Please no spoilers! So that I can provide my best and most honest reaction, please do not mention the names of any future characters, events, or episode titles (this goes for future series as well). Please do not say which upcoming episodes are good or bad, otherwise I will have trouble forming my own opinion! Thank you, and enjoy!
They established McCoy as a compassionate and loveable character from the start. Spock represented the logical, unflappable element while Bones represented the empathic, emotional side. Kirk was the man of action who was a balance of the two. That triangle became central to Star Trek's stories.
Kirk put him in the fire before he was ready ( promoted him wayyy TOO fast )and instead of correcting his BAD mistake,he pawns BAILEY off on an ALIEN stranger they just met mere minutes ago. Very bad COMMAND decision on personnel. But,I've seen much,much worse in the army and navy,while I served. LOL.
@@indetigersscifireview4360 The navy is more technical and they treat their personnel a little bit better than the army.The army is much more physically driven,pt is done every morning ( you most definitely have to stay in shape ) if you fail a pt test,you can't get promoted,won't get a 3 day pass,etc,etc,..until you pass the next pt test.The army's schools for leadership are so much better also.The army has more schools and training programs you can apply to also: Jump-School,Air-Assault,Army-Rangers,etc,etc,.. just to name a few.Both branches like to play mind-games too.
18:44 "Captain, request permission to-" "Denied. If I'm wrong, if it's a trap, I want you here." You've got to appreciate the vote of _confidence._ Kirk and Spock have their _disagreements,_ but they _trust_ each other.
I miss when shows portrayed people able to disagree in a civil manner. In the so-called "Star Trek" shows they make now, such disagreements tend to end in fistfights or mutiny. There's even a scene in one TOS episode that almost seems like it's directly mocking that.
The music in this show doesn’t get the respect it deserves. This is why I love watching a favorite show through new eyes with someone. Even after all these years we see something worth appreciating.
1nd officer is also the only one that can officialy challange a decision a captain make without seen as unrespectful (beside the leading doctor who can for medical reasons overturn a captians decision and deem him unfit for work). Of course the captain has the last word and it should be done outside of sight of crew members if possible but you will see that 1st officers will give captains often other options and make their thoughts heard to give captains someone to discuss witout compromizing the captains authorothy towards the crew.
@@autdelux Not entirely accurate. Once the commanding officer makes a decision, no one except the chief medical officer can challenge that, and then, only on the basis that the CO is for some reason incompetent. (NOT something done lightly, and something directly discussed in a later episode involving a particular commodore). ANYONE can "challenge" the CO prior yo his final order being given. I served as an intelligence officer in real life, with my duty being to advise the CO on the external situation, most notably on the enemy. I would have been negligent if I failed to "challenge" an order by the CO which would put our troops within range of enemy artillery and in the open, for example. The trick is, the CO is the one with final say. NO ONE can refuse any lawful order issued to them by their commanding officer. To fo so is mutiny, and in time of war, in real life, is a potential capital offense. In fact, the reason officers are issued sidearms (handguns) is not for combat... they're nearly useless for that. No, the sidearm is there to deal with anyone who commits mutiny in battle, when arresting them is not an option and other lives are at immediate risk. In the navy, this is usually less of a concern, but battlefield mutiny in the Army or marines can be catastrophic, breaking a defense or collapsing an attack. Thousands of lives could be lost due to one person refusing to obey a lawfully given order. So, in that situation, we were trained that our sidearm was meant to put down the first hint of mutiny in combat. And the enlisted personnel are taught that as well... Lieutenant (junior grade) Bailey, in this episode, was very, very close to mutiny, frankly, but it didn't quite reach that point. Had he refused to leave his post, and had fired phasers without an order to do so, that would have been mutiny. And if the only way to prevent that was to kill him, it would have been appropriate to do so. Fortunately, Bailey wasn't nearly that bad. He just panicked. And Kirk did EXACTLY the right thing... all the way through. Anyone can "challenge" the captain's orders before a situation becomes critical, as long as they follow proper procedure in doing so, and as long as they still obey the orders given to them (even if expressing their disagreement, in an aporopriate way.) And NO ONE can refuse to follow a lawful order given to them, once the commander issues it. Not even the XO.
Traditionally, the role of First Officer was to ensure the Captain's orders are followed. In the old sailing days they were seen as cruel and tough disciplinarians and usually held the title of "Mister". This is why Spock is often called "Mr. Spock" and is why Spock does a lot of shouting in the early episodes. He's still trying to get a handle on the character. On British vessels the title is "Number One"
You do a great job of understanding this wonderful show. Always impressed with your comments and so glad you are enjoying it. It's lots of fun watching it through someone else's eyes.
You're too young to know Clint Howard, the child actor who played Balok, but he has had a long a successful career. As a kid he was the star of Gentle Ben, later appearing in many supporting/cameo roles. He is also the brother of Ron Howard, the celebrated director who was himself a child actor, known especially for The Andy Griffiths Show and later Happy Days. Those of us of a certain age grew up watching these two brothers, so it's always fun to see their work in reaction videos.
The sense of exploration is an extension of the 60's/70's era space program where it felt like we were starting a new chapter in humanity by exploring space. This raised all kinds of questions of what would we find, etc.
Wellll... yeah sure... but make no mistake... the entire US space program up until the Apollo 12 was a race to demonstrate superiority to the USSR. The science and "exploration" was by far secondary.
The show was pitched to the network execs as "Wagon Train in Space." By using that comparison, DS9 is technically "Rifleman in Space." Commander Sisko and Jake are essentially Lucas and Mark McCain.
@@timmooney7528 no..no...no...no...no...DS9 is Cheers in space! Change my mind! ~Picard, probably. I mean, instead of Norm, they had Morn, and uhh, Sisko and Quark combined were Sam, Kira was Diane, Cliff was Odo, Rebecca was Jedzia Dax, Woody was Rom...it all makes sense!
Yes, production order! This episode is great, with great twist at the end. Two captains, both proud of their ships. Also, good observation regarding early exploration feel and theme to TOS.
One thing distinctive to Star Trek is that when a strange new alien race is encountered, the first response of Starfleet personnel is to make peaceful contact rather than seeing the aliens as a threat to fight. That was very different from the way most scifi movies & TV shows tended to see aliens.
@@technofilejr3401 LOL! Oh! I just watched a DS9 review of the terrible 'Move Along Home', which is just a giant board game episode. And terrible. My bad. 😂
"I didn't expect to like it as much" yea pretty much no one does at first, that is why Star Trek has lasted as long as it has because it is more about the human condition than just the crazy aliens or situations. It is truly special and Gene Roddenberry's "wagon to the stars" thanks to amazing writing and incredible acting and passion by these talented actors and crew will live on forever despite having aired only 3 seasons in its original run.
I think so many people love/like Star Trek because it has (for most episodes), 1) a positive view of the future, 2) excellent writing and dialog, 3) interesting, then-novel concepts, 4) great guest-stars, 5) excellent lead actors, with great chemistry, and great character development, 6) many episodes having serious overtones, yet with added humor, 7) fantastic musical scores, some even written specifically for an episode, 8) it's a serious show, but it's not afraid to be goofy, and downright funny, 9) the fantastic triad of Kirk, Spock and Bones, 10) secondary characters Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov, all played by excellent actors. Great fun, all around. I like that you're picking up on little details of each character's nuances.
Captain James T. Kirk, Commanding Officer Commander Spock, First Officer & Chief Science Officer - The First or Executive Officer oversees daily operations Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott - Chief Engineering Officer Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy - Chief Medical Officer - also head of Life Sciences Lt, Nyota Uhura - Communications Officer Lt. Hikaru Sulu - Helmsman Lt. Baily - Navigator - whoever sits in his seat is the Navigator Yeoman Janice Rand - the Captain''s Yeomen, a combination of secretary & valet
Just a small correction: back during TOS it was always just Uhura and Sulu; ‘Nyota’ was first referenced as her first name in the 1982 book Star Trek II Biographies, the author got permission and blessing from both Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols for the addition, and it then started appearing in subsequent Star Trek novels during the 80’s; it was first used canonically on-screen in the 2009 movie. ‘Hikaru’ was first added to Sulu as his first name in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
@@Interstellar-in5wbHikaru was used by Vonda McIntyre in her novel _The Entropy Effect,_ the first Pocket Books Star Trek novel that came off the presses immediately after the novelization of TMP in 1979. (I know, I know, books aren't canon, but give the lady her due.) It is worth knowing that Nyota Uhura means "Star Freedom" in Swahili.
No, it's already solved. That's why it acts like that. Only after they are solved they start to float and spin menacingly and irradiate their surroundings.
Star Trek, while popular when first broadcast, achieved its true success in the early '70s when played in syndication, where I along with most kids of the time watched it after school each day, I've seen each of the 79 episodes probably fifty times, after a time you will know the dialog by heart. BTW, the alien vessel depicted is as it appeared during the original broadcast. Star Trek, while science fiction, took a lot of effort to try to remain scientifically plausible where possible, they routinely had the scripts reviewed by scientists with the Rand Corporation, who would correct easy inaccuracies.
I don't know your age, but you seem to be a younger generation than I would associate with enjoying TOS. It is so nice to see younger people take an interest. You are a pleasant reactor and look forward to many more Trek reactions.
In her book, the late Grace Lee Whitney said that she was attracted to William Shatner, but it never became sexual. Roddenberry had had female yeomen on the ship since "The Cage". Rand was an important character; neither she nor Kirk could go anywhere with their feelings for each other, given their respective positions. Her beehive hairdo was constructed by William Ware Theiss out of two wigs; it was very heavy. Whitney said that it eventually disappeared; stolen or something.
What is great about Star Trek in it's original outing is that it was written for adults. An intelligent audience was assumed by the writers. I think that is what you are beginning to realize now and that's why you are enjoying it more than you thought you would. I served in the U.S. Navy. Spock is the Executive Officer (or First Officer in other Navies). In the show he is the Science Officer when he is not acting as Officer of the Deck. She, ships are referred to as she. At least in most western navies like the U.S. Navy. "We name ships after women to remind ourselves to treat them like a lady". Rip Torn in the movie Summer Rental. There is a follow up book, Face of the Unknown where Kirk and crew visit the First Federation, Balok, and Ensign Bailey again.
5:00 -- RE: Spock's Job on the Enterprise; See also: First Officer. Spock is a special case in terms of naval command structure because he doesn't occupy a single position but two. He is simultaneously acting as the ship's Science Officer which makes him nominally the head of the "Science" Department on the ship while also acting as the ship's First Officer which, as you've already said, is the second in command. If the Captain gets incapacitated or killed, he will indeed immediately assume command and technically becomes the Captain until relieved. When the Captain is there, though, the First Officer is also known as an Executive Officer (XO), which is to say, while the Captain is the one who is the first link in the Ship's command structure, all Executive actions including direct orders have to go through the XO. In effect, anything the Captain orders will be immediately repeated by the XO and the Crew will essentially be saying "Aye" to the XO, not directly to the Captain. This relationship between the XO and the Captain was not terribly easy to appreciate in the 3 seasons of TOS, however, which is arguably why TNG made an extra effort to focus on it with the characters of Picard and Riker. With that being said, though, almost any film or play which involves characters in a naval setting will show exactly the same relationship, and the further back into history we go the more obvious it is because there are less bulkheads for the XO or the Captain to hide behind. TOS was radically different because Kirk and Spock almost always do their "chain of command" work out in the open and in front of other officers or crewmates.
Spock is the science officer; when Kirk is unavailable, he’s the temporary captain. On a ship, the stern is the rear, the bow is the front, starboard is the right and port is the left. Btw a ship is called “she”. On a ship, they have a complete system who replaces whom if the original person isn’t available
Very interesting that in this episode they still haven't settled on an actual pattern for the uniforms. Normally their undershirt collars aren't this high.
Though they did already settle in on the women wearing very short skirts. If I recall correctly they initially had both men and women in pants, but feedback from Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) and others had them change to mini skirts. At the time this was pretty much representative of women being free to dress how they wished, and not stick to the more modest conventions of the past. Grace Lee Whitney mentioned in at least one interview that she was pleased that they were able to get them to green light the skirts. (I find this little factoid amusing because sometimes you'll hear people seeing Star Trek for the first time assume that the short skirts were "sexist" - when it was essentially just the opposite!
wonderful reaction! I really am enjoying how you're watching sort of with a dual perspective. on the one hand you're settling into enjoy it, on the other hand you're also trying to dig a little deeper and immerse yourself in this whole universe! and your heartfelt conclusion message for your dad is something I can relate to - my dad was a fan as well.
