Everyone always makes fun of William Shatner's acting. But I think he is brilliant as Captain Kirk. You cant keep your eyes off him. He creates so much tension and excitement. Best captain ever.
Shatner had a great deal of charisma. When he was in his groove he was, and is, quite compelling to watch. I think with the intense shooting schedule for ST he just slipped into lazy habits.
Jeffery Hunter played the original Captain of the Enterprise and it just didn’t work. The network had him replaced. Star Trek never would have been as popular as it was without Shatner’s Kirk. By far the best!
William O'Connell Jr. who played the spy was a gem of an actor. He knew how to make the most of the roles he was given. His scene in the Clint Eastwood movie where he plays a barber is priceless.
I appreciate that Kirk has Chekhov take over the most critical station in each situation. It shows that as young as he is, Chekhov has earned Kirk's trust in his competence.
A lot of reactors miss that little"so have they", as they're busy reacting to the battle being won, and tend to either edit that out, or talk over it. I love it, and how subtle it is! Great acting, indicating a weary, injured leader who has been tossed around, protecting his ship by fighting a space battle, just hours after being stabbed! I love that great last scene, as well.
Thelev, the fake Andorian prisoner, was played by character actor William L. O'Connell Jr. He appeared later in several Clint Eastwood movies, such as High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales. He was about thirty when he appeared in this role.
@@zlostnypopolnik I've not had cable since 2005 and never had a streaming service. First television commercial I saw in 10 years had two gay men celebrating something or other.
The interlude music in the old Star Trek is the best. It adds to the drama of an already dramatic scene. The direction is excellent also -- the actors are moving and talking with urgency and gravitas, not with high school attitudes like in the JJ Adam's films.
There’s a High School in Northern NJ that did a stage adaptation of “Alien”. They got commended by Sigourney Weaver. Comparing JJ Ahbram to HS is an insult to the HS.
If it was a real Andorran he would have waited, but according to Star Fleet protocol, a starship Captain has turbolift priority over a dead fake Andorran.
They may have taken cues from his performance in creating the Wayoun character. Interestingly, the actor who played Wayoun also played an Andorian on ST:Enterprise. Coincidence? I think not.
@@andreabindolini7452 Yes, but the way John Williams did the theme for Jaws is still an original idea from his brain about ideas for writing the musical score.
I am 60 I was watching this when I was 12. My dad rolls in the room when Jane Wyatt was on screen. He is , yep I met her at a party at Van Nuyes a few years ago. I am like WHAT? He said I did not think you would care
I miss the good old days of Star Trek when the crew stations weren't all made out of explodium. I also like that they're basically fighting a UFO. The enemy vessel looks like your typical misidentified UFO video where it's actually an airliner or radio tower or something.
I know right? I guess after Kirk's time. the Starfleet engineers forgot what Arc Flash is or how much electricity is accually needed to run a touch screen interface panel!
Good thing they didn't recycle any of the equipment from the Seaview. Talk about explodium. Every time someone farted every panel on the sub started spitting fire.
@john accettola Lol but i love Voyager and Original Star Trek because i like how the crew gets together as a family and the Adventures and situation is they've been through.
It's funny because, into the boundaries dictated by lack of money and technical limitations of the time, the battles in TOS (here and also in "Balance of Terror") seems far more credible than in subsequent series. TNG onwards, ships fights only at a couple of miles from one another, if not less. In TOS, we see ships that fight at the limit or beyond visual range, that make much more sense.
@@andreabindolini7452 I suppose the close fighting is considered more dramatic. But I agree, in the vastness of space, and with their technology, longer distance would seem more practical, and certainly tactically sound. The Enterprise nailed this ship at 75,000 kilometers! It was probably too technically difficult in that era to actually show ships shooting each other at close range, but IMO that limitation was used to positive effect.
That he does, he /the fake Andorian/ also comes across as being like Garak when he tells Kirk to find his own answers. He and Garak would have a lot to talk about I suspect.
We know that the spy is brave as he was willing to go on a mission where he knew he wouldn't come back from to advance the plans of his people the Orions.
For good reason! One of my favorites as well. I like the way everyone winced and shielded their eyes at the explosion of the enemy ship, but Kirk defiantly stared, as if to say 'this was the wrong ship, the wrong Captain you chose to mess with!'. I don't know if that was intentional or if Shatner just missed the cue, but it was cool nonetheless.
LOL, That is funny the way he punches them. Wasn't there an episode where he was brought on charges for causing the presumed death of a crewman by pushing the wrong button on his chair?
@MrHoppers002 In that Court Marshal episode, there was a button (conveniently labeled if I remember) that would jettison a manned research pod. It was not supposed to be pressed unless the ship was at red alert. There was a crewman in there at the time and Kirk pressed the button at the wrong time ejecting the pod before the crewman got out. (Later proven to be a faked record of events) But still. You would think Kirk just bashing the command console on his chair like that can cause ....... problems. :)
@@williammcconnell8102 Granted. Except, indiscriminately punching buttons on the captain's console could result in problems. Case in point in another episode. Which begs to ask, why would you put such an important button such as the pod jettison control on the comm panel?
A well written script and an interesting story. I like the comment that Spock made to his mother about unusual circumstances. I like how Kirk handled this issue and how he talked about it with Spock afterwards when he went back to the medical room.
@aDBo'Ch 1 You're missing the point. He was exposition without the tedium of narration. Sadly, good writing seems to be a thing misunderstood in a world of CGI and effects!
I have actually used this scene to teach leadership. Kirk does things by the book initially, but it isn't working. So he throws the book away and tries something not in the book.
I always liked the way they handled the character of the Andorian here (although some of it may have been in the acting skills of Bill O'Connell as the Andorian). When he interacts with Kirk he acts superior and tough, but as the reports are coming in on the ship's damage, you can see the worried look in his face. Yeah, he had taken the poison earlier and knew he was going to die, but in those moments he appears to be realizing it's really happening, that he's going to die with them and he has only minutes left.
