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/c/StarTrek: Your safe harbored Spacedock in these Stellar Seas!

Fire up the inertial dampeners, retract all moorings and clear space dock. It's time to boldy go where no one has gone before!

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"In one hour and for-ty-five minutes, the entire inhabited surface of your planet will be destroyed" -- Commander Montgomery Scott (www.youtube.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social to c/startrek@lemmy.world

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S01E23 A Taste of Armageddon
https://antifandom.com/memory-alpha/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon_(episode)

A rare situation for Scotty-- both in command of the Enterprise, and also making a typically Kirk-like bluff. Or was it, really..?

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[–] charonn0@startrek.website 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Scott decides to respond with a barrage of photon torpedoes

I disagree with this characterization. Scotty's line is, "We can't fire full phasers with our screens up, and We can't lower our screens with their disruptors on us. Of course I could treat them to a few dozen photon torpedoes." From the tone and delivery I took it as an expression of frustration rather than a serious idea he had, let alone one he had already decided on.

General Order 24: An order to destroy all life on an entire planet.

Which is a really weird thing for Starfleet to have a protocol for. It makes more sense if we assume that GO24 is actually some kind of quarantine/sterilization procedure intended to prevent the spread of dangerous life forms.

Kirk hails the Enterprise informing them to standby to transport the party in ten minutes or carry out General Order 24 on schedule.

If he was bluffing in the first place then he would still be bluffing here. There would be no point in tipping his hand until the situation was under control, which at that point it was not.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I wouldn't argue with that take. Moreso that this all comes down to interpretation and ultimately, belief. And we're talking about a fantasy sci-fi show, in which the needs of delivering weekly shows for an audience were arguably the #1 priority, not that Roddenberry didn't do his best for all things to adhere to his "Show Bible."

Compare ST-TOS to MAS*H, par exemple. A show that took off fairly early on, and accordingly was able to make a load of uncomfortable social commentary, far in excess of TOS's more conceptual versions, somewhat in the vein of The Smothers Brothers and the American version of All in the Family.

Altho it ultimately got cancelled short of the 5yr mission, I feel like TOS was an utterly brilliant show in any number of ways, but much of it was in building parallels to the crazy global events in the world, at the time. Or simply, commentary upon human nature itself.