The kid playing the Balok is Clint Howard, who is best known for Lassie (when he was a little older). His younger brother is Ron Howard who played Opy on The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cuttingham on Happy Days.
@bunnytailsREACTS It is such a joy to watch you watch Star Trek for the first time. To the rest of your audience, and especially the veteran Trekkies on here....WE are the ones who watch the watcher!.
Some of the best episodes were written by Dorothy Fontana. Since it was taboo at the time, for a woman to be a writer; Dorothy was credited as D.C. Fontana. Her name will pop up often, as you progress through the season. She proved that even women can be capable of writing successful stories…including science fiction. 😊
She started off as Gene Roddenberry's secretary, but over time took over more and more of his daily responsibilities. Eventually, she became more important, I'd argue, than he was. Star Wars has a similar story. While George Lucas is a great "big picture" guy, he can't write dialogue if his life depends on it. So, his wife, Marcia Lucas, ghostwrote the original film script and a lot of "Empire's" as well. But by the third film, they were separated and divorcing and she was no longer around to rein him in and replace his terrible dialogue with believable dialogue. Thus, the radical change in "feel" for the third film. And of course, the terrible dialogue in the prequels. I actually love the stories from the prequels, but hate the weird dialogue. Still better than the sequels, however, by far.
Oh, don't be stupid. Women were writing and editing SF stories for decades before Star Trek came along and were well respected in the field by both fans and pros. Sometimes they wrote under their own names and sometimes using pseudonyms, as male authors also did for various commercial reasons... one of which could be to avoid the prejudices of silly people. Mary Shelley's famous "Frankenstein" (1818) was and is generally acknowledged as the first modern SF novel, while the similar efforts of her male contemporaries pretty much faded into obscurity, so this isn't really a new thing either.
Starfleet's primary mission is actually exploration and scientific study. Its defensive military duties are secondary. It is a uniformed service, but only really military when necessary. Most people who join Starfleet do so in order to be scientists and explorers. Great job with your videos, they're wonderful to watch and enjoy _Star Trek_ alongside you. You're smart and observant and pick up on things very well, and it's very fun to see you watch this for the first time and see your understanding develop.
Please continue these original series reaction videos. For those of us who have been lifelong fans of this series and who have been profoundly influenced by it since our childhoods, it is enormously satisfying to share it with someone of another generation who appreciates the stories and characters we are so intimately familiar with. Your comments are very intelligent and insightful. Thank you for the time and effort in making these videos, as well. Although the quality of individual episodes will vary throughout the series, I can already tell that you will find your entry into this universe of Star Trek fandom well-worth the effort in the long run. Looking forward to many more!
2:28 That's true. In a 2nd season Next Generation episode, Wesley tells his date that at that point (about 90 years after the events of this episode), humans had only charted 19% of the galaxy.
Sulu was originally ship's physicist; he transferred to helmsman, where he remained until the theatrical movies, where he eventually got promoted and got a command of his own.
As a physicist Sulu was in the Sciences department, therefore he had been directly under Spock's command (as Chief Science Officer).. So Sulu has experience crossing brains with Spock
Liked your reaction very much! Almost forgot how good this series was! Plot and Effects for a TV series at it`s time it was really groundbreaking. Additionally, it has this weird peaceful message in it!
Great job, youngling. Spock tells Bailey not to yell, yet his volume is elevated during the countdown. Our early Spock had a problem enhancing his calm. He gets better. But we really like his emotional outbursts. I could see Kirk thinking maybe Bones was right and Bailey needs a timeout. I don't recall ever seeing Bailey again. Balok's alter ego voice was Ted Cassidy. One of tvs big men. His voice was as impressive as his appearance. Best known as Lurch from the Addams Family. We will get him back in episode, What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Since you mentioned Uhura, Nichelle Nichols was hesitant to take the role because she thought she was just the token black, but she was encouraged to take it by none other than Martin Luther King.
That's not quite right. She had already been on the show for most of the first season but was considering leaving due to the small role she was playing on the show. She admitted as much to Dr. King when they met, and he told her it was his family's favorite show. He also told her that she should stay on it just to be a visible reminder that there was a role and a place for black people (and other minorities) in humanity's future.
She told the story of how she met MLK for the first time after the series began its original run. Nichelle was considering quitting the show after the first season, and at a public event MLK showed up wanted to meet her, as Star Trek was his favorite TV show and He was her biggest fan. It was a surprise for her. Nichelle turned around to meet MLK, not knowing he was coming to see her, she described his face as glowing with happiness to meet her. She told MLK that she was thinking of quitting so she could resume her work's singing career instead. She said the spirit drained from MLK's face when she told him about quitting, and he told her that she could-not-quit. Her role on that TV show representing people of color in such a prominent role on the bridge crew of a star ship was too important for U.S. popular/public media culture, and as a role model she was just too important. She obviously could not quit the show after speaking with MLK. This is how she told the story at a public event tour she did in the 1970's I saw her in her in the event in Alabama. "An Evening with Nichelle Nichols". She got on stage, did some talking and singing for the show. I got her autograph too. A neat lady.
To underscore what tykloster said, that’s not accurate. Uhura was never created as the “token black” on the show; Roddenberry wanted to present a progressive depiction. And it was the first time a black woman was portrayed to have such a prominent officer position. Groundbreaking and progressive. Not “token”. Nichols was never hesitant to take the role - she and Roddenberry collaborated together in creating the character. (It was her later dissatisfaction in season 2 that led to her wanting to leave, which was turned around after meeting MLK and him convincing her to stay on the show.)
She was encouraged to keep the role because MLK and his daughters were fans of the show. He felt she was elevating the image of Black people. After Star Trek, Nichelle worked with NASA to recruit women and people of color into the Astronaut Corps.
@@Interstellar-in5wbno she was gonna leave at end of season 1 but Luther king talked her out of it. She had even handed her letter in to Gene Roddenberry
Spock is both chief science officer and executive officer. As the exec, his main regular function is to run the ship. The captain has to make the tough calls and shouldn't be bothered with low level personel issues or mundane decisions. Spock would, in theory, keep on top of all department heads to make certain they were running their departments efficiently, organize regular drills to make certain the crew would know how to react in an emergency as though it was routine, and basically keep track of every aspect of life on the ship and deal with any problem before it ever gets to the captain's desk. He'll make regular reports to the captain of course.
Great, love your reactions. In a way this episode is what Star Trek's all about, you should see it again for sure. Definitely a lot of CGI updates here. If you can do a reaction of the un-remastered version would love to see that too!
Not sure if others have already mentioned it, but the full series Blu-ray set has the option for watching the original photographic visual effects. The original Fesarius was awesome. The remastered version is very close to it, but somehow, it just looks CGI. I like to watch the original effects, and in production order, too. It shows how the series develops and changes over its run.
One thing a lot of non-fans don't get about a lot of Trek, is the interpersonal relationships we see at play. Lots think it's either boring diplomacy talky talk or mindless pew pew space shooty bits. In reality it's often interpersonal relationships between characters, who come together to explore and overcome challenges/situations. There is so much and it is truly wonderful to see a hopeful look at what we /could/ become. I'm glad you gave it a chance and already see characters you can easily love, like Bones! He's one of my all time favourites too, my actual favourite in the original series.
Hi B.T., I`m enjoying re-watching through your eyes this classic Tv show. For me, the cube was definitely the first part of his test. However, I think it was to see how quickly you would go to an aggressive move. Whereas, Kirk tried everything else first & only when forced to by the threat of radiation, did he resort to an aggressive move. I believe the radiation threat was also intentional, to test the depth of their resolve to avoid aggression.
24:15 There is a “visual effects comparison” on UA-cam for every Star Trek episode that shows the old analog effects and he new digital ones in parallel. Weirdly enough, sometimes things are changed that you would not expect, like the ship’s clock.
That was necessary because the mechanism for the clock used on the set was bad, like in Naked Time when the clock went from 7:59 to 7:00 to 8:01. (That actually was noticed by fans and written about in the Nitpicker's Guide to Star Trek TOS.)
I started watching ST:TOS purely to laugh at how hokey it was coz I'd heard it was super cheesy. This is the episode that made me unironically fall in love with Star Trek :)
@@jupreindeer Out of curiosity, what part were you "laughing uncontrollably" over? The art was typical "cheap animation" for the era, pre-computers and tight budget. All things being equal, it was pretty decent, given those constraints. Same with the very limited musical selections (some of which were shared among MANY Filmation animated shows!) But the stories themselves were surprisingly intelligent... granted, there were high and low points, but overall, the story quality of TAS, to me, was superior to that of the live-action season 3. Note that TAS brought back the S1 & S2 pattern of hiring experienced, professional sci-fi authors to write episodes. For example, Larry Niven wrote an episode, and used that episode to being his own popular prose "Kzinti" race into Star Trek canon.
bunnytails: wonderful you're using/showing full-screen of your subject episodes, please continue. Also, enjoy your 'reactions', entertaining. I'll be viewing many more.
True ... Season 1 really only provides one true clunker (you're job is to tell us which one Bunnytails😁). The writing in Season 2 is the "best of times, the almost worst of times." Season 2 introduces or solidifies many Star Trek tropes, for better or worse. But when Season 2 shines, it really shines. Season 3 is decidedly the worst of times with a handful of bright spots, but not nearly enough.😖
@@roleplayer10 Ranks and roles are not synonymous. Leonard Horatio McCoy is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) on the Enterprise... with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He commands and is responsible for all medical facilities and medical personnel aboard the Enterprise. Spock, at this point, holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander as well, and is head of the Science division (CSO) aboard the Enterprise, with all science division personnel under his direct command, as well as all science labs and facilities. In addition, he serves as Executive Officer (XO). Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott is head of the Engineering division, with all engineering personnel and systems under his direct authority. Lieutenant Nyota Upenda Uhura is head of the ship's comminications division, with all linguists and communications personnel under her command. Lieutenant Sulu is chief helmsman, with all helmsmen, navigators, and shuttlecraft pilots under his command. There are ROLES... positions... and there are ranks. The two are not really related. Thus gets especially confusingbehen you talk about naval commanding officers. The ROLE of "ship's captain" and the RANK of "captain" are not the same thing. In real life, John F. Kennedy was the captain of a patrol boat, but his actual rank was below "captain." In Star Trek, Scotty is eventually promoted to the rank of Captain, but is never given the JOB of ship's captain. And Kirk, as an Admiral, serves as "captain" of the Enterprise until everything is made right again in ST-IV.
Spock is First Officer of The Enterprise, with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he is also Chief science officer. All the ranks are on the sleeve’s of their uniforms, that’s what those markings are. The uniform colors in the original series is: Gold for Command Blue for sciences Red for specialist. This is episode 10. Thank you, I’m enjoying your content. Keep up the good job. Take care, God Bless. 🙏🏼
@teambanzai9491 I believe there is an episode coming up where Spock's rank is given as Lt. Commander, but he always wore the rank braids of a full Commander, i.e. two solid stripes.
@@teambanzai9491Spock was referred to as Lieutenant Commander a few times during the first season (“Court Martial”, “The Menagerie”, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”); between season 1 and season 2 he was promoted ‘off-screen’ to Commander - he’s first referred to as Commander in “Journey to Babel”.
The interesting things to note are the subtle changes that occur throughout production. You can see it here in some of the uniforms. Uhura is wearing gold rather than the red she wears the rest of the time, and some collars of the shirts are taller and more floppy. So for example, even though "The Man Trap" aired prior to this episode, they were wearing the later versions of the uniform in that episode.
For us old-timers, the music is so classic ST after all the rewatches through time. It is symphonic and still holds up really well today when trying to set the tone of a scene. BTW, you remind me so much of my ex-roommate when I lived in Seattle.