The spy knew he was going to die, so I figure the reason for his dismay was that he realized that his comrades were going to fail, so he was going to die for nothing. It wasn't the dying, it was the dying for NOTHING.
@@amrak63 Hmm, that's a good point. That makes sense when he has that worried look on his face when he says to Kirk, "You're baiting him", realizing that he and his comrades might fail. However, when Chekhov says Number 2 shield is gone, he still looks worried. Any breakdown or failure on the Enterprise at that point should only make him more determined and even happier, knowing they were one step closer to victory. On the other hand, maybe it's just trying to read too much into a scene.
I assume that Kirk was just doing what many UA-cam videos ask.... However by the 23rd century they stopped adding "like" to the request... So... Smash the button...
Back in my radio days, we had one jock who would hit the buttons on the console the same way. Actually, he'd start about six inches up and bring his hand down hard enough that you could _hear_ his finger hit the button. Every couple of months, one of the buttons would break while he was on-air.
This battle, the one vs. the Warbird in "Balance of Terror," and the battle in "Elaan of Troyius" are the top three ship-to-ship battles in all of TOS. SO well done. (I can't really count "The Doomsday Machine" because it wasn't really a battle so much as an evasion...but an amazing episode nonetheless.)
@@txgunguy2766 He was also in "Way.. Way Out!" as director Quonset's long-suffering assistant, Ponsonby. "I'm afraid the fertilizer has hit the fentilator, sir!"
Every time I see William O'Connell's face (he is playing the spy here) I hear the short tune that plays each time the clip changes to that crazy bunch of failure bikers in "Every Which Way But Loose" & "Every Which Way You Can" .. and I picture his character Elmo in that wig!!! 🤣
It does seem like a bad idea to leave a spy in a place where he could start pressing those cool buttons on his command chair - hope there is no one in the ion pod.
I just love how the Enterprise could still kick ass in the originals but that JJ monstrosity couldn't fight it's way out of a wet paper bag in his movies.
In TOS, you definitely felt Kirk and crew loved the ship. They treated her right and always brought them home. JarJarPrise needed a major refit after every mission. Destroyed and forgotten like most people treat a four year old cellphone.
@@Euripides_Panz I absolutely detested the JJ Enterprise. It sucked! And I hated those warp nacelles! If I were going to compare ships in the reboot, the Vengeance was far better, I wanted it to blow that JJ Enterprise to bits!
@@GonzGunner I'm still on the fence. I have the XL (Trek09) model on a satellite speaker and see it most days. The prominent models in the same room are the diamond select 1701 and 1701-A, 1701 refit hallmark ornament hanging in clear view, several 1/2500 scale ships, and they all seem to fit. Trek 09 looks off balance in a number of ways, even from the bow you can see it just looks out of place. I may get the case and switch it out with Vengeance, DS9, or maybe the XL Nebula when I get it. JarJar will probably go into storage.
@@Euripides_Panz The thing is, the Enterprise, and not meaning to sound ridiculous here, is just as much the "star of the show", as all the other actors in Star Trek. I remember seeing "The Search For Spock" when Kirk had to destroy the ship. There were a lot of people crying in the theater as it blew up and burned in the atmosphere of the Genesis planet.
@@GonzGunner Before Enterprise was retired from active duty and designated training ship, the vessel had been the crew's home for five-year stretches. For many, they'd taken care of her for decades and the ship served them well. One of the most overlooked points of the FSS score is when Bones responds to Kirk's remorseful "My God, Bones... what have I done?" After Bones responds, the first bar of the Enterprise theme is cued. I still have the "Enterprise Destroyed" glass which was from a set of 4 from the 1984 promotion.
@@rickbruner5525 Correct. Seen it many times with my father, a WWII USCG Vet, in the 60's when I was a kid. Along with a zillion other B&W (at least on our TV) WWII naval films. A fair number of Trek battles over the decades have hearkened back to this style of combat. And I guess in space, being 3 dimensional and kind of void in many places it would actually be like that.
This helps allot, when writing plots for Star Trek. GENE RODENBERRY: '... he signed up for the United States Army Air Corps and he enlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was commissioned on August 5, 1942, and was posted to the Pacific Theater of Operations where he joined the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Group, of the Thirteenth Air Force. He flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in an estimated 89 combat missions. After being rotated back to the United States he was promoted to Captain and became an air crash investigator. During his military career, he was involved in two plane crashes and was awarded both the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.'
Much prefer this style of battle to the endless shot-'em-ups in the Abramsverse -- the Enterprise is a capital ship and fights like one, not like the Millenium Falcon-wannabe in the newer movies.
@@alexgataric In the 1970s all the 'Trek' materials referred to the 'Constitution' class as heavy cruisers, which is a step down from battlecruiser. Battlecruisers had armament equal to dreadnought/battleships'.
If you're basing the Enterprise's role on her mission, she would be a frigate. Heavily armed for her "tonnage", fast and maneuverable, she's the perfect vessel to send on solo missions, just as navies have done since the beginning. Capital ships lead battles, and don't head out into the unknown alone.
0:43 Kirk: "You're not Andorian. Who are you?" Thelev: "I'm the guy _standing on your bridge_ with a photon grenade hidden in the fake antenna you didn't search." *BA-WOOOM!!*
This was a good episode and I liked revisiting it in Star Trek Online's Return To Babel. I do feel a little bad that my captain caused the Orion ship to blow but to be fair, we were just returning the bomb they dumped in Engineering.
The actor playing the faux Andorian is William O'Connell. He was a semi-regular in Clint Eastwood's gang of supporting actors. They first worked together on the tv series _Rawhide_ , and O'Connell would play small parts in several of Eastwood's films in the 1970s.
I've probably seen every Star Trek TOS episode a couple dozen times, yet I never tire of rewatching them. It's akin to reading a favorite poem or listening to a favorite song. Knowing the outcome, being able to quote the lines, doesn't diminish the experience. My only complaint is when they redid some of the special effects.
