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Jul. 31st, 2012 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariStar Trek: Phase II
"Tomorrow and the Stars"
by Larry Alexander
Synopsis: A transporter accident sends a semi-incorporeal Kirk to Hawaii, where he falls in love with Elsa, the bored but sharp wife of a Navy man. Problem is...it's December 6th, 1941.
The New Kids: Decker is underused. Basically, he's there for the characters to explain what's going on to the audience, and to give a few orders that the crew are already doing. His big outing is going to 1941 with McCoy to rescue Kirk, and that is pretty quickly done. Ilia has one scene at the end where she acts as the ship's counselor. After 27 years of research into Phase II, that's actually news to me. I always thought she was just a navigator. Makes the whole "Troi is a rewrite of Ilia, and Riker is a rewrite of Decker and Data is a rewrite of Xon" really click, finally. Xon (Mr. Spock's full blooded Vulcan replacement) is the most prominent of the new kids and just doesn't get humanity. Something McCoy loves to remind him of. A lot. He's new, though, so it's neat to see him deal with the ribbing with less "authority" than Spock does. I'm liking him so far.
The Good: Phase II apparently was a lot edgier than the original series. Kirk's falls in love with Elsa, a married woman, who isn't just beautiful, but sharp as a tack (not something we saw too often in the original series). The Climax, while feeling kind of rushed, has a neat idea behind it. Kirk KNOWS Pearl Harbor is going to happen. And it HAS to happen for him to live. Elsa isn't bound by that...this is her present and her future hasn't happened yet, and therefore rushes off to warn the troops. Kirk being stuck in 1941 is well thought out. Kirk says he can live in the past since he knows the history, but Elsa knows he can't handle the "everyday stuff" like money or jobs.
The Bad: There's a LOT of Deja Vu here of City on the Edge of Forever. Kirk falls in love with Elsa and despite knowing the crap he went through with Edith Keeler does it all again, with much the same outcome. Was really expecting the episode to end on "Let's get the hell out of here." Sadly, Kirk is yanked back to the Enterprise in a "It's time to end the show" kind of fashion...although to be fair, the planes are already dropping bombs at the time so they shouldn't stick around. The crew ends up sending a transmission to earth for translation because their computers can't figure it out. As they send it out, Sulu recognizes it as Japanese. But an archaic Japanese that he has trouble understanding (Sulu: Grandma Akimi'd give it to you word-for word, but-- Decker: She's not here...you are.). "Archaic" being 1941. Not only should the Enterprises universal translator figured that out, but it can't be that archaic if Kirk can talk to someone from 1941 in English like anyon else.
The Ugly: There's a scene where the incorporeal Kirk, unable to eat or drink for 24 hours, kind of freaks out because he can't grab food. I'd expect him to be kind of jittery about that, sure, but he kind of goes into an uncharacteristic panic over it. Very un-Kirk.
Favorite lines in the script:
[Scotty and Xon prepare to beam Kirk and Checkov down to earth after a transporter repair]
Scott: Hang on to your hats.
Xon: None of them are wearing hats.
McCoy: It's a colloquialism, Mr. Xon. It means "gird yourself...get ready."
Xon: The human anxiety reflex. But these are star ship personnel, all of whom have been through the beam down procedure countless times. Eliminating apprehension and making the expression redundant. All you had to say was 'energize.'
Scott: It isn't as juicy.
...
Kirk: Elsa, this is the way it must happen. My time is built on it happening like this. I can't CHANGE anything! Don'tyou understand?
Elsa: (eyes flashing) I under people are going to die. As I see it, needlessly. MY people, from MY time. I cant divorce myself from them any more than you can avoid your responsibility to those of your time.
"Tomorrow and the Stars"
by Larry Alexander
Synopsis: A transporter accident sends a semi-incorporeal Kirk to Hawaii, where he falls in love with Elsa, the bored but sharp wife of a Navy man. Problem is...it's December 6th, 1941.
The New Kids: Decker is underused. Basically, he's there for the characters to explain what's going on to the audience, and to give a few orders that the crew are already doing. His big outing is going to 1941 with McCoy to rescue Kirk, and that is pretty quickly done. Ilia has one scene at the end where she acts as the ship's counselor. After 27 years of research into Phase II, that's actually news to me. I always thought she was just a navigator. Makes the whole "Troi is a rewrite of Ilia, and Riker is a rewrite of Decker and Data is a rewrite of Xon" really click, finally. Xon (Mr. Spock's full blooded Vulcan replacement) is the most prominent of the new kids and just doesn't get humanity. Something McCoy loves to remind him of. A lot. He's new, though, so it's neat to see him deal with the ribbing with less "authority" than Spock does. I'm liking him so far.
The Good: Phase II apparently was a lot edgier than the original series. Kirk's falls in love with Elsa, a married woman, who isn't just beautiful, but sharp as a tack (not something we saw too often in the original series). The Climax, while feeling kind of rushed, has a neat idea behind it. Kirk KNOWS Pearl Harbor is going to happen. And it HAS to happen for him to live. Elsa isn't bound by that...this is her present and her future hasn't happened yet, and therefore rushes off to warn the troops. Kirk being stuck in 1941 is well thought out. Kirk says he can live in the past since he knows the history, but Elsa knows he can't handle the "everyday stuff" like money or jobs.
The Bad: There's a LOT of Deja Vu here of City on the Edge of Forever. Kirk falls in love with Elsa and despite knowing the crap he went through with Edith Keeler does it all again, with much the same outcome. Was really expecting the episode to end on "Let's get the hell out of here." Sadly, Kirk is yanked back to the Enterprise in a "It's time to end the show" kind of fashion...although to be fair, the planes are already dropping bombs at the time so they shouldn't stick around. The crew ends up sending a transmission to earth for translation because their computers can't figure it out. As they send it out, Sulu recognizes it as Japanese. But an archaic Japanese that he has trouble understanding (Sulu: Grandma Akimi'd give it to you word-for word, but-- Decker: She's not here...you are.). "Archaic" being 1941. Not only should the Enterprises universal translator figured that out, but it can't be that archaic if Kirk can talk to someone from 1941 in English like anyon else.
The Ugly: There's a scene where the incorporeal Kirk, unable to eat or drink for 24 hours, kind of freaks out because he can't grab food. I'd expect him to be kind of jittery about that, sure, but he kind of goes into an uncharacteristic panic over it. Very un-Kirk.
Favorite lines in the script:
[Scotty and Xon prepare to beam Kirk and Checkov down to earth after a transporter repair]
Scott: Hang on to your hats.
Xon: None of them are wearing hats.
McCoy: It's a colloquialism, Mr. Xon. It means "gird yourself...get ready."
Xon: The human anxiety reflex. But these are star ship personnel, all of whom have been through the beam down procedure countless times. Eliminating apprehension and making the expression redundant. All you had to say was 'energize.'
Scott: It isn't as juicy.
...
Kirk: Elsa, this is the way it must happen. My time is built on it happening like this. I can't CHANGE anything! Don'tyou understand?
Elsa: (eyes flashing) I under people are going to die. As I see it, needlessly. MY people, from MY time. I cant divorce myself from them any more than you can avoid your responsibility to those of your time.