I mostly like the episodes that take place in space so this one fits that bill. It's in my top five of the series. I liked it mostly because of Clint Howard, Ron Howard's little brother, also played "Leon" the sandwich kid in "The Andy Griffith Show". To answer your question about Spock's position, besides second in command, he's also the Senior Science Officer.
Man, I love these reviews. I've seen these episodes so many times, it's great to watch them through a "new comer's" eyes. You've made a good choice; watching in production order rather than airing order is the way to go, particularly with the early episodes. You're correct. You're watching the remastered version - updated effects for a new generation. Personally, I prefer the original, practical effects. While some think they haven't aged well, they were masterful for the time, even beautiful. And speaking of beautiful, it warmed my heart to hear to say that about the Enterprise.
Uniform color meanings: Yellow = Command - Means you've had Officers Training. The person has been to an academy or an Officers Training program. Red = Operations - Means you have some type of engineer skill or administration essential to ship operations (Communications, ship's engines, security) Blue = Science - Means you've had a lot of college. This person has skills beyond ship operations
Actually practically everyone with a tunic like Kirk, Spock and McCoy is a Starfleet Academy graduate. So they have all had Officer Training with some specialization. If you see someone walking around in just a pale blue jumpsuit they are an enlisted person or crewman.
@@actioncom2748 That doesn’t mean McCoy couldn’t have went to some form of Starfleet ROTC or just a post graduate Officer Candidate School. In our current time, this is how a lot of non Academy officers get their commissions.
@@DannyD714 Yup this is true. If you see a red coat in the opening scene of an episode, you might as well set a timer. They would be deceased by the time the opening monologue started.
I watched all of these shows on a black and white TV. 60 years later, the show still has lasted. I am glad that you enjoy it. I like your laughing at the cast. LOL Comedy was built into the scripts and acting.
There is a Star Trek novel called _The Face of the Unknown_ by Christopher L. Bennet which is a sequel to this episode. The author acknowledged that this was the first Trek episode he ever saw and it made a big impression on him. The story is pretty good and it does answer a lot of questions left hanging at the end. If you do a search for William Shatner Roast on YT you may still be able to find a video in which a now-grown Clint Howard (still dressed as Balok) insults the Shat's hairpiece. The puppet version of Balok was voiced by Ted Cassidy, better known as Lurch from the '60s version of _The Adams Family._ It is generally believed that Gary Mitchell was the first officer until Kirk had to kill him. Spock was made first officer because no one else who was qualified wanted the responsibility, plus as a bridge officer, he was already there. Spock never sought command, but as he is a Vulcan, he stoically accepted the post. Mitchell also left a vacancy at the navigator's station. Kirk needed somebody there on alpha shift, so he gave it to Bailey, hence McCoy's worry that Bailey may have been promoted too fast. Kirk will use that "corbomite" trick again. Hey, as long as it works, why not?
@@philfitnesspt6139 Phil, you keep doing this... making "authoritative statements" without supporting your claims with facts, logic, or ANY kind of argument. Shouting "IZ NOT!!!" isn't how you convince people if... anything, really. You could make an argument that dialogue doesn't explicitly establish that Mitchell was first officer. And then require the other side to support their own position. That's how DISCUSSION works. But foot-stamping "declarations" like yours are the antithesis of "discussion."
@@carybrown851 I expect that sort of thing in UA-cam comment sections. What Sarek once said about Tellarites, you know? I do admit that Mitchell being first officer had been strictly fanon for decades. It is conjecture based on the fact that Kirk and Mitchell were buds at the Academy, had served together and Kirk asked Starfleet to let him have Mitchell on his first command. If I was captain of the ship, I'd make my bud the exec. Spock was not the exec under Pike, and there's nothing to even suggest that there was a last minute posting of Spock to that post by Pike as he was departing. That sort of thing is most commonly left to the incoming captain to decide. And Kirk didn't personally know Spock, yet. And in the second pilot, it is clear that he had an almost McCoy-like view of the Vulcan. So, yes, it has always been a theory that happens to fit all the facts, and not something confirmed or denied on screen. However, there is a relatively new thing that has sprung up in fandom called "Beta Canon." This is when a pro writer makes something not revealed on screen a fact in their own story. Fans are allowed to call it canon, up until something comes along on screen that contradicts it. I'm not sure how many comics or novels confirm that Mitchell was first officer, but _The Autobiography of James T. Kirk_ is certainly one of them. So it is a wee bit more "canonical" now than the fan fiction it started out as.
This is one of the most memorable episodes, glad you enjoyed it. The little kid is actor/director Ron Howards younger brother. He was just in one of the new episodes from season 2 of the current Star Trek series Strange New Worlds. Which is crazy to think that he was in this episode from 57 years ago, and again one just shown.
22:02 that is very common for first time viewers. TOS episodes nearly always were layered. As to your speculation, yes. The Buyoy was part of the test to see what Kirk would do when faced with a threat. Resign, Try and flee, immediately become aggressivve or destroy/disarm the buyoy and then forge ahead.
I think the radiation from the buoy was a warning on Balok's part to repel any simple-minded invaders from entering into his system. The encounter itself was the test of whether they were a threat. The distress-signal was a test of compassion and intellect.
In science fiction it's common to put humans at the lower end of the tech scale. It helps add a layer of difficulty to whatever needs to be overcome. I'm convinced we'll eventually meet an alien species and have to show them how to bang rocks together to make fire. Maybe show them the principal of a lever and some basic math. Then tell them we'll be back in 500 years to see how things are going.
@@christopherconard2831Well said. We always need a higher metric to measure ourselves to, a goal to strive for, and a mystery that is beyond our comprehension. The journey is always more fun than the destination. Also, to your primitive alien species experiment, I would also give them a wheel. Lol
MCCOY: "Balok's message. It was heard all over the ship." KIRK: "Captain to crew. Those of you who have served for long on this vessel have encountered alien lifeforms. You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. In most cases we have found that intelligence capable of a civilisation is capable of understanding peaceful gestures. Surely a lifeform advanced enough for space travel is advanced enough to eventually understand our motives. All decks stand by. Captain out." Kirk is a superb leader. Realizing the need, Kirk provides his crew with knowledge, context, direction, and hope.
Don't know if you're familiar with the _Addams Family_ TV series, but the voice of "Balok" the puppet was provided by Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch. He returns later this season in an on-camera role.
I’m really enjoying you first watches. If you haven’t seen it you might enjoy the greatest sci-fi movie of all time, 2001: a space odyssey. Gary Lockwood from Where No Man Has Gone Before stars in that as well. As good as Star Trek was for TV, 2001 is now judged as one of the most amazing films by one of the best directors of all time. It has held up incredibly well considering it was made the year after these Star Trek episodes were made. Of course all during the actual space race with the soviets. What a time that was! I met many of the people who created the effects in 2001 at Cyberfest 1997. A total geek out!
I love how Spock says "quite unnecessary to raise your voice", but Spock raises his voice in early episodes with "Deflectors, full intensity", and "sensor beam on"!!
At this point in the timeline, Starfleet is still exploring in a largely unexplored galaxy where starships are sometimes months away from starbases or even in communication range of those bases. There’s only 11 other starships, Constitution class like Kirk’s, the rest are mission specific. Constitution class ships are meant to be able to do whatever is needed at the time. They’ve all got state of the art science/medical and offensive and defensive capabilities as well.
Well, this thing about there being only 11 others is just a single throwaway line that has been blown out of proportion by some fans. It should not be taken this serious, I think. 12 seems to few even for that era of Starfleet.
@@ajclements4627 Wrong. The line was that "there are only twelve like her in the fleet." Not that "there are only twelve Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers in the fleet." My perspective? Out of the full fleet, twelve Constitution-class heavy cruiser were refit to an "explorer" confuguration, incorporating vastly expanded science capabilities into existing warship hulls (something made possible through reducing cargo space, itself made possible through incorporation of first-generation "replicator" technology. Expanding the crew size from ~200 to well over 400 in the process, of course. Only twelve... or is it thirteen (the line implies 13... Enterprise, and twelve more like her) ships got that refit... and all twelve were sent out on a much ballyhooed "five year mission." With only the Enterprise returning essentially intact (this according to GR in his TMP novelization). There may well have been many more heavy cruisers still out there in "The Cage" or "Where No Man Has Gone Before" configurations. But there were only twelve... or thirteen?... ships outfitted the same way Enterprise was. At least at that moment.
@@ajclements4627 No, that's not how language works. Words mean what they actually say... not necessarily what you "think they ought to mean." Saying that there are "twelve like her in the fleet" only means that "there are twelve like her in the fleet." Nothing more, nothing less. If he" d said "there are inly twelve Constitution-class heavy cruisers in the fleet," it would be different. But that's NOT what he said. And your attempt to "reinterpret" what he said, to mean more than what was actually said, is simply incorrect.
A buoy here on Earth is an anchored float that serves as a navigation mark, to show hazards such as reefs, or for mooring. The idea of the "space buoy" was covered in the episode as to what the crew felt it might be. The Executive Officer is the Second in Command. He/she is responsible to the Commanding Officer for the general organization of the ship and for the discipline, morale and welfare of the whole Ship’s Company together with the co-ordination of their training both for war and in peace. He/she is to be prepared to assume command if the Commanding Officer (CO) becomes incapacitated for any reason. He/she should also be prepared for duties in a command Watch Bill opposite the CO (Generally 1st shift to the Captain and 2nd shift to the Executive Officer); to which end he/she may be required to assume greater responsibility and be delegated greater authority in certain circumstances as required by the CO and as authorized by him/her. Officer ranks onboard the Enterprise (In descending order): (O-6) Captain (This is a rank as well as a position, held by Kirk) (O-5) Commander (O-4) Lieutenant-Commander (O-3) Lieutenant (O-2) Lieutenant (junior grade) (O-1) Ensign Very rarely will crewmen get speaking lines, These are the "enlisted" ranks that make up the majority of Starfleet. Star Trek focuses on the senior bridge crew. Occasionally, a person ranking higher than "Captain" will be mentioned. Again, in descending order: (O-11) Fleet Admiral (O-10) Admiral (O-9) Vice-Admiral (O-8) Rear Admiral (O-7) Commodore (sometimes "Fleet Captain")
This is awesome! I was wondering what I would be doing today. I am so happy that you took the lead and showed me the way. Waaaay Cool 😎 [Vulcan translation: Live Long and Prosper]
Thank you for your productions. I am VERY happy you have discovered Star Trek, the most successful TV show in history....worldwide! I often shared these programs with my children not only for the entertainment but also because Star Trek offers the most excellent English on television and served as some of the best free education found anywhere. You should recognize that this show was created and produced by veterans of the second world war only 20 years after that great war. Some of the actors namely, James Doohan, was a veteran who saw combat for his native, Canada. Roddenberry was an Army Aircorps veteran as was Matt Jeffries. Their perspective was that Star Fleet was a naval arm of the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century, 200 years hence. These ships, not unlike their 20th century namesakes, were like both the Navy and Coast Guard in that they patrolled, enforced navigation regulations and provided security and rescue services for Star Fleet. The Enterprise is a "Constitution" class "Heavy Crusier" not unlike the heavy crusiers of the WWII, they were well equipped, fast and had powerful weapons including guns, anti-aircraft machine guns and torpedos as well. The starship Enterprise is equipped with both "Phasers," an advanced type of laser, and "Photon" torpedos. The Captain has a "First Officer" or "Executive Officer" who is likely a "Commander" in rank and they have "Department Heads" who are usually Lieutenents or Lieutenent Commanders. Each department head is known also as "Chief" of their department such as "Chief Medical Officer," or "Chief Engineer" and each usually has a deputy chief. While there are enlisted personnel, they do not play pivotal roles while all the main characters are officers who have completed Star Fleet Academy. The Enterprise is the most famous uncredited star of the show and she is greatly loved all over the world and few Trekkers have only one model of her. In one episode Kirk said, "She's a beautiful lady and we LOVE her!"
0:49 "I see _Uhura."_ 😳 Oy. In _gold._ This is the only episode in the _series_ in which she wore that color and I'm _so_ glad. It does not become her at _all._ She looks _much_ better in red. And Sulu was in _Where No Man Has Gone Before,_ but that was the one episode of the series in which he wore _blue._ Here, they've got him in gold.