Notice that Chekov takes over, vs. Uhura. While the latter is likely the most senior officer remaining on the bridge (per her date of rank), Uhura is in the Engineering/Technical track -- a Red uniform. She's a staff officer, whereas Chekov is presumably the most senior Command track officer present. This is just what would happen in the US armed forces -- the most senior officer by rank doesn't necessarily succeed to command if they're Staff.
@@roberthaworth8991 True, but in the US Navy engineering and communication officers who are part of a ship's complement are almost always unrestricted line officers, eligible to take command of ships. Restricted engineering duty officers are in charge of things like design, construction, in-port maintenance, and overhaul of ships' systems. The fact that Scotty often stands OOD watches (called taking the conn in the series, but that means something slightly different in our Navy) indicates that this is probably true for Starfleet as well, so Uhura not taking the deck is either an oversight on the show's part or indicates the assumption of the writer, very contrary to Roddenberry's vision, that a woman would never be put in charge of a starship. I'm assuming that this is one of the episodes Takei was unavailable because he was acting in The Green Berets.
@@brucetucker4847 According to test audiences for the series, women taking command in this era was viewed as them being "bossy," even by other women. That's why Majel Barret was demoted from Number One (second in command) in the first ST pilot, to nurse in the rest of the series.
A bit of Star Trek trivia here, which everyone like myself realised at the first telecast. Scotty is mentioned twice in this episode but you never see him. The only time that ever happened.
@Jeppo Jinx lay off the drugs, go back to your conspiracy websites and let us enjoy our escape from reality on this miserable blue marble, hurtling through the galaxy at hundreds of thousands of miles an hour. The Earth is a spheroid, space is real, you're less intelligent than an ant, and hopefully soon Elon gets that rocket to Mars because between you people and the rest of the world trying to destroy itself, I want to leave and will volunteer to make the dangerous journey to Mars.... In short, stop this ride I want off! Somebody get Elon on the phone, I want on the first rocket. Like today, don't care if SN5 is just a test bed, I'll take the risk.
When Kirk tells the spy “You’re a spy surgically altered to pass as an Andorian…,” the spy responds with “Speculation, Captain.” So when the spy realizes Kirk’s tactical plan and, with a worried look on his face, tells Kirk “You’re baiting him…you’re trying to lure him in!” I wish Kirk had responded with “Speculation, asshole.”
The effects always make it seem the fighting vessels are only hundreds of yards apart. But, Chekov scores a fatal phaser hit from 75,000 kilometers, much more likely.
I LOVE the split second where it Cpt Kirk wants to pound the console and just shout, "YEAH!" but reminds himself of 1. one should not celebrate the potential loss of life, and 2. Decorum. Especially in front of a spy/prisoner. Now THAT is deal, whether in direction or pure Shatner chops. either way, it speaks volumes. the true meaning of "show, don't tell".
3:21 Everyone on the bridge shields their eyes... except Captain Kirk. It's these small things that create a character and make it three dimensional. Exceptional acting by Mr. Shatner.
"Journey to Babel" broadcast Friday 17 Nov 1967. As of 23 Dec 2023 William O’Connell, who plays the blue Andorian, is still alive, now aged 90. Wm. Shatner is 92.
I think that never-ending 'whirring' noise in the background on the bridge would drive me insane after a couple of hours if that was a real thing. Who would design such a thing.
A set designer with a low budget? 🤣 I know what you mean....but this is the Star Trek I grew up with and I will always love TOS. Especially since the whirring noise in my little Star Trek world is in these small snippets of bridge scenes.
This was brilliant and thoughtful I was thinking of the music. How the music told the story as well as the characters. There are only a few shows left that still use the music to tell a story.
You know, there are 8-10 buttons clustered on that captains chair armrest, and somehow he is able to select only the correct one when mashing down with the heel of his fist. That's talent.
I'd say this is one of the most courageous things Captain Kirk had done. He allowed Spock and Dr McCoy to save Sarek's lifewell maintaining command with a brutal injury, while in interrogating a spy, while fighting off an extremely fast enemy ship.
I guess he felt she had enough to handle with all the inquiries from ambassadors. You can imagine that when Kirk left, some Lieutenant could take the conn.
I wonder why the Orion vessel didn't detect the Enterprise's target lock. Even our current 21st Century fighter jets can detect when a bandit has a target lock on them.
It was either beyond the ability or the budget of the special effects/make-up department for the original Star Trek to have the andorian's antennae move, so none of them were animated. Not even the "real ones" lol.
@@crazysnarfy861 Lol. I am a robot. I interpret all data bereft of emotion. My logical processors process the written word in it's literal meaning. Beep beep beep.
That episode has one of the best endings of all of them. Bones finally gets the last word.
your bating him and it worked that's is what being a great captain is all about🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Everyone always makes fun of William Shatner's acting. But I think he is brilliant as Captain Kirk. You cant keep your eyes off him. He creates so much tension and excitement. Best captain ever.
Everyone is actually making fun of Kevin Pollack’s imitation of Kirk, which grew to overshadow the real thing.
Shatner had a great deal of charisma. When he was in his groove he was, and is, quite compelling to watch. I think with the intense shooting schedule for ST he just slipped into lazy habits.
Jeffery Hunter played the original Captain of the Enterprise and it just didn’t work. The network had him replaced. Star Trek never would have been as popular as it was without Shatner’s Kirk. By far the best!
On TOS he was great, in real life he's a drama queen and a diva.
@@uwillnevahno6837a bit harsh I’d say
William O'Connell Jr. who played the spy was a gem of an actor. He knew how to make the most of the roles he was given. His scene in the Clint Eastwood movie where he plays a barber is priceless.
That was High Plains Drifter and you're absolutely right about that!! I watch that scene just for his acting.
Thanks so much, I recognized him, but I could not remember from where.
He was also in the every which way but loose movies. He played one of the Black Widow Bikers.
clint liked to have him in a lot of his movies. And he is still alive, like his friend Clint.
