EARLY ACCESS - The Doomsday Machine is REMARKABLE (for one reason)
Added 2024-01-29 12:58:24 +0000 UTC
Comments
it was supposed to be a new rendition of moby dick and captain ahab's obsession with killing the whale
Ellen Kaufman
2024-02-22 13:15:54 +0000 UTCGrrrr....I watch along using amazon prime/Paramount...and they started playing commercials with the standard subscription unless you pay them an additional fee. Like Bezos aint rich enough.
Monty Crawford
2024-01-31 20:03:54 +0000 UTCIt’d be cool to rewatch Is There in Truth No Beauty now that you know the big reveal, and also now that you’ve seen Diana Muldaur on TNG
Glenn Johnson Barnes
2024-01-30 20:26:11 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed you revisiting this. I look forward to hopefully more similar videos.
Knights Who Say Sledge
2024-01-30 17:14:42 +0000 UTCPersonally, as a huge Doctor Who fan, that doesn't seem at all likely to me. I don't think many people in the American TV industry even knew what Doctor Who was yet in 1968. I've never seen any indication that Roddenberry did, and the Gary Seven character was his personal creation. I think "Assignment: Earth" and "Doctor Who" simply both reflected similar elements of the '60s zeitgeist.
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-01-30 14:56:05 +0000 UTCMight be interesting to revisit Space Seed now that you've also seen Wrath of Khan.
Regan
2024-01-30 14:25:33 +0000 UTCI'm firmly in the "Gary Seven was an attempt to rip-off Doctor Who" camp.
Regan
2024-01-30 14:23:49 +0000 UTCKirk at his best. Spock at his best. McCoy at his best. Scotty at his best. Best guest performance of the entire series. Wall to wall action. Some of the best dialogue of the series. Great effects (original and remaster). I find it highly illogical that you don’t enjoy it more Josh!
Jonathan Llyr
2024-01-30 14:00:51 +0000 UTCIt’s never been one of my favorites either.
Aramis Calcutt
2024-01-30 02:39:39 +0000 UTC"After seeing this episode again.......... I like it even less" Nice lol what a swerve I didnt see coming
Narnman
2024-01-30 02:30:46 +0000 UTCI never got what's supposed to be great about this episode either
Andreas Schmitt
2024-01-30 02:18:07 +0000 UTCAs to Decker’s behavior in the second half… it’s still the trauma talking. But his focus has shifted to taking revenge and destroying the thing. He had enough sanity left to know that he had to strong arm the crew into doing what he wanted but he didn’t care about the ship or crew of the Enterprise. In fact he probably knew very well that they would be destroyed, but he didn’t care. Plainly stated, he had a death wish. I really liked William Windom’s acting in this part. The way he slouched in the chair with that hooded, cunning look. The way he kept fidgeting with the data chip in his hand. He was definitely channeling Humphrey Bogart from Mutiny on the Bounty.
StealthMomo
2024-01-30 01:38:54 +0000 UTCI think that would be another take on this theme: episodes that Alex and Josh liked that we thought were not so good. Spock's Brain and The Alternative Factor come to mind.
Collin Freeman
2024-01-29 22:03:55 +0000 UTCYa, I respect your opinions, but as this being my top 5 episodes I hereby take my right to disagree. But that's me. I always thought the plot holes were pretty obvious, like why did they not try to fire phasers or photon torpedoes directly into the mouth of the thing, etc. But I'm glad you gentlemen respected the wishes of your audience and revisited it, and expressed your honest opinions. Ka'Plah!
Monty Crawford
2024-01-29 21:53:17 +0000 UTCNICE! Love this idea for a format AND this episode
Lucas Herr
2024-01-29 21:52:29 +0000 UTCHey... I don't know why i'm asking, but... was D.C. Fontana a woman?
Steven Johnson
2024-01-29 21:43:04 +0000 UTCA child could do it.. A CHILD COULD DO IT!
Steven Johnson
2024-01-29 21:41:57 +0000 UTCDoomsday Machine as "Okay"? I finally found a video where you are WRONG. Finally. lol
StonyD
2024-01-29 20:54:54 +0000 UTCI have to admit that there is a certain relief that Josh holds more or less to his original take on the episode. I don’t know why. Perhaps I secretly enjoy being disagreed with. Perhaps I find his integrity and consistency satisfying. Or perhaps maybe I’m just senile.