Units wore gold in this episode and the next episode produced, "Mudd's Women." Uhura does not physically appear in the third episode produced, " The Enemy Within," although her voice is heard over the intercom. In the fourth episode produced, " The Man Trap," Uhura is finally in her familiar red miniskirt.
The "sort of" had red in WNMHGB. Look closely at Gary Mitchell's shirt. It's not the same color as Kirk's and Spock's. Theirs were gold. His is pale pink... "salmon," technically. The salmon shirts became real red for the production series. But the "red" was already there in the second pilot, just very muted.
I hope you continue watching these in production order as that's a way I have never watched the series. I noticed Sulu's comment about Spock. So, this being an early episode produced, it's laying out more bits of info about the characters. I also noticed they haven't finalized things like uniform colors. With Uhura in gold instead of the red she will wear throughout the majority of the series.
Fun fact - The weird alien kid is Clint Howard, Director Ron Howard's brother. He's been in many movies over the years but prob best recognized for Apollo 13. Just a little primer - Every episode you've been watching features remastered FX, but they mirror the original models Kirk - Captain Spock - First Officer / Science Officer Scotty - Second Officer / Chief Engineer Gold Uniform - Command Blue Uniform - Sciences + Medical Red - Engineering/ Mechanical + Security
Star fleet and Star Trek takes place primarily in the alpha quadrant of our galaxy. Even with faster than light speed (warp) It would take well over hundred years to cross the milky way.
10:00 - Yes what paramount plus shows is the DBD/Blu-Ray Remastered collection of episodes released for the 40th anniversary in 2009. They released all the movies and shows in High-Def (before they were only available in the original broadcast versions). They also replaced most of the space shots with CG Models, fixed a lot of problems created by upscaling the quality, and did a full color correction throughout. This also punched up a lot of the color from the consoles, and lighting problems that existed in the originals.
Fun Fact: Balok was played by Clint Howard. He still acts in the spin-offs of this show as various characters and species including Strange New Worlds, Discovery, Enterprise, Deep Space 9. He was 7 in this episode, and 64 in Strange New Worlds.
You've got to love the foreshadowing in this episode. Before we see the real Baalok, who resembles a child, we encounter, 1) a spinning block; 2) a giant gumball machine; 3) a ship that could be built of tinkertoys.
The little boy playing Balok, Clint Howard, was already a show business veteran from a family of actors. His mom, Jean, was in TV shows and movies from the 1950s until her death in the year 2000. His dad, Rance, was also on TV and in movies from the 50s until his death in 2017. His older brother, Ron, was already a star on "The Andy Griffith Show" before doing a bunch of other shows and movies until he starred on "Happy Days" in the 70s. He went on to a little more acting before becoming a famous movie director. Clint's niece, Bryce Dallas, has also done a lot of acting and some directing as well. After Star Trek, Clint starred in his own TV show called "Gentle Ben" in which his co-star was a bear. Clint probably has the longest acting credits in the family appearing in a lot of his brother's movies and most recently returning to the Star Trek franchise on the current series "Star Trek" Strange New Worlds" which takes place before the original series.
Rance Howard played the father of John Sheridan on Babylon 5. B5 is nearly at the same level as classic Trek for me... which says a LOT, being that I was born a just a short time before Trek hit the airwaves, and literally grew up with it. B5 is sort of "Star Trek meets Lord of the Rings," essentially. Rance Howards brief apprarances on that show were nevertheless very... impactful.
The writing and character interaction in this episode was fantastic. I don't think any episode so far has made me laugh this much. It's also a great example of how they were able to create a lot of tension with a limited budget, which is something I remember about one of the episodes I've seen prior to your reaction series.
And here we see Kirk's penchant for BSing his way out of deadly situations. When you can't romance and alien, make an emotional speech. And when that doesn't work, just lie.
Watching them in production order is actually the best way to watch them as the show and characters progress properly. The airdate order as presented on streaming services is how the shows were aired during their first broadcast on NBC during their original run back in the 1960s. After that, when the show went into syndication in the early '70s, they were aired in their production order and continued airing that way for about the next 30 years.
Great thing #38,435 about Star Trek: the remastering and replaced effects in the original series are all really, really good. Not just good looking, but almost universally _perfectly_ match the style and sense of the original shots they're upgrading or replacing. They never look like an incongruous 2000's film effect jammed into a 60's TV show, they look like just what you'd have wanted in the show at the time. In this case (been a while since I watched the original version, so don't hold me to it), the cube and original ship were pretty much the same, but a lot blurrier. I believe the early shot of the Enterprise and cube sitting in space next to each other had the color of the cube splashing over the front of the Enterprise added too; the original didn't have that touch. It's great for old and new fans, I think; the old fans see what they already love, but better. And the new fans see something that looks good and still fits. If you want to dig up the originals, sure, that can be fun and interesting. But I can't think of a single case where I'd say you were _missing_ something if you didn't. George Lucas coulda taken some notes...
Have you watched "Star Trek Continues" ? Once you get over Vic Mignogna's voice and focus oh his mannerism in his portrayal... it's really really good ! Also it had Chris Doohan, James Doohan's son take on his Dad's iconic role to great effect !
It's so much fun watching you enjoy the show so much, Bunny. It's wonderful seeing a new generation discover Star Trek. I can only imagine your father's looking down and grinning ear to ear.
Balok's ship Fesarius-- or another First Federation vessel-- appeared in the fan film directed by Tim Russ (Tuvok from Voyager) entitled; "Of Gods and Men."
This is a special episode for me. I grew up watching Start Trek with my dad, and this episode is the last one I watched with him, many years later in the hospital when his health was failing.
Part of the reason I suggest new viewers begin with Enterprise rather than TOS is because it really emphasises that idea of everything being unexplored. in TOS, the Federation covers a fairly wide portion of the galaxy, though there is still the majority of the galaxy to explore. But in Enterprise, the Federation doesn't even exist yet, and humans have only visited a few nearby stars. The series follows one of the very earliest deep space exploration vessels. That series does a very good job of making space feel vast and unknown. I can see how the thought of how unknown things are might not have occurred to you if most of your past experience with the series was with TNG and the other two shows set in the same era as TNG. I adore TNG, but it definitely shifts the focus away from exploration of the unknown and towards diplomacy and interplanetary geopolitics between established societies. That's part of why it was so refreshing when Enterprise came out and took place a century before TOS instead of a century after. It made space feel big again.
I actually agree, especially from an in universe chronological perspective. I loved Enterprise, and thought it was very underrated and under appreciated at the time. But I am glad that it got made. They unfortunately suffered the same fate as TOS however, being cancelled too soon.
@@rickjohnston2667 It was the last show made under the Star Trek name that lived up to the philosophical ideas Star Trek was about and tried to exist in the same universe as the previous shows without rebooting anything. Extremely underrated and a perfect introduction to Trek, which is why I made a full-length prelude episode to get new viewers all set up to start at the beginning. Unfortunately, as much as I desperately want to see someone do a reaction to all of canon Star Trek in story order, with Enterprise at the start, the sad fact is that someone who reacts to 4 seasons of Enterprise is unlikely to get many viewers, precisely because it's so underrated. They might give up before they ever even get to TOS. A reactor has to consider that. But I firmly believe that the best first time experience that can be had is to start with Enterprise, then TOS and its movies, and then TNG and its movies along with DS9 and Voyager which overlap with them. That's why I wrote a guide so people can know which order to watch in. I wish I could temporarily erase the show from my memory and re-experience it in that order.
Notice the concept of command in the captain of a starship. Kirk is firm but fair, expects excellence, is decisive but trusts the inputs of those reporting to him, has the respect of those under his command, has the trust of those under his command, never shows vulnerability (except with McCoy), and lets it be known he has the final word (I will consider that Mr Bailey, when this becomes a democracy)
Please no spoilers! So that I can provide my best and most honest reaction, please do not mention the names of any future characters, events, or episode titles (this goes for future series as well). Please do not say which upcoming episodes are good or bad, otherwise I will have trouble forming my own opinion!
Thank you, and enjoy!
It's a slow process but I want to see all your reactions to TOS. I always knew Rubik's Cubes were of alien origin.
I have the originals if you would like a copy?
That huge sphere was in the original episode, it's just that there was less detail between the spherical lights.
They established McCoy as a compassionate and loveable character from the start. Spock represented the logical, unflappable element while Bones represented the empathic, emotional side. Kirk was the man of action who was a balance of the two. That triangle became central to Star Trek's stories.
Balock: "perhaps one of your men..."
Kirk's brain: "please take Bailey, please take Bailey, please take Bailey"
hahahaha
Kirk put him in the fire before he was ready ( promoted him wayyy TOO fast )and instead of correcting his BAD mistake,he pawns BAILEY off on an ALIEN stranger they just met mere minutes ago. Very bad COMMAND decision on personnel. But,I've seen much,much worse in the army and navy,while I served. LOL.
@@kerry-j4m See Catch 22.
@@kerry-j4m you served in the Army and the Navy? What do you see as the biggest difference between the two?
@@indetigersscifireview4360 The navy is more technical and they treat their personnel a little bit better than the army.The army is much more physically driven,pt is done every morning ( you most definitely have to stay in shape ) if you fail a pt test,you can't get promoted,won't get a 3 day pass,etc,etc,..until you pass the next pt test.The army's schools for leadership are so much better also.The army has more schools and training programs you can apply to also: Jump-School,Air-Assault,Army-Rangers,etc,etc,.. just to name a few.Both branches like to play mind-games too.
18:44 "Captain, request permission to-"
"Denied. If I'm wrong, if it's a trap, I want you here."
You've got to appreciate the vote of _confidence._ Kirk and Spock have their _disagreements,_ but they _trust_ each other.
I miss when shows portrayed people able to disagree in a civil manner. In the so-called "Star Trek" shows they make now, such disagreements tend to end in fistfights or mutiny. There's even a scene in one TOS episode that almost seems like it's directly mocking that.
The music in this show doesn’t get the respect it deserves. This is why I love watching a favorite show through new eyes with someone. Even after all these years we see something worth appreciating.
The music gets such respect from _me._ 🙂
It's the incidental music/sounds I really enjoy.
Spock is 1st officer, so he’s second in command. He’s also the ranking science officer. I think it’s awesome you’re doing these in production order!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_officer#United_States_Navy_and_United_States_Coast_Guard
1nd officer is also the only one that can officialy challange a decision a captain make without seen as unrespectful (beside the leading doctor who can for medical reasons overturn a captians decision and deem him unfit for work). Of course the captain has the last word and it should be done outside of sight of crew members if possible but you will see that 1st officers will give captains often other options and make their thoughts heard to give captains someone to discuss witout compromizing the captains authorothy towards the crew.
@@autdelux
Not entirely accurate. Once the commanding officer makes a decision, no one except the chief medical officer can challenge that, and then, only on the basis that the CO is for some reason incompetent. (NOT something done lightly, and something directly discussed in a later episode involving a particular commodore).
ANYONE can "challenge" the CO prior yo his final order being given. I served as an intelligence officer in real life, with my duty being to advise the CO on the external situation, most notably on the enemy. I would have been negligent if I failed to "challenge" an order by the CO which would put our troops within range of enemy artillery and in the open, for example.
The trick is, the CO is the one with final say. NO ONE can refuse any lawful order issued to them by their commanding officer. To fo so is mutiny, and in time of war, in real life, is a potential capital offense. In fact, the reason officers are issued sidearms (handguns) is not for combat... they're nearly useless for that. No, the sidearm is there to deal with anyone who commits mutiny in battle, when arresting them is not an option and other lives are at immediate risk.
In the navy, this is usually less of a concern, but battlefield mutiny in the Army or marines can be catastrophic, breaking a defense or collapsing an attack. Thousands of lives could be lost due to one person refusing to obey a lawfully given order. So, in that situation, we were trained that our sidearm was meant to put down the first hint of mutiny in combat. And the enlisted personnel are taught that as well...
Lieutenant (junior grade) Bailey, in this episode, was very, very close to mutiny, frankly, but it didn't quite reach that point. Had he refused to leave his post, and had fired phasers without an order to do so, that would have been mutiny. And if the only way to prevent that was to kill him, it would have been appropriate to do so.