He was also the ferry operator in Outlaw Jose Wales.@@waakca
I appreciate that Kirk has Chekhov take over the most critical station in each situation. It shows that as young as he is, Chekhov has earned Kirk's trust in his competence.
Chekhov is undoubtedly brilliant. He can man every station including the science station when Spock's not around, and man them confidently.
Da Keptin!
it's because the character is part of the main cast of the TV show, dude
@@MegaZeta And also they didn't want to give any lines to the background actors, because that would bump up the costs
Chekhov is an excellent tactical officer.
Love that moment when the 'andorian' says "your baiting him in". And Kirk gives that ooohh yeah, look of smugness.. Loved it.
Kirk never lacked for confidence.
Punk ass Orion spy.
He said the slow poison was quite painless, then doubles over in pain
@@mattosullivan9687 Punk assed Orion spy.
When the Orion spy made up to look Andorian says, "I seem to have miscalculated," and Kirk quietly says, "So did they." GOLD!
I was thinking exactly that also.
A lot of reactors miss that little"so have they", as they're busy reacting to the battle being won, and tend to either edit that out, or talk over it. I love it, and how subtle it is! Great acting, indicating a weary, injured leader who has been tossed around, protecting his ship by fighting a space battle, just hours after being stabbed!
I love that great last scene, as well.
He was one the biker gang members in "Any Which Way But Loose".
I wouldn't be surprised that the 'miscalculation' was deliberate on his bosses part. A lot faster acting and a lot less painless.
@@danielhixson3717 ...also the barber in High Plains Drifter, William O'Connell
The music is so good, i cant believe that this was a TV show with a very limited budget.
number four shield has buckled
No redshirts were hurt in the making of this episode.
YES !
That's rare.
Cutting power to lure in the enemy. Kirk was one crafty dude.
One bold dude!
In the words of the Romulan commander (Mark Lenard again) in Balance of Terror: "He's a sorcerer, that one! He reads the thoughts in my brain!"
I guess the Orion homeworld has no local equivalent of opossums, or other animals which play dead.
@@amrak63Hognose snakes!
There are 3 or 4 episodes where he uses the exact same tactic. They really should have called it "The Kirk".
"I seem to have miscalculated." A line that I have used in my personal life.
I feel the same way about my professional life
I too. Realized it much too late.
@@hemaccabe4292 I hear you. My sister is a Trekkie (or Trekker, whatever).
@@hemaccabe4292 Have you read the book, "Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Star Trek"?
@@soslothful Long time ago, actually yes.
Thelev, the fake Andorian prisoner, was played by character actor William L. O'Connell Jr. He appeared later in several Clint Eastwood movies, such as High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales. He was about thirty when he appeared in this role.
Thirty? He doesn't look a day over 300!
That actor's face looks like Rutger Hauer, the Blade Runner android from the original movie, the main one named "Batty'
He and Clint were also in "Paint Your Wagon" in 1969.
I just heard he has passed away.
RiP Sir...
He was a black widow too!!....
Love it when Chekhov shouts “got heem!”
I'd be excited too if I managed to nail a hard to hit enemy that was trying to kill me and my friends and colleagues.
Agreed!!!
And pumps his fist. Even Kirk was pumped. Great dramatic scene.
This show still blows away 99 percent of whats on TV now.
Still the gold standard after 50+ years IMHO
There's stuff on TV now?
@@tsntana I have dust on the TV, I don't know about you guys.
"Ninety-nine point one three five, Captain."
@@zlostnypopolnik I've not had cable since 2005 and never had a streaming service.
First television commercial I saw in 10 years had two gay men celebrating something or other.
The interlude music in the old Star Trek is the best. It adds to the drama of an already dramatic scene. The direction is excellent also -- the actors are moving and talking with urgency and gravitas, not with high school attitudes like in the JJ Adam's films.
Well said.
Agreed. Abrams destroys everything he touches.
The best Star Trek, from any era, is drama first, action second.
Not just the music, the sound effects still hold up today.
There’s a High School in Northern NJ that did a stage adaptation of “Alien”. They got commended by Sigourney Weaver. Comparing JJ Ahbram to HS is an insult to the HS.
I love how Kirk just leaves the bridge and leaves the two redshirts with the dead Andorran to wait for the next elevator.
R.H.I.P.
If it was a real Andorran he would have waited, but according to Star Fleet protocol, a starship Captain has turbolift priority over a dead fake Andorran.
True, but going to Sickbay was a priority for Kirk; as for the dead spy, not so much...
As he should. Kirk is the boss.
@@ArmyJamesKirk is always the boss.
The way the bad guy talks in this one reminds me a lot of the cadence that Wayoun has.
They may have taken cues from his performance in creating the Wayoun character.
Interestingly, the actor who played Wayoun also played an Andorian on ST:Enterprise.
Coincidence? I think not.
LOL...probably Wayoun’s lost nephew
More like great grand uncle! But yeah, I wonder if Jeffrey Coombs studied this particular fake Andorian.
Makes twisted sense when you consider this fake was designed to act real!
Kirk - "You're not Andorian, who are you?"
Me - "He's a human captain, from the Actor's Guild. I can track down his agent if you want."
One of Clint's crew, in his highest profile role.
😂
Kirk to alien spy: "You speculate." Ha!
Hard to believe the blue alien is the oh-so-nervous barber in High Plains Drifter.
True that, good job spotting that.
50 years later and this scene still sucked me in for both parts!
and sucked me off for both parts
I love that Doomsday Machine music.
My uncle told me that the music is similar to the Jaws theme.
@@patrickwilson1459 It certainly is. Maybe it inspired the Jaws theme.
@@patrickwilson1459 Only ten years before Jaws ;-)
@@andreabindolini7452 Yes, but the way John Williams did the theme for Jaws is still an original idea from his brain about ideas for writing the musical score.
I do too. It's Sol Kaplan's masterpiece. You can find the suite in its entirety here on UA-cam. I've listened to it many times.