Rich Cirivilleri
2024-01-29 20:29:02 +0000 UTCJust for still not liking it I'm half tempted to suggest you rewatch The Empath just to fix your wagon! Oh well, for next I'd go with Naked Time, Obsession and Charlie X.
Ken R
2024-01-29 19:30:04 +0000 UTCYes, the guy is obviously tortured over what happened to his crew. He collected himself after his first breakdown at the start of the episode, but he didn't get over it. He was acting irrationally because he pretty much lost his mind over what happened. His mistake killed his entire crew. Just imagine Kirk sitting alone on the Enterprise after his actions killed Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc. How could anyone handle that?
Joe Concepts
2024-01-29 18:17:54 +0000 UTCIt’d be interesting, because I think it’s one of the few episodes where our reaction is generally positive since the episode was hilarious, but an in-depth discussion would probably be us laughing while ripping it apart
Josh (Target Audience)
2024-01-29 17:35:46 +0000 UTCExactly.
Numinous2019
2024-01-29 17:25:19 +0000 UTCWhat would you say if people recommended Spock’s Brain again LOL?
Geoffrey Linehan
2024-01-29 17:04:47 +0000 UTCThe TOS episode I was most upset that you disliked, especially since you've continued mocking it periodically ever since, is "Assignment: Earth," one of my three favorite episodes alongside "The Cage" and "Amok Time." Because "Assignment: Earth" was a backdoor pilot, I always saw it as an exciting glimpse of an alternate reality where Star Trek had a TV spinoff in the 1960s. When I sat down to watch the episode, I wasn't disappointed that I didn't get to see a story about the Enterprise crew; I *wanted* to see a story about Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln, because this was the only story I would ever get to see with them. However, on further thought I've come to realize that you may be right about "Assignment: Earth." I wasn't aware until recently that, at the time the episode was filmed, Gene Roddenberry fully expected that it would be the series finale and that NBC was canceling Star Trek. It was a real douchebag move for Roddenberry to waste Star Trek's last episode on a backdoor pilot for another show in the hope of keeping himself in employment for the following TV season. (And this was shortly after Roddenberry got another vanity project made -- "The Omega Glory," a script no one but Roddenberry himself liked.) No matter how enjoyable I may find "Assignment: Earth" -- as I mentioned when you saw it, as a longtime space buff I'm a sucker for its use of NASA stock footage, and Robert Lansing and Teri Garr are wonderful in it -- it's tainted by Roddenberry's bad faith in making it. Centering a show's series finale around two guest characters while sidelining the regulars is such a terrible idea that it's astonishing anyone would ever consider it.
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-01-29 16:58:00 +0000 UTCWhat about the battle of wits between Spock and Decker? BTW, he would have been the father of the commander in The Motion Picture.
Geoffrey Linehan
2024-01-29 16:49:17 +0000 UTCI want them to watch "And The Children Shall Lead Again" and make it a charity for mental health.
Steven Johnson
2024-01-29 16:48:47 +0000 UTCMaybe this revisiting episodes thing isn't such a good idea after all.... I kid, I kid 🤓
James Bottas
2024-01-29 16:47:33 +0000 UTCAs far as episodes to revisit that you really liked, there are the obvious candidates such as "The City on the Edge of Forever," "Amok Time" and "Journey to Babel," as well as less obvious ones such as "A Private Little War" and "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" (probably your two best reactions), not to mention the one that started it all, "The Man Trap." For episodes that viewers were disappointed you didn't like more, the pickings are slenderer, I think. I personally was disappointed that you didn't like "The Tholian Web" and "The Empath" more than you did, but you didn't *dislike* "The Tholian Web," and I suspect you wouldn't want to watch "The Empath" again.
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-01-29 16:45:41 +0000 UTCYour comments, as usual Steven, pretty much nail it. I won't deny being somewhat disappointed that the guys are doubling down on their anti-DDM campaign 😉.. there's a very interesting and nuanced conversation to have on this horror tinged episode about survivor's guilt and PTSD and loyalty and the chain of command... alas. End of the day, doesn't make it any less good to me. Thank you for revisting the episode Alex and Josh and putting it out there for our entertainment and at times, disagreement
James Bottas
2024-01-29 16:39:09 +0000 UTCKudos for keeping it honest.