Fortunately, Bailey wasn't nearly that bad. He just panicked. And Kirk did EXACTLY the right thing... all the way through.
Anyone can "challenge" the captain's orders before a situation becomes critical, as long as they follow proper procedure in doing so, and as long as they still obey the orders given to them (even if expressing their disagreement, in an aporopriate way.)
And NO ONE can refuse to follow a lawful order given to them, once the commander issues it. Not even the XO.
Traditionally, the role of First Officer was to ensure the Captain's orders are followed. In the old sailing days they were seen as cruel and tough disciplinarians and usually held the title of "Mister". This is why Spock is often called "Mr. Spock" and is why Spock does a lot of shouting in the early episodes. He's still trying to get a handle on the character.
On British vessels the title is "Number One"
Didn't the original pilot use "Number one"?
I believe so.
You do a great job of understanding this wonderful show. Always impressed with your comments and so glad you are enjoying it. It's lots of fun watching it through someone else's eyes.
Thanks!
You're too young to know Clint Howard, the child actor who played Balok, but he has had a long a successful career. As a kid he was the star of Gentle Ben, later appearing in many supporting/cameo roles. He is also the brother of Ron Howard, the celebrated director who was himself a child actor, known especially for The Andy Griffiths Show and later Happy Days. Those of us of a certain age grew up watching these two brothers, so it's always fun to see their work in reaction videos.
He was also in Apollo 13. He was the controller who recommended that the fuel cells be shut down.
@@Caseytify A film directed by....Ron Howard.
He (Clint H.) was just in Strange new worlds
He was great in Ticks.
@@nxxdefiant ...and between TOS and SNW he was also on DS9 and Disco.
He wanted to see how they reacted. And then see how much compassion they possessed.
The sense of exploration is an extension of the 60's/70's era space program where it felt like we were starting a new chapter in humanity by exploring space. This raised all kinds of questions of what would we find, etc.
Oooh yes that makes sense!
Wellll... yeah sure... but make no mistake... the entire US space program up until the Apollo 12 was a race to demonstrate superiority to the USSR. The science and "exploration" was by far secondary.
The show was pitched to the network execs as "Wagon Train in Space." By using that comparison, DS9 is technically "Rifleman in Space." Commander Sisko and Jake are essentially Lucas and Mark McCain.
@@timmooney7528 no..no...no...no...no...DS9 is Cheers in space! Change my mind! ~Picard, probably.
I mean, instead of Norm, they had Morn, and uhh, Sisko and Quark combined were Sam, Kira was Diane, Cliff was Odo, Rebecca was Jedzia Dax, Woody was Rom...it all makes sense!
@@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785 Quarks is based on Cheers without a doubt. The bigger picture is a story about a widower and his son in a frontier outpost.
Yes, production order! This episode is great, with great twist at the end. Two captains, both proud of their ships. Also, good observation regarding early exploration feel and theme to TOS.
Looks like we have a new fan of the original series growing in you.
The whole concept of exploration is the core of the show.
One thing distinctive to Star Trek is that when a strange new alien race is encountered, the first response of Starfleet personnel is to make peaceful contact rather than seeing the aliens as a threat to fight. That was very different from the way most scifi movies & TV shows tended to see aliens.
Yeah take at a look at Spock he is half alien. Proving that not all aliens are hostile.
@@jamesstutz6907 Very true.
In Star Trek some aliens want to fight while others want to come over to play board games.
@@technofilejr3401 ......cool board games? Did you just watch a review on 'Move Along Home'? ;p
@@stonebaxter Huh? Board games was a reference to Kirk and Spock paying chess.
@@technofilejr3401 LOL! Oh! I just watched a DS9 review of the terrible 'Move Along Home', which is just a giant board game episode. And terrible. My bad. 😂
I am so enjoying these reactions! I haven't watched TOS in ages; it's really great to watch these again through your eyes. 😊 Thank you so much! 🖖
Thanks!
"I didn't expect to like it as much" yea pretty much no one does at first, that is why Star Trek has lasted as long as it has because it is more about the human condition than just the crazy aliens or situations. It is truly special and Gene Roddenberry's "wagon to the stars" thanks to amazing writing and incredible acting and passion by these talented actors and crew will live on forever despite having aired only 3 seasons in its original run.
Good comment.
I think so many people love/like Star Trek because it has (for most episodes), 1) a positive view of the future, 2) excellent writing and dialog, 3) interesting, then-novel concepts, 4) great guest-stars, 5) excellent lead actors, with great chemistry, and great character development, 6) many episodes having serious overtones, yet with added humor, 7) fantastic musical scores, some even written specifically for an episode, 8) it's a serious show, but it's not afraid to be goofy, and downright funny,
9) the fantastic triad of Kirk, Spock and Bones, 10) secondary characters Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov, all played by excellent actors.
Great fun, all around. I like that you're picking up on little details of each character's nuances.
@@sarahfullerton6894 I live for comments and threads like this. ❤
Captain James T. Kirk, Commanding Officer
Commander Spock, First Officer & Chief Science Officer - The First or Executive Officer oversees daily operations
Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott - Chief Engineering Officer
Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy - Chief Medical Officer - also head of Life Sciences
Lt, Nyota Uhura - Communications Officer
Lt. Hikaru Sulu - Helmsman
Lt. Baily - Navigator - whoever sits in his seat is the Navigator
Yeoman Janice Rand - the Captain''s Yeomen, a combination of secretary & valet
Also, Scotty is Second Officer, third in command, after Spock.
Just a small correction: back during TOS it was always just Uhura and Sulu; ‘Nyota’ was first referenced as her first name in the 1982 book Star Trek II Biographies, the author got permission and blessing from both Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols for the addition, and it then started appearing in subsequent Star Trek novels during the 80’s; it was first used canonically on-screen in the 2009 movie. ‘Hikaru’ was first added to Sulu as his first name in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
@@Interstellar-in5wbHikaru was used by Vonda McIntyre in her novel _The Entropy Effect,_ the first Pocket Books Star Trek novel that came off the presses immediately after the novelization of TMP in 1979. (I know, I know, books aren't canon, but give the lady her due.)
It is worth knowing that Nyota Uhura means "Star Freedom" in Swahili.
I love that you're doing these. It's just like when I introduced my kids to Star Trek back in the '90s. I will look forward to them every week!
I love to hear that!
I'm sure Spock would have responded: "Negative, Bunny. Rubics cubes are multi-colored on their sides."
hehe 😂
ANOTHER reviewer said it was the Microsoft logo, floating around in space! Hahahaha 😂😅
Originally, us fans thought it looked like a child's building block. Since the Rubik's Cube hadn't been invented yet!
No, it's already solved. That's why it acts like that. Only after they are solved they start to float and spin menacingly and irradiate their surroundings.
@@silkwesir1444Thank God I never solved one, then. I lasted about 20 minutes then pried it apart and reassembled it right way round.
Star Trek, while popular when first broadcast, achieved its true success in the early '70s when played in syndication, where I along with most kids of the time watched it after school each day, I've seen each of the 79 episodes probably fifty times, after a time you will know the dialog by heart. BTW, the alien vessel depicted is as it appeared during the original broadcast. Star Trek, while science fiction, took a lot of effort to try to remain scientifically plausible where possible, they routinely had the scripts reviewed by scientists with the Rand Corporation, who would correct easy inaccuracies.
I don't know your age, but you seem to be a younger generation than I would associate with enjoying TOS. It is so nice to see younger people take an interest. You are a pleasant reactor and look forward to many more Trek reactions.
In her book, the late Grace Lee Whitney said that she was attracted to William Shatner, but it never became sexual. Roddenberry had had female yeomen on the ship since "The Cage". Rand was an important character; neither she nor Kirk could go anywhere with their feelings for each other, given their respective positions. Her beehive hairdo was constructed by William Ware Theiss out of two wigs; it was very heavy. Whitney said that it eventually disappeared; stolen or something.
Young Clint Howard plays the alien great episode as most of them are✌️❤️
Ron Howard's little brother. He never didn't look weird apparently 😂
Dang...I never knew that was him.
That mannequin is so memorable from the end credits. Positively spooky as a kid.
What is great about Star Trek in it's original outing is that it was written for adults. An intelligent audience was assumed by the writers. I think that is what you are beginning to realize now and that's why you are enjoying it more than you thought you would.
I served in the U.S. Navy. Spock is the Executive Officer (or First Officer in other Navies). In the show he is the Science Officer when he is not acting as Officer of the Deck.
She, ships are referred to as she. At least in most western navies like the U.S. Navy. "We name ships after women to remind ourselves to treat them like a lady". Rip Torn in the movie Summer Rental.
There is a follow up book, Face of the Unknown where Kirk and crew visit the First Federation, Balok, and Ensign Bailey again.
5:00 -- RE: Spock's Job on the Enterprise; See also: First Officer. Spock is a special case in terms of naval command structure because he doesn't occupy a single position but two. He is simultaneously acting as the ship's Science Officer which makes him nominally the head of the "Science" Department on the ship while also acting as the ship's First Officer which, as you've already said, is the second in command. If the Captain gets incapacitated or killed, he will indeed immediately assume command and technically becomes the Captain until relieved. When the Captain is there, though, the First Officer is also known as an Executive Officer (XO), which is to say, while the Captain is the one who is the first link in the Ship's command structure, all Executive actions including direct orders have to go through the XO. In effect, anything the Captain orders will be immediately repeated by the XO and the Crew will essentially be saying "Aye" to the XO, not directly to the Captain.
This relationship between the XO and the Captain was not terribly easy to appreciate in the 3 seasons of TOS, however, which is arguably why TNG made an extra effort to focus on it with the characters of Picard and Riker. With that being said, though, almost any film or play which involves characters in a naval setting will show exactly the same relationship, and the further back into history we go the more obvious it is because there are less bulkheads for the XO or the Captain to hide behind. TOS was radically different because Kirk and Spock almost always do their "chain of command" work out in the open and in front of other officers or crewmates.
Spock is the science officer; when Kirk is unavailable, he’s the temporary captain. On a ship, the stern is the rear, the bow is the front, starboard is the right and port is the left. Btw a ship is called “she”. On a ship, they have a complete system who replaces whom if the original person isn’t available
What are the Enterprise’s preferred pronouns now?
If she keeps her eyes open, she will see others slide into place when one of the crew is knocked out of commission.
Ships are always female
@@oobrocks For the U.S., in some other nations they refer to their ships as "he" as in "he is a powerful ship."
Never heard that but if u say so
Very interesting that in this episode they still haven't settled on an actual pattern for the uniforms. Normally their undershirt collars aren't this high.
Though they did already settle in on the women wearing very short skirts. If I recall correctly they initially had both men and women in pants, but feedback from Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) and others had them change to mini skirts. At the time this was pretty much representative of women being free to dress how they wished, and not stick to the more modest conventions of the past. Grace Lee Whitney mentioned in at least one interview that she was pleased that they were able to get them to green light the skirts. (I find this little factoid amusing because sometimes you'll hear people seeing Star Trek for the first time assume that the short skirts were "sexist" - when it was essentially just the opposite!
@@mirozen_ Mini dresses ( a skirt starts at the waist ). They were very hip at the time.
@@treetopjones737 Better! Good correction. 👍
wonderful reaction! I really am enjoying how you're watching sort of with a dual perspective. on the one hand you're settling into enjoy it, on the other hand you're also trying to dig a little deeper and immerse yourself in this whole universe!
and your heartfelt conclusion message for your dad is something I can relate to - my dad was a fan as well.
The kid playing the Balok is Clint Howard, who is best known for Lassie (when he was a little older). His younger brother is Ron Howard who played Opy on The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cuttingham on Happy Days.
@bunnytailsREACTS It is such a joy to watch you watch Star Trek for the first time.
To the rest of your audience, and especially the veteran Trekkies on here....WE are the ones who watch the watcher!.
2:40 "We're just gonna go this way; we don't know what the heck is out there."
Here there be monsters!
Some of the best episodes were written by Dorothy Fontana. Since it was taboo at the time, for a woman to be a writer; Dorothy was credited as D.C. Fontana.
Her name will pop up often, as you progress through the season. She proved that even women can be capable of writing successful stories…including science fiction. 😊
She started off as Gene Roddenberry's secretary, but over time took over more and more of his daily responsibilities. Eventually, she became more important, I'd argue, than he was.