I am 60 I was watching this when I was 12. My dad rolls in the room when Jane Wyatt was on screen. He is , yep I met her at a party at Van Nuyes a few years ago. I am like WHAT? He said I did not think you would care
I miss the good old days of Star Trek when the crew stations weren't all made out of explodium.
I also like that they're basically fighting a UFO. The enemy vessel looks like your typical misidentified UFO video where it's actually an airliner or radio tower or something.
You're saying they destroyed an airliner? How awful!
I know right? I guess after Kirk's time. the Starfleet engineers forgot what Arc Flash is or how much electricity is accually needed to run a touch screen interface panel!
“Explodium” xD
Good thing they didn't recycle any of the equipment from the Seaview. Talk about explodium. Every time someone farted every panel on the sub started spitting fire.
Explodium was used a lot on Irwin Allen tv shows like voyage to the bottom of the sea and time tunnel plus lost in space
Most times i just love how the Enterprise fights
@john accettola Lol but i love Voyager and Original Star Trek because i like how the crew gets together as a family and the Adventures and situation is they've been through.
Nice alliance insignia
@@s.31.l50 thanks
It's funny because, into the boundaries dictated by lack of money and technical limitations of the time, the battles in TOS (here and also in "Balance of Terror") seems far more credible than in subsequent series. TNG onwards, ships fights only at a couple of miles from one another, if not less. In TOS, we see ships that fight at the limit or beyond visual range, that make much more sense.
@@andreabindolini7452 I suppose the close fighting is considered more dramatic. But I agree, in the vastness of space, and with their technology, longer distance would seem more practical, and certainly tactically sound. The Enterprise nailed this ship at 75,000 kilometers! It was probably too technically difficult in that era to actually show ships shooting each other at close range, but IMO that limitation was used to positive effect.
I love the smug looks the two security guards exchanged after the Orion ship was nailed.
He’s got a real Weyoun quality about him.
That he does, he /the fake Andorian/ also comes across as being like Garak when he tells Kirk to find his own answers. He and Garak would have a lot to talk about I suspect.
“Well, hellooooooooo!”
He’ll be back. 😄
We know that the spy is brave as he was willing to go on a mission where he knew he wouldn't come back from to advance the plans of his people the Orions.
@@catman351 maybe you should talk to Worf again 😳
"Journey to Babel" Among the top 12 episodes of TOS.
One of my favorites.
For good reason!
One of my favorites as well.
I like the way everyone winced and shielded their eyes at the explosion of the enemy ship, but Kirk defiantly stared, as if to say 'this was the wrong ship, the wrong Captain you chose to mess with!'.
I don't know if that was intentional or if Shatner just missed the cue, but it was cool nonetheless.
@@DocMicrowave ... He wasn't in much shape to wince. Suffered a nearly fatal stab wound.
12???....Top 2 really....excellent writing...only improvement that I can see would have been to add a couple of Scotty scenes...!!
one of my top 5 favorites !
1) Friday's Child
2) Journey to Babel
I love how Kirk keeps punching the communications button lol
None of those old fashioned touch screens or brain linked controls
LOL, That is funny the way he punches them.
Wasn't there an episode where he was brought on charges for causing the presumed death of a crewman by pushing the wrong button on his chair?
@MrHoppers002 In that Court Marshal episode, there was a button (conveniently labeled if I remember) that would jettison a manned research pod. It was not supposed to be pressed unless the ship was at red alert. There was a crewman in there at the time and Kirk pressed the button at the wrong time ejecting the pod before the crewman got out. (Later proven to be a faked record of events) But still. You would think Kirk just bashing the command console on his chair like that can cause ....... problems. :)
When you 're frustrated, or in this case in pain, you release it through more aggressive actions, case in point. :)
@@williammcconnell8102 Granted. Except, indiscriminately punching buttons on the captain's console could result in problems. Case in point in another episode.
Which begs to ask, why would you put such an important button such as the pod jettison control on the comm panel?
I love how Kirk motions Chekov to come back to his normal position...
The way Kirk almost whispers to Chekov to come back to his seat as if the enemy ship were to hear him. Good observance.
@@KnowTrentTimoy Would probably increase production costs to give another actor a speaking part.
@@CryptoDachshund It definitely would have. But in universe, you could imagine that Chekov is a lot better shot too.
Chekov was at the Science Station monitoring sensors and shield status; he was covering for Spock who was in surgery.
@@leandar Supposedly Chekov IS a crack shot with both phasers and photon torpedoes.
A well written script and an interesting story. I like the comment that Spock made to his mother about unusual circumstances. I like how Kirk handled this issue and how he talked about it with Spock afterwards when he went back to the medical room.
One of my Favorite Episodes "Journey To Babel"
I've always enjoyed this part of the episode, Kirk as wily tactician and then straight-up gunfighter.
In a life-or-death battle, give me Kirk over Picard any day.
@@briancooper4959 This should have been named "Kirk Maneuver"
@@andreabindolini7452 No the Kirk Maneuver is changing the no win situation so you can win, This would be the commonly known "playing Possom" Maneuver
@@briancooper4959 TOS Kirk, that is!
To quote Spock, "Interesting game, this "poker".
An excellent sequence from one of the best episodes. Great script and superb acting.
@aDBo'Ch 1 Nitpicking
Well, they were sending people possessed or crazy to the sickbay unscorted all the time so...
@aDBo'Ch 1 You're missing the point. He was exposition without the tedium of narration. Sadly, good writing seems to be a thing misunderstood in a world of CGI and effects!
One of the most tactically brilliant moves by a starship captain EVER!!!
Playing dead? Yeah, nobody ever thought of that before.
@@mqbitsko25 Kirk's brilliance in battle was displayed in Balance of Terror...& to a lesser extent in The Corbomite Maneuver
....
@@mqbitsko25 I guess the Orion homeworld doesn't have any animals which do that.
