring our child.
KIRK: Our child?
MCCOY: I'll explain later.
SPOCK: That should prove very interesting.

Yeah, it will!

SCOTT: There's an old, old saying on Earth, Mister Sulu. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
CHEKOV: I know this saying. It was invented in Russia. (he smirks to himself)

Chekov's only been around half a season, and already even he knows that his Russian declarations are only a diversion.

SPOCK: Oochy-woochy coochy-coo, Captain?
KIRK: An obscure Earth dialect, Mister Spock. Oochy-woochy coochy-coo. If you're curious, consult linguistics.

Imagine that conversation with Uhura!

SPOCK: The child was named Leonard James Akaar?
MCCOY: Has a kind of a ring to it, don't you think, James?
KIRK: Yes. I think it's a name destined to go down in galactic history, Leonard. What do you think, Spock?
SPOCK: I think you're both going to be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month, sir.

I betcha it was longer than that!

The Fiver

McCoy: Let me check you over. I mean, examine you.
Eleen: You I will let touch me, because you're ugly and asexual, like a postmenopausal woman.
McCoy: Thanks. Well, you seem all right. In fact, you have the reflexes of a catwoman.

I think you meant "check you out". Nice subtle Batman reference.

Spock: Our escape has bought us some time, but the Capellans will soon be after us. I suggest --
Kirk: Wait. Spock, were you here all this time?
Spock: Just because I haven't had a line in this fiver --!

Nice metajoke, but I probably would've tweaked the last line to "it's illogical to assume that I wasn't here just because this is my first line in the fiver."

Spock: So she named the child Leonard James Akeer? How revolting.
McCoy: Well, it would've been cruel to name him Spock Akeer.
Kirk: Sure, the other kids would have thought he had a stutter.
(Spock fumes at Kirk and McCoy's smugness at Ludicrous Speed)

Hehe.

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The ending