Star Wars has a similar story. While George Lucas is a great "big picture" guy, he can't write dialogue if his life depends on it. So, his wife, Marcia Lucas, ghostwrote the original film script and a lot of "Empire's" as well. But by the third film, they were separated and divorcing and she was no longer around to rein him in and replace his terrible dialogue with believable dialogue. Thus, the radical change in "feel" for the third film. And of course, the terrible dialogue in the prequels.
I actually love the stories from the prequels, but hate the weird dialogue.
Still better than the sequels, however, by far.
Oh, don't be stupid. Women were writing and editing SF stories for decades before Star Trek came along and were well respected in the field by both fans and pros. Sometimes they wrote under their own names and sometimes using pseudonyms, as male authors also did for various commercial reasons... one of which could be to avoid the prejudices of silly people. Mary Shelley's famous "Frankenstein" (1818) was and is generally acknowledged as the first modern SF novel, while the similar efforts of her male contemporaries pretty much faded into obscurity, so this isn't really a new thing either.
One of my favorite Fontana books for Star Trek is Vulcan's Glory a good Spock and Pike noval.
Starfleet's primary mission is actually exploration and scientific study. Its defensive military duties are secondary. It is a uniformed service, but only really military when necessary. Most people who join Starfleet do so in order to be scientists and explorers. Great job with your videos, they're wonderful to watch and enjoy _Star Trek_ alongside you. You're smart and observant and pick up on things very well, and it's very fun to see you watch this for the first time and see your understanding develop.
Please continue these original series reaction videos. For those of us who have been lifelong fans of this series and who have been profoundly influenced by it since our childhoods, it is enormously satisfying to share it with someone of another generation who appreciates the stories and characters we are so intimately familiar with. Your comments are very intelligent and insightful. Thank you for the time and effort in making these videos, as well. Although the quality of individual episodes will vary throughout the series, I can already tell that you will find your entry into this universe of Star Trek fandom well-worth the effort in the long run. Looking forward to many more!
2:28 That's true. In a 2nd season Next Generation episode, Wesley tells his date that at that point (about 90 years after the events of this episode), humans had only charted 19% of the galaxy.
Sulu was originally ship's physicist; he transferred to helmsman, where he remained until the theatrical movies, where he eventually got promoted and got a command of his own.
Which is kinda weird, because in real life a helmsman is usually junior enlisted or just barely an NCO.
As a physicist Sulu was in the Sciences department, therefore he had been directly under Spock's command (as Chief Science Officer).. So Sulu has experience crossing brains with Spock
Sulu was the "Astro sciences" department head in Where No Man Has Gone Before. He also had a botany hobby.
@@toddjones1480 I think this happened because the producers wanted to get the actor onto the bridge, where he would be more visible.
@@lucasbachmann He reaches botany...also fencing (being, at heart, a swashbuckler).
Liked your reaction very much!
Almost forgot how good this series was!
Plot and Effects for a TV series at it`s time it was really groundbreaking.
Additionally, it has this weird peaceful message in it!
Great job, youngling. Spock tells Bailey not to yell, yet his volume is elevated during the countdown. Our early Spock had a problem enhancing his calm. He gets better. But we really like his emotional outbursts. I could see Kirk thinking maybe Bones was right and Bailey needs a timeout. I don't recall ever seeing Bailey again. Balok's alter ego voice was Ted Cassidy. One of tvs big men. His voice was as impressive as his appearance. Best known as Lurch from the Addams Family. We will get him back in episode, What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Since you mentioned Uhura, Nichelle Nichols was hesitant to take the role because she thought she was just the token black, but she was encouraged to take it by none other than Martin Luther King.
That's not quite right. She had already been on the show for most of the first season but was considering leaving due to the small role she was playing on the show. She admitted as much to Dr. King when they met, and he told her it was his family's favorite show. He also told her that she should stay on it just to be a visible reminder that there was a role and a place for black people (and other minorities) in humanity's future.
She told the story of how she met MLK for the first time after the series began its original run. Nichelle was considering quitting the show after the first season, and at a public event MLK showed up wanted to meet her, as Star Trek was his favorite TV show and He was her biggest fan. It was a surprise for her. Nichelle turned around to meet MLK, not knowing he was coming to see her, she described his face as glowing with happiness to meet her. She told MLK that she was thinking of quitting so she could resume her work's singing career instead. She said the spirit drained from MLK's face when she told him about quitting, and he told her that she could-not-quit. Her role on that TV show representing people of color in such a prominent role on the bridge crew of a star ship was too important for U.S. popular/public media culture, and as a role model she was just too important. She obviously could not quit the show after speaking with MLK. This is how she told the story at a public event tour she did in the 1970's I saw her in her in the event in Alabama. "An Evening with Nichelle Nichols". She got on stage, did some talking and singing for the show. I got her autograph too. A neat lady.
To underscore what tykloster said, that’s not accurate. Uhura was never created as the “token black” on the show; Roddenberry wanted to present a progressive depiction. And it was the first time a black woman was portrayed to have such a prominent officer position. Groundbreaking and progressive. Not “token”.
Nichols was never hesitant to take the role - she and Roddenberry collaborated together in creating the character. (It was her later dissatisfaction in season 2 that led to her wanting to leave, which was turned around after meeting MLK and him convincing her to stay on the show.)
She was encouraged to keep the role because MLK and his daughters were fans of the show. He felt she was elevating the image of Black people.
After Star Trek, Nichelle worked with NASA to recruit women and people of color into the Astronaut Corps.
@@Interstellar-in5wbno she was gonna leave at end of season 1 but Luther king talked her out of it. She had even handed her letter in to Gene Roddenberry
Spock is both chief science officer and executive officer. As the exec, his main regular function is to run the ship. The captain has to make the tough calls and shouldn't be bothered with low level personel issues or mundane decisions. Spock would, in theory, keep on top of all department heads to make certain they were running their departments efficiently, organize regular drills to make certain the crew would know how to react in an emergency as though it was routine, and basically keep track of every aspect of life on the ship and deal with any problem before it ever gets to the captain's desk. He'll make regular reports to the captain of course.
Interesting note: Balok is played by Ron Howard’s brother Clint. Clint has played a part in every single Star Trek Show.
Great, love your reactions. In a way this episode is what Star Trek's all about, you should see it again for sure. Definitely a lot of CGI updates here. If you can do a reaction of the un-remastered version would love to see that too!
Absolutely loving your Star Trek reactions. May you live long and prosper.
Thank you!
Not sure if others have already mentioned it, but the full series Blu-ray set has the option for watching the original photographic visual effects. The original Fesarius was awesome. The remastered version is very close to it, but somehow, it just looks CGI. I like to watch the original effects, and in production order, too. It shows how the series develops and changes over its run.
@ 14:59 "We grow annoyed at your foolishness..."
SO EVOCATIVE of Kirk's other great line, "Khan... I'm laughing at the superior intellect..."
One thing a lot of non-fans don't get about a lot of Trek, is the interpersonal relationships we see at play. Lots think it's either boring diplomacy talky talk or mindless pew pew space shooty bits.
In reality it's often interpersonal relationships between characters, who come together to explore and overcome challenges/situations. There is so much and it is truly wonderful to see a hopeful look at what we /could/ become.
I'm glad you gave it a chance and already see characters you can easily love, like Bones! He's one of my all time favourites too, my actual favourite in the original series.
The show was great right away, largely due to the interaction of the characters. Thanks for sharing your reactions.
You’re welcome 🙂
Hi B.T., I`m enjoying re-watching through your eyes this classic Tv show. For me, the cube was definitely the first part of his test. However, I think it was to see how quickly you would go to an aggressive move. Whereas, Kirk tried everything else first & only when forced to by the threat of radiation, did he resort to an aggressive move. I believe the radiation threat was also intentional, to test the depth of their resolve to avoid aggression.
Very good point! That does make a lot of sense
24:15 There is a “visual effects comparison” on UA-cam for every Star Trek episode that shows the old analog effects and he new digital ones in parallel. Weirdly enough, sometimes things are changed that you would not expect, like the ship’s clock.
That was necessary because the mechanism for the clock used on the set was bad, like in Naked Time when the clock went from 7:59 to 7:00 to 8:01. (That actually was noticed by fans and written about in the Nitpicker's Guide to Star Trek TOS.)
I started watching ST:TOS purely to laugh at how hokey it was coz I'd heard it was super cheesy. This is the episode that made me unironically fall in love with Star Trek :)
Some of the ending banter is kinda cheesy but I can only think of a few episodes I would describe that way.
Interesting. I had a chance to watch the ST animated series and tried to take it seriously. I couldn't stop laughing until Harry Mudd showed up.
@@jupreindeer
Out of curiosity, what part were you "laughing uncontrollably" over?
The art was typical "cheap animation" for the era, pre-computers and tight budget. All things being equal, it was pretty decent, given those constraints. Same with the very limited musical selections (some of which were shared among MANY Filmation animated shows!)
But the stories themselves were surprisingly intelligent... granted, there were high and low points, but overall, the story quality of TAS, to me, was superior to that of the live-action season 3.
Note that TAS brought back the S1 & S2 pattern of hiring experienced, professional sci-fi authors to write episodes.
For example, Larry Niven wrote an episode, and used that episode to being his own popular prose "Kzinti" race into Star Trek canon.
The one where a woman trades places to use Kirk's body is cringe. "She did it out of jealousy."
@@treetopjones737 SPOILER!!! 😡
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU???
Are you too stupid to understand the concept of "reaction" videos? 🤨
bunnytails: wonderful you're using/showing full-screen of your subject episodes, please continue. Also, enjoy your 'reactions', entertaining. I'll be viewing many more.
The sci-fi writing just keeps getting better and better with each passing episode. Can't wait until you get to season 2.
True ... Season 1 really only provides one true clunker (you're job is to tell us which one Bunnytails😁). The writing in Season 2 is the "best of times, the almost worst of times." Season 2 introduces or solidifies many Star Trek tropes, for better or worse. But when Season 2 shines, it really shines. Season 3 is decidedly the worst of times with a handful of bright spots, but not nearly enough.😖
@@craigborchard7424 Yeah, then most of season three's just so-so. Lol.
@@craigborchard7424LAZARUS
12:25 - Bailey needs one of those tranquilizers Bones says can calm an active volcano😆
Spock is the first officer and also the science officer.
Spock is actually Chief Sience Officer
@@roleplayer10
Ranks and roles are not synonymous.
Leonard Horatio McCoy is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) on the Enterprise... with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He commands and is responsible for all medical facilities and medical personnel aboard the Enterprise.
Spock, at this point, holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander as well, and is head of the Science division (CSO) aboard the Enterprise, with all science division personnel under his direct command, as well as all science labs and facilities. In addition, he serves as Executive Officer (XO).
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott is head of the Engineering division, with all engineering personnel and systems under his direct authority.
Lieutenant Nyota Upenda Uhura is head of the ship's comminications division, with all linguists and communications personnel under her command.
Lieutenant Sulu is chief helmsman, with all helmsmen, navigators, and shuttlecraft pilots under his command.
There are ROLES... positions... and there are ranks. The two are not really related.
Thus gets especially confusingbehen you talk about naval commanding officers. The ROLE of "ship's captain" and the RANK of "captain" are not the same thing.
In real life, John F. Kennedy was the captain of a patrol boat, but his actual rank was below "captain."
In Star Trek, Scotty is eventually promoted to the rank of Captain, but is never given the JOB of ship's captain.
And Kirk, as an Admiral, serves as "captain" of the Enterprise until everything is made right again in ST-IV.
@KerbalSpaceCommand yep, ya got me, as a professional proofreader I shouldn't have let that slide.
Spock is First Officer of The Enterprise, with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he is also Chief science officer.
All the ranks are on the sleeve’s of their uniforms, that’s what those markings are. The uniform colors in the original series is:
Gold for Command
Blue for sciences
Red for specialist.
This is episode 10.
Thank you, I’m enjoying your content. Keep up the good job. Take care, God Bless. 🙏🏼
Thanks!
Lol Red is for expendable.