2nd time they used that tactic..the other time was balance of terror
I have actually used this scene to teach leadership. Kirk does things by the book initially, but it isn't working. So he throws the book away and tries something not in the book.
I always liked the way they handled the character of the Andorian here (although some of it may have been in the acting skills of Bill O'Connell as the Andorian). When he interacts with Kirk he acts superior and tough, but as the reports are coming in on the ship's damage, you can see the worried look in his face. Yeah, he had taken the poison earlier and knew he was going to die, but in those moments he appears to be realizing it's really happening, that he's going to die with them and he has only minutes left.
The spy knew he was going to die, so I figure the reason for his dismay was that he realized that his comrades were going to fail, so he was going to die for nothing.
It wasn't the dying, it was the dying for NOTHING.
@@amrak63 Hmm, that's a good point. That makes sense when he has that worried look on his face when he says to Kirk, "You're baiting him", realizing that he and his comrades might fail. However, when Chekhov says Number 2 shield is gone, he still looks worried. Any breakdown or failure on the Enterprise at that point should only make him more determined and even happier, knowing they were one step closer to victory. On the other hand, maybe it's just trying to read too much into a scene.
The look on his face at 3:06 to 3:19 shows how totally defeated he was after the Starship Enterprise disabled of the Orion starship.
The dialog was brilliant. Just a few words but wonderful interplay between Kirk and the fake Andorion.
3:06 Kirk always SMASHED those buttons! On his chair, on the wall with intercoms, etc. I can't imagine if he had to take the helm....
I assume that Kirk was just doing what many UA-cam videos ask....
However by the 23rd century they stopped adding "like" to the request...
So...
Smash the button...
Back in my radio days, we had one jock who would hit the buttons on the console the same way. Actually, he'd start about six inches up and bring his hand down hard enough that you could _hear_ his finger hit the button. Every couple of months, one of the buttons would break while he was on-air.
He's the guy you never wanted using the joystick of your Atari 2600.
@@brucetucker4847 Kirk was rather infamous for all the smashing he did. 😉
Wonderful to relive these epic scenes from one of the best episodes. Great scene at the end, too, I believe, when McCoy tells everybody to shut up.
Henry Browne, and when McCoy breaks the 4th wall!
Good choice, but I think you left the BEST SENTENCE, when he threw in the last part: "Whatta you Know, I got to get in The LAST WORD !"
This battle, the one vs. the Warbird in "Balance of Terror," and the battle in "Elaan of Troyius" are the top three ship-to-ship battles in all of TOS. SO well done. (I can't really count "The Doomsday Machine" because it wasn't really a battle so much as an evasion...but an amazing episode nonetheless.)
The Andorian in the thumbnail for this looks like Rutger Hauer, and now I'm sad that he never played an Andorian.
William O'Connell. He played the ferry operator in 'The outlaw Josie Wales' and Elmo in 'Every which way but loose' and 'Any which way you can'.
@@txgunguy2766 He was also in "Way.. Way Out!" as director Quonset's long-suffering assistant, Ponsonby.
"I'm afraid the fertilizer has hit the fentilator, sir!"
@@tuttt99
Possibly, I've never seen it.
what a great scene.. makes me remember why I fell n love with the series
I was six, we had just gotten color TV, Batman, Green Hornet, Man From U.N.C.L.E., And everybody liked Chekov!
Every time I see William O'Connell's face (he is playing the spy here) I hear the short tune that plays each time the clip changes to that crazy bunch of failure bikers in "Every Which Way But Loose" & "Every Which Way You Can" .. and I picture his character Elmo in that wig!!! 🤣
Yes great actor! Two every which movies are timeless!! I watch them whenever shown!
Ha, I knew I remembered him from somewhere!
@@graytonw5238 He also played the barber in High Plains Drifter.
He was also the barber in 'High Plains Drifter'.
"it helps to sing dixie and battle hymn of the republic with equal enthusiasm"....from the josey wales movie
Still the best series in Star Trek .
Absolutely. One of my favorite episodes, too.
Agree !
Agree also.
The Doomsday Machine was the very best episode'/!!!
@@kbrich-nn8od The Best Chapters :)
It does seem like a bad idea to leave a spy in a place where he could start pressing those cool buttons on his command chair - hope there is no one in the ion pod.
Got to love whoever played the alien, as he was great!
Show was straight up Shakespearian.
I just love how the Enterprise could still kick ass in the originals but that JJ monstrosity couldn't fight it's way out of a wet paper bag in his movies.
In TOS, you definitely felt Kirk and crew loved the ship. They treated her right and always brought them home.
JarJarPrise needed a major refit after every mission. Destroyed and forgotten like most people treat a four year old cellphone.
@@Euripides_Panz I absolutely detested the JJ Enterprise. It sucked! And I hated those warp nacelles! If I were going to compare ships in the reboot, the Vengeance was far better, I wanted it to blow that JJ Enterprise to bits!
@@GonzGunner I'm still on the fence. I have the XL (Trek09) model on a satellite speaker and see it most days. The prominent models in the same room are the diamond select 1701 and 1701-A, 1701 refit hallmark ornament hanging in clear view, several 1/2500 scale ships, and they all seem to fit. Trek 09 looks off balance in a number of ways, even from the bow you can see it just looks out of place. I may get the case and switch it out with Vengeance, DS9, or maybe the XL Nebula when I get it. JarJar will probably go into storage.
@@Euripides_Panz The thing is, the Enterprise, and not meaning to sound ridiculous here, is just as much the "star of the show", as all the other actors in Star Trek. I remember seeing "The Search For Spock" when Kirk had to destroy the ship. There were a lot of people crying in the theater as it blew up and burned in the atmosphere of the Genesis planet.
@@GonzGunner Before Enterprise was retired from active duty and designated training ship, the vessel had been the crew's home for five-year stretches. For many, they'd taken care of her for decades and the ship served them well.
One of the most overlooked points of the FSS score is when Bones responds to Kirk's remorseful "My God, Bones... what have I done?" After Bones responds, the first bar of the Enterprise theme is cued.
