re: Star Trek: TOS Watchers - S2 - Return to Tomorrow *Page 14*

Cool episode. Sure seems from the circumstances Scotty must be guilty. And due to his lack of memory, Scotty even admits it's possible he could've killed without remembering.


*Spoilers*


















The Jack the Ripper angle was interesting. Reminded me a little of Who Mourns for Adonis? in that some mythical historical character was in reality an alien. Also reminded me a bit of Day of the Dove where another creature got sustenance from some kind of airborne energy.

Favorite quotes:


Kirk: Bones, what would happen if that thing entered a tranquilized body?

McCoy: Well, it might take up knitting, nothing more violent than that.

Bump.

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I think this is one of the weaker efforts so far.

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I always liked it.

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Also the fight scenes with Piglet, err Hiengist they use an obvious stunt double.

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TOS used lots of obvious stunt doubles. However, I understand the criticism.

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ETA If this thing kills 3 women in such short order (a day, fews hours?) why did it only kill 5 women in London over a longer period and why leave there?

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Once you go down this path - you're giving up on science fiction. Besides - the thing didn't need to actually kill, just generate fear upon which to feed. Killing was just a tool for that, although it obviously enjoyed the intense fear of its female victims right before death. He had just relocated to this planet and was establishing himself - he saw the opportunity to blame a new rash of killings on these strangers.

Plausible.

Let's talk about the other guest stars:



Born in the Phillipines as Rita Hernandez, Pilar Seurat's character Sybo is the third and final female victim in the episode. Another veteran television actor, she retired in the 1970s and died relatively young, at 62.

Her son, Dean Devlin, is a big-time writer/producer, having written Stargate (with Roland Emmerich), Independence Day (sole credit) and Godzilla (1998) (also with Roland Emmerich), among others, and his production credits include all of the above as well as films like The Patriot, Eight Legged Freaks and Flyboys. He was also an executive producer on the tv series Leverage.

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so i find one plot i think has holes and I'm giving up on the genre?

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Fair enough.

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Really kind of a Deus ex machina resolution to get Scotty off and solve one of the most infamous crimes in Earth history in the process.

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I don't see it this way, at least not completely - it was clearly what they were going for from the start - this thing is here, killing people, and Scotty is getting the blame. The reveal/resolution of the real bad guy seems organic and, although cliche, not really a Deus ex machina.

I agree they went over the top with the Jack the Ripper - I guess they were drinking in the writing room -

When I think of Deus ex machina laziness in Star Trek, I think of Spock's inner eyelid in "Immunity Syndrome" or about half the first season of TNG, where they dig themselves/find themselves in a big hole, and Wesley miraculously saves them at the climactic scene. "Deus ex Wesley"

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Also Spock's "logic" is way off when he suggests it seems unlikely to be able to kill in the most populous city without being detected. That's exactly the kind of place its easy to get away with.

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I don't disagree with this. But, recall that Spock often imposes a Vulcan mental model on human behavior. It is logical to assume that the more people around criminal activity, the more likely it is to be observed - if all of those people are Vulcans.

So, his logic is wrong because he doesn't fully understand humans - which he admits, often.

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When I think of Deus ex machina laziness in Star Trek, I think of Spock's inner eyelid in "Immunity Syndrome" or about half the first season of TNG, where they dig themselves/find themselves in a big hole, and Wesley miraculously saves them at the climactic scene. "Deus ex Wesley"

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I got give you that one, Deus Ex Wesley was pretty bad

The first 2 1/2 years of TNG, save 2 maybe 3 episodes are pretty meh.

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recall that Spock often imposes a Vulcan mental model on human behavior. It is logical to assume that the more people around criminal activity, the more likely it is to be observed - if all of those people are Vulcans.

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That's an interesting point

*THE CHANGELING*



I am Nomad.

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Though it may have the distinction of being the first time that Captain Kirk used his patented "make the computer (or robot) insane and blow itself up" trick.

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Actually - Kirk talked Landru to death in Season 1's "Return of the Archons".

However, this dovetails nicely with a guest star from our previous episode - Charles Macauley played the human representation of Landru in that episode and appeared as Prefect Jaris in "A Wolf in the Fold".

Second only to his perceived womanizing, Kirk is probably most famous for this tactic - talking a computer or artificial intelligence to death - even unintentionally in the 3rd season's "Requeim for Methusalah".

And - yes, there is little question this story has significant parallels with V'Ger and the overall plot of TMP.

Vic Perrin - yet another Twilight Zone and Outer Limits alum voices Nomad in this episode. He was the Control Voice for The Outer Limits.

He is best known to TOS fans for providing the voice (but not image) of the Metron in "Arena", the voice of Nomad in this episode and his live portrayal of Tharn, in both universes, in "Mirror, Mirror". Particularly from the late 60s on, his career was marked by fewer and fewer live roles and more voice work for cartoons and science fiction products.

(From "Mirror, Mirror")

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What is VGer?

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A very similar, but much larger, artificial life form caused by the fusion of an Earth-based Voyager probe and an alien device, which was the primary villain in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Ah, Ace referenced TMP, but I assumed it was 2 different things. I've never bothered to watch it because it was so universally panned

Does sound like a rip off of this episode.