Spock has the Starfleet rank of Commander not Lieutenant Commander. He is both the Executive Officer (XO) and Chief Science Officer.
@teambanzai9491 I believe there is an episode coming up where Spock's rank is given as Lt. Commander, but he always wore the rank braids of a full Commander, i.e. two solid stripes.
@@teambanzai9491Spock was referred to as Lieutenant Commander a few times during the first season (“Court Martial”, “The Menagerie”, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”); between season 1 and season 2 he was promoted ‘off-screen’ to Commander - he’s first referred to as Commander in “Journey to Babel”.
Thank you for taking us along on this journey. Good to see the show through new eyes.
New and not jaded... THAT'S refreshing...
The interesting things to note are the subtle changes that occur throughout production. You can see it here in some of the uniforms. Uhura is wearing gold rather than the red she wears the rest of the time, and some collars of the shirts are taller and more floppy. So for example, even though "The Man Trap" aired prior to this episode, they were wearing the later versions of the uniform in that episode.
For us old-timers, the music is so classic ST after all the rewatches through time. It is symphonic and still holds up really well today when trying to set the tone of a scene.
BTW, you remind me so much of my ex-roommate when I lived in Seattle.
I mostly like the episodes that take place in space so this one fits that bill. It's in my top five of the series.
I liked it mostly because of Clint Howard, Ron Howard's little brother, also played "Leon" the sandwich kid in "The Andy Griffith Show".
To answer your question about Spock's position, besides second in command, he's also the Senior Science Officer.
Man, I love these reviews. I've seen these episodes so many times, it's great to watch them through a "new comer's" eyes.
You've made a good choice; watching in production order rather than airing order is the way to go, particularly with the early episodes.
You're correct. You're watching the remastered version - updated effects for a new generation. Personally, I prefer the original, practical effects. While some think they haven't aged well, they were masterful for the time, even beautiful. And speaking of beautiful, it warmed my heart to hear to say that about the Enterprise.
Uniform color meanings:
Yellow = Command - Means you've had Officers Training. The person has been to an academy or an Officers Training program.
Red = Operations - Means you have some type of engineer skill or administration essential to ship operations (Communications, ship's engines, security)
Blue = Science - Means you've had a lot of college. This person has skills beyond ship operations
Actually practically everyone with a tunic like Kirk, Spock and McCoy is a Starfleet Academy graduate. So they have all had Officer Training with some specialization.
If you see someone walking around in just a pale blue jumpsuit they are an enlisted person or crewman.
@@technofilejr3401 McCoy went to Ole Miss
red shirts usually had the best chance of being killed for some weird reason. so being a red shirt in a landing party meant almost certain doom.
@@actioncom2748 That doesn’t mean McCoy couldn’t have went to some form of Starfleet ROTC or just a post graduate Officer Candidate School. In our current time, this is how a lot of non Academy officers get their commissions.
@@DannyD714 Yup this is true. If you see a red coat in the opening scene of an episode, you might as well set a timer. They would be deceased by the time the opening monologue started.
I watched all of these shows on a black and white TV. 60 years later, the show still has lasted. I am glad that you enjoy it. I like your laughing at the cast. LOL Comedy was built into the scripts and acting.
There is a Star Trek novel called _The Face of the Unknown_ by Christopher L. Bennet which is a sequel to this episode. The author acknowledged that this was the first Trek episode he ever saw and it made a big impression on him. The story is pretty good and it does answer a lot of questions left hanging at the end.
If you do a search for William Shatner Roast on YT you may still be able to find a video in which a now-grown Clint Howard (still dressed as Balok) insults the Shat's hairpiece.
The puppet version of Balok was voiced by Ted Cassidy, better known as Lurch from the '60s version of _The Adams Family._
It is generally believed that Gary Mitchell was the first officer until Kirk had to kill him. Spock was made first officer because no one else who was qualified wanted the responsibility, plus as a bridge officer, he was already there. Spock never sought command, but as he is a Vulcan, he stoically accepted the post.
Mitchell also left a vacancy at the navigator's station. Kirk needed somebody there on alpha shift, so he gave it to Bailey, hence McCoy's worry that Bailey may have been promoted too fast.
Kirk will use that "corbomite" trick again. Hey, as long as it works, why not?
Search for audio behind the scenes of Shatner in how HE says sabotage.
No Gary was not the first officer spock was always first officer from the second pilot onwards.
@@philfitnesspt6139 Says who?
@@philfitnesspt6139
Phil, you keep doing this... making "authoritative statements" without supporting your claims with facts, logic, or ANY kind of argument.
Shouting "IZ NOT!!!" isn't how you convince people if... anything, really.
You could make an argument that dialogue doesn't explicitly establish that Mitchell was first officer. And then require the other side to support their own position.
That's how DISCUSSION works.
But foot-stamping "declarations" like yours are the antithesis of "discussion."
@@carybrown851 I expect that sort of thing in UA-cam comment sections. What Sarek once said about Tellarites, you know?
I do admit that Mitchell being first officer had been strictly fanon for decades. It is conjecture based on the fact that Kirk and Mitchell were buds at the Academy, had served together and Kirk asked Starfleet to let him have Mitchell on his first command. If I was captain of the ship, I'd make my bud the exec. Spock was not the exec under Pike, and there's nothing to even suggest that there was a last minute posting of Spock to that post by Pike as he was departing. That sort of thing is most commonly left to the incoming captain to decide. And Kirk didn't personally know Spock, yet. And in the second pilot, it is clear that he had an almost McCoy-like view of the Vulcan.
So, yes, it has always been a theory that happens to fit all the facts, and not something confirmed or denied on screen.
However, there is a relatively new thing that has sprung up in fandom called "Beta Canon." This is when a pro writer makes something not revealed on screen a fact in their own story. Fans are allowed to call it canon, up until something comes along on screen that contradicts it.
I'm not sure how many comics or novels confirm that Mitchell was first officer, but _The Autobiography of James T. Kirk_ is certainly one of them. So it is a wee bit more "canonical" now than the fan fiction it started out as.
This is one of the most memorable episodes, glad you enjoyed it. The little kid is actor/director Ron Howards younger brother. He was just in one of the new episodes from season 2 of the current Star Trek series Strange New Worlds. Which is crazy to think that he was in this episode from 57 years ago, and again one just shown.
22:02 that is very common for first time viewers. TOS episodes nearly always were layered. As to your speculation, yes. The Buyoy was part of the test to see what Kirk would do when faced with a threat. Resign, Try and flee, immediately become aggressivve or destroy/disarm the buyoy and then forge ahead.
The Blu-Rays have the option to view the episodes with the original effects. You can also choose to hear the original mono sound mix.
I think the radiation from the buoy was a warning on Balok's part to repel any simple-minded invaders from entering into his system. The encounter itself was the test of whether they were a threat. The distress-signal was a test of compassion and intellect.
Cool episode! I liked how Balok challenged the assumption of humans being the greatest and kindest in the universe.
In science fiction it's common to put humans at the lower end of the tech scale. It helps add a layer of difficulty to whatever needs to be overcome.
I'm convinced we'll eventually meet an alien species and have to show them how to bang rocks together to make fire. Maybe show them the principal of a lever and some basic math. Then tell them we'll be back in 500 years to see how things are going.
@@christopherconard2831Well said. We always need a higher metric to measure ourselves to, a goal to strive for, and a mystery that is beyond our comprehension. The journey is always more fun than the destination. Also, to your primitive alien species experiment, I would also give them a wheel. Lol
MCCOY: "Balok's message. It was heard all over the ship."
KIRK: "Captain to crew. Those of you who have served for long on this vessel have encountered alien lifeforms. You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. In most cases we have found that intelligence capable of a civilisation is capable of understanding peaceful gestures. Surely a lifeform advanced enough for space travel is advanced enough to eventually understand our motives. All decks stand by. Captain out."
Kirk is a superb leader. Realizing the need, Kirk provides his crew with knowledge, context, direction, and hope.
Don't know if you're familiar with the _Addams Family_ TV series, but the voice of "Balok" the puppet was provided by Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch. He returns later this season in an on-camera role.
Hmm, I never knew that. I thought his voice sounded familar!
Ruk!
@@Ricardo-hp8gj "THAT was the equation!!! Survival cancels programming!!!"
Favorite! :-) @@buffstraw2969
@@Ricardo-hp8gj I forgot to mention he voiced a certain central character in "Arena" also. (Don't want to spoil it for Bunny!)
"How dare they talk shit about the Enterprise!" -- I love it! Thanks, Bunny!
The 50th anniversary Blu-Ray has both original and new effects, I have that set.
I’m really enjoying you first watches. If you haven’t seen it you might enjoy the greatest sci-fi movie of all time, 2001: a space odyssey. Gary Lockwood from Where No Man Has Gone Before stars in that as well. As good as Star Trek was for TV, 2001 is now judged as one of the most amazing films by one of the best directors of all time. It has held up incredibly well considering it was made the year after these Star Trek episodes were made.
Of course all during the actual space race with the soviets. What a time that was!
I met many of the people who created the effects in 2001 at Cyberfest 1997. A total geek out!
I love how Spock says "quite unnecessary to raise your voice", but Spock raises his voice in early episodes with "Deflectors, full intensity", and "sensor beam on"!!
At this point in the timeline, Starfleet is still exploring in a largely unexplored galaxy where starships are sometimes months away from starbases or even in communication range of those bases. There’s only 11 other starships, Constitution class like Kirk’s, the rest are mission specific. Constitution class ships are meant to be able to do whatever is needed at the time. They’ve all got state of the art science/medical and offensive and defensive capabilities as well.
Well, this thing about there being only 11 others is just a single throwaway line that has been blown out of proportion by some fans. It should not be taken this serious, I think. 12 seems to few even for that era of Starfleet.
@@silkwesir1444
“Blown out of proportion” or not, dialogue is canon, so there are only 12 Constitution class ships in the 2260s.
@@ajclements4627
Wrong.
The line was that "there are only twelve like her in the fleet." Not that "there are only twelve Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers in the fleet."
My perspective? Out of the full fleet, twelve Constitution-class heavy cruiser were refit to an "explorer" confuguration, incorporating vastly expanded science capabilities into existing warship hulls (something made possible through reducing cargo space, itself made possible through incorporation of first-generation "replicator" technology.
Expanding the crew size from ~200 to well over 400 in the process, of course.
Only twelve... or is it thirteen (the line implies 13... Enterprise, and twelve more like her) ships got that refit... and all twelve were sent out on a much ballyhooed "five year mission." With only the Enterprise returning essentially intact (this according to GR in his TMP novelization).
There may well have been many more heavy cruisers still out there in "The Cage" or "Where No Man Has Gone Before" configurations.
But there were only twelve... or thirteen?... ships outfitted the same way Enterprise was. At least at that moment.
@@carybrown851
“There are only 12 like her in the fleet” means there are only 12 Constitution class starships like Enterprise in the fleet.
@@ajclements4627
No, that's not how language works. Words mean what they actually say... not necessarily what you "think they ought to mean."
Saying that there are "twelve like her in the fleet" only means that "there are twelve like her in the fleet." Nothing more, nothing less.
If he" d said "there are inly twelve Constitution-class heavy cruisers in the fleet," it would be different.
But that's NOT what he said. And your attempt to "reinterpret" what he said, to mean more than what was actually said, is simply incorrect.
A buoy here on Earth is an anchored float that serves as a navigation mark, to show hazards such as reefs, or for mooring. The idea of the "space buoy" was covered in the episode as to what the crew felt it might be.
The Executive Officer is the Second in Command. He/she is responsible to the Commanding Officer for the general organization of the ship and for the discipline, morale and welfare of the whole Ship’s Company together with the co-ordination of their training both for war and in peace. He/she is to be prepared to assume command if the Commanding Officer (CO) becomes incapacitated for any reason. He/she should also be prepared for duties in a command Watch Bill opposite the CO (Generally 1st shift to the Captain and 2nd shift to the Executive Officer); to which end he/she may be required to assume greater responsibility and be delegated greater authority in certain circumstances as required by the CO and as authorized by him/her.