I still have the "Enterprise Destroyed" glass which was from a set of 4 from the 1984 promotion.
A bit like "Balance of Terror" in the U-Boat style tactics of playing dead and attempting to lure the enemy in to making a false move.
Which was a shout out to the Robert Mitchum movie, The Enemy Below.
@@rickbruner5525 Correct. Seen it many times with my father, a WWII USCG Vet, in the 60's when I was a kid. Along with a zillion other B&W (at least on our TV) WWII naval films. A fair number of Trek battles over the decades have hearkened back to this style of combat. And I guess in space, being 3 dimensional and kind of void in many places it would actually be like that.
....that Guy's one of the bikers off 'Every which way but loose'!
This helps allot, when writing plots for Star Trek.
GENE RODENBERRY:
'... he signed up for the United States Army Air Corps and he enlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was commissioned on August 5, 1942, and was posted to the Pacific Theater of Operations where he joined the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bombardment Group, of the Thirteenth Air Force. He flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in an estimated 89 combat missions. After being rotated back to the United States he was promoted to Captain and became an air crash investigator. During his military career, he was involved in two plane crashes and was awarded both the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.'
STAR TREK still works after all these years.
I love how the blue guy (an "Orionian"(?) gives Uhura a good lookover. Can't fault these aliens for their ability to spot interstellar hotties.
That she was!
Well, he was an Orion after all and they're quite hedonistic....
Great use of "The Doomsday Machine" score for the intense moments.
The stock TOS music was very effective and versatile.
Yes, that piece of music was used in at least (7) Season-2 episodes.
Much prefer this style of battle to the endless shot-'em-ups in the Abramsverse -- the Enterprise is a capital ship and fights like one, not like the Millenium Falcon-wannabe in the newer movies.
Enterprise is a battle cruiser not a battleship. I expect it to be more maneuverable.
@@alexgataric In the 1970s all the 'Trek' materials referred to the 'Constitution' class as heavy cruisers, which is a step down from battlecruiser. Battlecruisers had armament equal to dreadnought/battleships'.
@@alexgataric Continuing, battlecruisers were armored more lightly than battleships, so faster; but remember the Battle of Jutland.
It should feel like das boot or maybe hunt for red October.
If you're basing the Enterprise's role on her mission, she would be a frigate. Heavily armed for her "tonnage", fast and maneuverable, she's the perfect vessel to send on solo missions, just as navies have done since the beginning. Capital ships lead battles, and don't head out into the unknown alone.
0:43 Kirk: "You're not Andorian. Who are you?"
Thelev: "I'm the guy _standing on your bridge_ with a photon grenade hidden in the fake antenna you didn't search."
*BA-WOOOM!!*
THAT is what makes Kirk the best.
He went from a smart ass to so depressed….hahaha….Kirk was a genius
RIP William O'Connell (Thelev)1929-2024
Memorable TOS guest villain, perennial Clint Eastwood co-star, and great character actor. You will be missed!
Kirk will ALWAYS be the best. He's a bit of a hard nose but the man can pull hats outta rabbits.
Don't mess with James T Kirk!
@clubchampion The real James T. Kirk !!! Not the fake neo Kirk , the apple munching Wuss that doesn't know his ass from a photon torpedo......
@@funzjag I would say do Not mess with both
This was a good episode and I liked revisiting it in Star Trek Online's Return To Babel. I do feel a little bad that my captain caused the Orion ship to blow but to be fair, we were just returning the bomb they dumped in Engineering.
Denny Crane...still undefeated!
The actor playing the faux Andorian is William O'Connell. He was a semi-regular in Clint Eastwood's gang of supporting actors. They first worked together on the tv series _Rawhide_ , and O'Connell would play small parts in several of Eastwood's films in the 1970s.
I've probably seen every Star Trek TOS episode a couple dozen times, yet I never tire of rewatching them. It's akin to reading a favorite poem or listening to a favorite song. Knowing the outcome, being able to quote the lines, doesn't diminish the experience. My only complaint is when they redid some of the special effects.
The giant ship in the Corbomite Maneuver was poorly redone.
Half of my brother and my vocabulary are from Star Trek episodes, we are in our 60s. Could not get into the newer shows.
@@danvalant3540 Half of your brother? Eugh!
@@_XR40_ -LOL!
Once again, you picked a great scene.
Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Journey to Babel is the title of this episode
I liked it when Chekov was given the Bridge.
Way to go Chekov!
Notice that Chekov takes over, vs. Uhura. While the latter is likely the most senior officer remaining on the bridge (per her date of rank), Uhura is in the Engineering/Technical track -- a Red uniform. She's a staff officer, whereas Chekov is presumably the most senior Command track officer present. This is just what would happen in the US armed forces -- the most senior officer by rank doesn't necessarily succeed to command if they're Staff.
@@roberthaworth8991 True, but in the US Navy engineering and communication officers who are part of a ship's complement are almost always unrestricted line officers, eligible to take command of ships. Restricted engineering duty officers are in charge of things like design, construction, in-port maintenance, and overhaul of ships' systems.
The fact that Scotty often stands OOD watches (called taking the conn in the series, but that means something slightly different in our Navy) indicates that this is probably true for Starfleet as well, so Uhura not taking the deck is either an oversight on the show's part or indicates the assumption of the writer, very contrary to Roddenberry's vision, that a woman would never be put in charge of a starship.
I'm assuming that this is one of the episodes Takei was unavailable because he was acting in The Green Berets.
@@brucetucker4847 According to test audiences for the series, women taking command in this era was viewed as them being "bossy," even by other women. That's why Majel Barret was demoted from Number One (second in command) in the first ST pilot, to nurse in the rest of the series.
That alien is the guy who ran the ferry in “The Outlaw Josey Wales.”
William O'Connell, great actor.
Elaan of Troyius good episode We learn of the Orions and their desire to get the Dilithium crystals from the PLANET Troyius
Very similar to this episode, with Kirk damaging a Klingon vessel, but not destroying it.
