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Old 12-06-2018, 01:35 PM
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December 6th, 1968, "The Empath"


Fiver (by Kristina)

Transcript
Memory Alpha


The Episode

* As a prelude, I understand how this is such a good trinity episode for our leads, but I wonder how some of the others would've responded to this situation and Gem.
* Once again, good character work, horrible science. Henceforth I'll just mark these with GCWHS, okay?

* I find it interesting, this idea that 2% of telepathic races can only receive thoughts, not send them. What a horrible state of affairs. You'd think they'd evolve telepathic shields. Worthless aside, I refer you to the excellent TNG novel Guises of the Mind. After a horrible war using mind weapons in the distant past, the telepathic natives evolved unlockable telepathic shields to survive. Only the priests have even partial telepathy, and it takes a bunch of them to unlock the telepathic shields of the king. You've heard of good Troi episodes, this is a good Troi book.
* They use the word "empath" differently in this episode than in NextGen. Incidentally, Wiktionary agrees with NextGen and not this episode. There is a secondary meaning of "empathy" that fits more with what Gem does, but "empath" is strictly sensing emotions.
* They see an illusion of Scotty and a landing party. It hasn't been 72 hours yet!
* Later on McCoy describes Gem's abilities as something closer to Rogue's, but even then she doesn't replicate wounds exactly, that was weird.

* McCoy can't adjust a tricorder? Huh? He may not be a lover of technology, but there are a lot of mechanical things that he has to know to do his job. Of course I'd still consider him assisting Scotty in "Mirror, Mirror" to be beyond his normal abilities.
* The idea that humans in the future still know relatively obscure Bible facts is interesting. Sure Gene, all humans are atheists in the future!


The Fiver

McCoy: Looks like we've reached a spare room.
Kirk: Spare Oom? Strange name for a strange place. We should be watching out for war drobes.
McCoy: Which wardrobe? Next you'll be telling me you saw a lion.
Kirk: Honest, Bones, I ain't a-lyin'. Hey, a babe!


Odd place for Narnia jokes, but okay. Here's a link to the end of the first Narnia movie with the wardrobe and Spare Oom.


Spock: It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.


Not as we know it, not as we know it. It's life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, Captain.


Kirk: Who are you? What do you want?
Lal: We're neither Vorlons nor Shadows; we are Vians. You are of little interest to us.
Kirk: Yet you killed Linke and Ozaba.
Thann: Their fears killed them; we did not. Show us how passionate you are.
Kirk: Impassion this -- (ZAP) OW!



Vorlons and Shadows are from Babylon 5, I know that much. I had to look up that Linke and Ozaba are actually the names of the scientists; I was expecting those to be characters from an anime or something.
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