Officer ranks onboard the Enterprise (In descending order):
(O-6) Captain (This is a rank as well as a position, held by Kirk)
(O-5) Commander
(O-4) Lieutenant-Commander
(O-3) Lieutenant
(O-2) Lieutenant (junior grade)
(O-1) Ensign
Very rarely will crewmen get speaking lines, These are the "enlisted" ranks that make up the majority of Starfleet. Star Trek focuses on the senior bridge crew. Occasionally, a person ranking higher than "Captain" will be mentioned. Again, in descending order:
(O-11) Fleet Admiral
(O-10) Admiral
(O-9) Vice-Admiral
(O-8) Rear Admiral
(O-7) Commodore (sometimes "Fleet Captain")
This is awesome! I was wondering what I would be doing today. I am so happy that you took the lead and showed me the way.
Waaaay Cool 😎
[Vulcan translation:
Live Long and Prosper]
Thank you for your productions. I am VERY happy you have discovered Star Trek, the most successful TV show in history....worldwide! I often shared these programs with my children not only for the entertainment but also because Star Trek offers the most excellent English on television and served as some of the best free education found anywhere. You should recognize that this show was created and produced by veterans of the second world war only 20 years after that great war. Some of the actors namely, James Doohan, was a veteran who saw combat for his native, Canada. Roddenberry was an Army Aircorps veteran as was Matt Jeffries. Their perspective was that Star Fleet was a naval arm of the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century, 200 years hence.
These ships, not unlike their 20th century namesakes, were like both the Navy and Coast Guard in that they patrolled, enforced navigation regulations and provided security and rescue services for Star Fleet. The Enterprise is a "Constitution" class "Heavy Crusier" not unlike the heavy crusiers of the WWII, they were well equipped, fast and had powerful weapons including guns, anti-aircraft machine guns and torpedos as well. The starship Enterprise is equipped with both "Phasers," an advanced type of laser, and "Photon" torpedos. The Captain has a "First Officer" or "Executive Officer" who is likely a "Commander" in rank and they have "Department Heads" who are usually Lieutenents or Lieutenent Commanders. Each department head is known also as "Chief" of their department such as "Chief Medical Officer," or "Chief Engineer" and each usually has a deputy chief. While there are enlisted personnel, they do not play pivotal roles while all the main characters are officers who have completed Star Fleet Academy.
The Enterprise is the most famous uncredited star of the show and she is greatly loved all over the world and few Trekkers have only one model of her. In one episode Kirk said, "She's a beautiful lady and we LOVE her!"
Interesting thing about this episode is that Clint Howard was only 7 years old, but played the roll of an adult.... great episode
0:49 "I see _Uhura."_
😳 Oy. In _gold._ This is the only episode in the _series_ in which she wore that color and I'm _so_ glad. It does not become her at _all._ She looks _much_ better in red.
And Sulu was in _Where No Man Has Gone Before,_ but that was the one episode of the series in which he wore _blue._ Here, they've got him in gold.
3:36 Oh, good. They have red shirts, now. _TOS_ is not complete without _them._
13:18 Ah, good. Scotty's in red, _too,_ now.
Units wore gold in this episode and the next episode produced, "Mudd's Women." Uhura does not physically appear in the third episode produced, " The Enemy Within," although her voice is heard over the intercom. In the fourth episode produced, " The Man Trap," Uhura is finally in her familiar red miniskirt.
The "sort of" had red in WNMHGB. Look closely at Gary Mitchell's shirt. It's not the same color as Kirk's and Spock's. Theirs were gold. His is pale pink... "salmon," technically.
The salmon shirts became real red for the production series. But the "red" was already there in the second pilot, just very muted.
I hope you continue watching these in production order as that's a way I have never watched the series. I noticed Sulu's comment about Spock. So, this being an early episode produced, it's laying out more bits of info about the characters. I also noticed they haven't finalized things like uniform colors. With Uhura in gold instead of the red she will wear throughout the majority of the series.
Fun fact - The weird alien kid is Clint Howard, Director Ron Howard's brother. He's been in many movies over the years but prob best recognized for Apollo 13.
Just a little primer - Every episode you've been watching features remastered FX, but they mirror the original models
Kirk - Captain
Spock - First Officer / Science Officer
Scotty - Second Officer / Chief Engineer
Gold Uniform - Command
Blue Uniform - Sciences + Medical
Red - Engineering/ Mechanical + Security
Star fleet and Star Trek takes place primarily in the alpha quadrant of our galaxy. Even with faster than light speed (warp) It would take well over hundred years to cross the milky way.
"Space is big... really, really big." At least according to Douglas Adams...
@@carybrown851 In that case Douglas Adams wasn't kidding !
...and that's using the 24th century warp scale...
@@carybrown851 Look up the largest known sun in the universe.
@@treetopjones737 UY Scuti massive beyond belief...
10:00 - Yes what paramount plus shows is the DBD/Blu-Ray Remastered collection of episodes released for the 40th anniversary in 2009. They released all the movies and shows in High-Def (before they were only available in the original broadcast versions). They also replaced most of the space shots with CG Models, fixed a lot of problems created by upscaling the quality, and did a full color correction throughout. This also punched up a lot of the color from the consoles, and lighting problems that existed in the originals.
Fun Fact: Balok was played by Clint Howard. He still acts in the spin-offs of this show as various characters and species including Strange New Worlds, Discovery, Enterprise, Deep Space 9. He was 7 in this episode, and 64 in Strange New Worlds.
Wow. That's awesome.
I liked his Orion character on Discovery.
In addition to the red-shirts-of the week, we got the navigator-of-the-week. Bailey was promoted way too soon. Lol
You've got to love the foreshadowing in this episode. Before we see the real Baalok, who resembles a child, we encounter, 1) a spinning block; 2) a giant gumball machine; 3) a ship that could be built of tinkertoys.
hahaha
ST-TOS + you're reaction style = Priceless.
💚💚❤❤💚💚
Gene Roddenberry was a Navy Vet. Yes it meant backwards. That is why many ships have running lights like a boat.
Gene Roddenberry was a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps. He did not cross over to Naval service.
@@flashgordon6238 Ok wrong about him being in the Navy but did base Star Fleet on the Navy.
The little boy playing Balok, Clint Howard, was already a show business veteran from a family of actors. His mom, Jean, was in TV shows and movies from the 1950s until her death in the year 2000. His dad, Rance, was also on TV and in movies from the 50s until his death in 2017. His older brother, Ron, was already a star on "The Andy Griffith Show" before doing a bunch of other shows and movies until he starred on "Happy Days" in the 70s. He went on to a little more acting before becoming a famous movie director. Clint's niece, Bryce Dallas, has also done a lot of acting and some directing as well. After Star Trek, Clint starred in his own TV show called "Gentle Ben" in which his co-star was a bear. Clint probably has the longest acting credits in the family appearing in a lot of his brother's movies and most recently returning to the Star Trek franchise on the current series "Star Trek" Strange New Worlds" which takes place before the original series.
Rance Howard played the father of John Sheridan on Babylon 5. B5 is nearly at the same level as classic Trek for me... which says a LOT, being that I was born a just a short time before Trek hit the airwaves, and literally grew up with it. B5 is sort of "Star Trek meets Lord of the Rings," essentially.
Rance Howards brief apprarances on that show were nevertheless very... impactful.
Oh, and Bryce, as you mention above, was the lead female actor in the new Jurassic Park films, which is where most folks will recognize her from.
There are UA-cam videos comparing the original and the remastered special effects.
The writing and character interaction in this episode was fantastic. I don't think any episode so far has made me laugh this much. It's also a great example of how they were able to create a lot of tension with a limited budget, which is something I remember about one of the episodes I've seen prior to your reaction series.
And here we see Kirk's penchant for BSing his way out of deadly situations. When you can't romance and alien, make an emotional speech. And when that doesn't work, just lie.
He's been doing it ever since he was a cadet after all!
When you got rizz, you can get away with anything. Lol
Kirk has never believed in the "no win" scenario.
Shall I say "Fizzbin" now or wait?
Watching them in production order is actually the best way to watch them as the show and characters progress properly. The airdate order as presented on streaming services is how the shows were aired during their first broadcast on NBC during their original run back in the 1960s. After that, when the show went into syndication in the early '70s, they were aired in their production order and continued airing that way for about the next 30 years.
Great thing #38,435 about Star Trek: the remastering and replaced effects in the original series are all really, really good. Not just good looking, but almost universally _perfectly_ match the style and sense of the original shots they're upgrading or replacing. They never look like an incongruous 2000's film effect jammed into a 60's TV show, they look like just what you'd have wanted in the show at the time.
In this case (been a while since I watched the original version, so don't hold me to it), the cube and original ship were pretty much the same, but a lot blurrier. I believe the early shot of the Enterprise and cube sitting in space next to each other had the color of the cube splashing over the front of the Enterprise added too; the original didn't have that touch.
It's great for old and new fans, I think; the old fans see what they already love, but better. And the new fans see something that looks good and still fits. If you want to dig up the originals, sure, that can be fun and interesting. But I can't think of a single case where I'd say you were _missing_ something if you didn't. George Lucas coulda taken some notes...
Have you watched "Star Trek Continues" ? Once you get over Vic Mignogna's voice and focus oh his mannerism in his portrayal... it's really really good ! Also it had Chris Doohan, James Doohan's son take on his Dad's iconic role to great effect !
It's so much fun watching you enjoy the show so much, Bunny. It's wonderful seeing a new generation discover Star Trek. I can only imagine your father's looking down and grinning ear to ear.
Aw thank you Goodman
A pity that the First Federation doesn't make any _other_ appearances in the show. So many _possibilities_ it could've opened up.
Balok's ship Fesarius-- or another First Federation vessel-- appeared in the fan film directed by Tim Russ (Tuvok from Voyager) entitled; "Of Gods and Men."
@@rickjohnston2667 Yeah. This race also showed up in a _Star Trek_ novel I read, once upon a time.
That's it, though. Nothing canon.
I thought they had a cameo in Journey to Babel. Extras, but the right height.
This is a special episode for me. I grew up watching Start Trek with my dad, and this episode is the last one I watched with him, many years later in the hospital when his health was failing.
It is great to have memories like that ❤️
Part of the reason I suggest new viewers begin with Enterprise rather than TOS is because it really emphasises that idea of everything being unexplored. in TOS, the Federation covers a fairly wide portion of the galaxy, though there is still the majority of the galaxy to explore. But in Enterprise, the Federation doesn't even exist yet, and humans have only visited a few nearby stars. The series follows one of the very earliest deep space exploration vessels. That series does a very good job of making space feel vast and unknown.
I can see how the thought of how unknown things are might not have occurred to you if most of your past experience with the series was with TNG and the other two shows set in the same era as TNG. I adore TNG, but it definitely shifts the focus away from exploration of the unknown and towards diplomacy and interplanetary geopolitics between established societies. That's part of why it was so refreshing when Enterprise came out and took place a century before TOS instead of a century after. It made space feel big again.
I actually agree, especially from an in universe chronological perspective. I loved Enterprise, and thought it was very underrated and under appreciated at the time. But I am glad that it got made. They unfortunately suffered the same fate as TOS however, being cancelled too soon.
@@rickjohnston2667 It was the last show made under the Star Trek name that lived up to the philosophical ideas Star Trek was about and tried to exist in the same universe as the previous shows without rebooting anything. Extremely underrated and a perfect introduction to Trek, which is why I made a full-length prelude episode to get new viewers all set up to start at the beginning.
Unfortunately, as much as I desperately want to see someone do a reaction to all of canon Star Trek in story order, with Enterprise at the start, the sad fact is that someone who reacts to 4 seasons of Enterprise is unlikely to get many viewers, precisely because it's so underrated. They might give up before they ever even get to TOS. A reactor has to consider that. But I firmly believe that the best first time experience that can be had is to start with Enterprise, then TOS and its movies, and then TNG and its movies along with DS9 and Voyager which overlap with them. That's why I wrote a guide so people can know which order to watch in. I wish I could temporarily erase the show from my memory and re-experience it in that order.
Notice the concept of command in the captain of a starship. Kirk is firm but fair, expects excellence, is decisive but trusts the inputs of those reporting to him, has the respect of those under his command, has the trust of those under his command, never shows vulnerability (except with McCoy), and lets it be known he has the final word (I will consider that Mr Bailey, when this becomes a democracy)