A bit of Star Trek trivia here, which everyone like myself realised at the first telecast.
Scotty is mentioned twice in this episode but you never see him. The only time that ever happened.
One of my favorite episodes. WS acting was spot on! I'll never quite understand why he was accused of overacting.
The Orion spy made up to look Andorian play roles is some of Clint Eastwood's westerns.
"It's an unknown wessel, Captain!!!"
@Jeppo Jinx lay off the drugs, go back to your conspiracy websites and let us enjoy our escape from reality on this miserable blue marble, hurtling through the galaxy at hundreds of thousands of miles an hour. The Earth is a spheroid, space is real, you're less intelligent than an ant, and hopefully soon Elon gets that rocket to Mars because between you people and the rest of the world trying to destroy itself, I want to leave and will volunteer to make the dangerous journey to Mars.... In short, stop this ride I want off! Somebody get Elon on the phone, I want on the first rocket. Like today, don't care if SN5 is just a test bed, I'll take the risk.
Jeppo Jinx that’s nice. Why don’t you tell us all about it when you’re not as high as a kite anymore?
@Jeppo Jinx How high are you?
@@stagalgiz1097 Surely he's joking.
That should have been the title for this video
When Kirk tells the spy “You’re a spy surgically altered to pass as an Andorian…,” the spy responds with “Speculation, Captain.” So when the spy realizes Kirk’s tactical plan and, with a worried look on his face, tells Kirk “You’re baiting him…you’re trying to lure him in!” I wish Kirk had responded with “Speculation, asshole.”
The look on the spy’s face was most memorable when the enemy ship was disabled and their mission was a failure.
One easy way to understand he`s not Andorian is because his antennas don`t move😄
Don’t think Andorian antenna movement was ever shown in TOS.
@@CraigSummers-ci7nt fair enough
The effects always make it seem the fighting vessels are only hundreds of yards apart. But, Chekov scores a fatal phaser hit from 75,000 kilometers, much more likely.
Those Andorien antennas take NINE MONTHS to grow back!!!!😆😆😆😆
Though tongue in cheek when it comes to aliens being no different than human beings, the stories were good, very entertaining
Mostly budget restrictions, I expect. Here at least we got an alien species, the Andorians, with significant differences from humans.
I LOVE the split second where it Cpt Kirk wants to pound the console and just shout, "YEAH!" but reminds himself of 1. one should not celebrate the potential loss of life, and 2. Decorum. Especially in front of a spy/prisoner. Now THAT is deal, whether in direction or pure Shatner chops. either way, it speaks volumes. the true meaning of "show, don't tell".
The playful music as the orion spy says he's gonna die of poison is funny lmao
3:21 Everyone on the bridge shields their eyes... except Captain Kirk. It's these small things that create a character and make it three dimensional. Exceptional acting by Mr. Shatner.
Kirk is one bold mf
William O'Connell you were a fine actor may you rest in peace.
"Journey to Babel" broadcast Friday 17 Nov 1967. As of 23 Dec 2023 William O’Connell, who plays the blue Andorian, is still alive, now aged 90. Wm. Shatner is 92.
He made it to 90, good for him. I wonder if he ever watches this episode...
I dont like to lose - Kirk
The fake Andorian is Garak level smug and sly here, the two of them would have interesting conversations I think.
I think that never-ending 'whirring' noise in the background on the bridge would drive me insane after a couple of hours if that was a real thing. Who would design such a thing.
A set designer with a low budget?
🤣
I know what you mean....but this is the Star Trek I grew up with and I will always love TOS. Especially since the whirring noise in my little Star Trek world is in these small snippets of bridge scenes.
IKR? That is the only thing I would _George Lucas_ out of TOS.
@@zahrans :D
I like how Sarek is smoking during the operation... suction must be out, or McCoy is soldering his wires back...
Fun to think that people still love entertainment that was new in my early days.
kirks Eyes Say it all... Especially when he says You Speculate...And when the Orion says Your Baiting him your luring him in 😂😂😂😂
This was brilliant and thoughtful I was thinking of the music. How the music told the story as well as the characters. There are only a few shows left that still use the music to tell a story.
You know, there are 8-10 buttons clustered on that captains chair armrest, and somehow he is able to select only the correct one when mashing down with the heel of his fist. That's talent.
The Comm button is the closest..used the most..😊❤
94 not a bad run. You'll never be forgotten.
Keep it up. These clips remind of all the brilliant episodes of this show.
Thanks, will do!
I'd say this is one of the most courageous things Captain Kirk had done. He allowed Spock and Dr McCoy to save Sarek's lifewell maintaining command with a brutal injury, while in interrogating a spy, while fighting off an extremely fast enemy ship.
Fun fact, Spock has 3 ears. A left ear. A right ear. And a final-front-ear.
Its strange that Kirk puts Chekhov in charge while he is just an Ensign, and Lieutenant Uhura is the senior officer remaining on the bridge.
I guess he felt she had enough to handle with all the inquiries from ambassadors. You can imagine that when Kirk left, some Lieutenant could take the conn.
This was still the 60s. I imagine the network would have had a stroke at the idea of a black woman sitting in the captains seat.
Uhura was busy doing her job....
You baited him masterfully, Captain. One might say you're a master baiter.
I wonder why the Orion vessel didn't detect the Enterprise's target lock. Even our current 21st Century fighter jets can detect when a bandit has a target lock on them.
Maybe it was passive?
Obviously it is a fake andorian because the antennae are not moving.
It was either beyond the ability or the budget of the special effects/make-up department for the original Star Trek to have the andorian's antennae move, so none of them were animated. Not even the "real ones" lol.
He looks creepy as f***
You’re seriously expecting that from 1960’s technology?
@@jesse3333 yes!
@@crazysnarfy861 Lol. I am a robot. I interpret all data bereft of emotion. My logical processors process the written word in it's literal meaning. Beep beep beep.