Tom Occhipinti
2024-01-29 16:31:26 +0000 UTCI would love to see you guys rewatching the episode "Obsession". Since you loved it at the time but it didn't show up in your top episodes list nit even as an honerable mention I think but rewatching it would maybe be very enjoyable for you both and I would just love to see a full discussion of this particular episode. And Ps I already commented in full detail about this episode on youtube a few minutes ago if you want to read that maybe I should have posted it here instead:-). Live long and prosper.🖖
Sebastian_Frodo
2024-01-29 16:27:47 +0000 UTCNo. I think they mostly get it, and they make some valid points. I just think the nuance of who Decker actually is, isn't something you pick up on until you watch the episode many times. It begins to click. Like I said, not every episode is for everyone. Some of us have been watching these episodes since we were single digits in age. We've pulled them apart and put them back together again dozens of times. I'm not faulting them for not liking it as much as other episodes. I'm merely pointing out the nuance there.
Steven Johnson
2024-01-29 16:27:27 +0000 UTCTranslation: you don't get it ;)
James Bottas
2024-01-29 16:21:57 +0000 UTCAs long as you have a significant discussion/debate about it, I don't care if you have the opposite opinion to me on every episode. That's what I'm here for.
Adam Zey
2024-01-29 15:51:03 +0000 UTCI'm not going to say "You don't get it" BUT... 7:43 It actually was the right thing to do. Decker's motivation is two parts. One part is survivor's guilt, and the other part is the death of billions of lives in the Federation if the DDM is allowed to escape. He's still a Starfleet Captain. He's broken, clearly, but those instincts of the greater good are still on display... and the end of the episode is Kirk basically assessing Decker's actions as essentially sound, just not executed properly (Hence why he uses the Constellation to disable the DDM.). It's fanon, but a lot of people think Decker was very much an older version of Kirk, before these events. It is a shame we didn't get to see him previously, I think that might have added to it. If he had shown up in a previous episode as a guest character and this was hus "Mudd's Women." I think that would have certainly helped. The few bits of EU material with Decker have him as a very capable, competent, tough-guy captain. A little more like Pike than Kirk. One thing that absolutely irks me is when people talk about Decker being out for vengeance, I just... That's not in the episode. That WAS in the script, but that isn't what William Windom is playing. His motivation is to stop the thing before it kills billions of lives, and to pay for not dying with his crew. There's no Vengeance in it, even though this was originally conceived of as an "Ahab in Space." I do think there is a version of this episode (hypothetically) where Decker's death comes at the end, and the episode is essentially more Twilight Zone-esque. A cautionary tale. Therein you run into a different stripe of cliche. Would that really have been better? What people love about this episode is Windom's performance. There are a lot of little ticks that you pick up on with repeat viewings. In several scenes you can see him holding the data tapes between his fingers and moving them back and forth. In one shot he's almost gnawing on his wrist as he looks around the bridge. He has so many hallmarks of survivor's guilt. At the end of the day, not every episode is going to be everyone's favorite. If it's not your favorite, it's not your favorite. You do have some good insights. I do think that the tail end of the episode drags once Decker is gone, because the core conflict of the drama is between Decker and Kirk. That's where the real meat is at, and it is a bummer they don't do more with it.
Steven Johnson
2024-01-29 15:49:58 +0000 UTCI haven't watched your video yet but from what I gather in the comments this isn't one of your faves. That's cool, it's not one of mine either tbh. Can you imagine how boring the world would be if everyone liked the exact same stuff? Imo TOS was successful*because* it offered variety: you had your love stories, your wars and battles, your morality tales, social commentary... You get my point!
Captain Proton
2024-01-29 15:31:40 +0000 UTCThe only thing to add beyond a great score and maybe TOS's best guest star (and that's enough to make it a top episode, isn't it?) is this is one of the only TOS episodes that works for me as an action movie. Get rid of the '60s trappings and (much like Journey to Babel or City on the Edge of Forever) it feels modern, or to put it another way, timeless. That's my best stab at explaining why it's so loved. (Sixth overall at IMDB, btw.) But never apologize for what you like or don't. If you just liked it all, I wouldn't subscribe.
John M.
2024-01-29 15:24:58 +0000 UTCNever apologize for giving your honest opinions, even if those opinions are unpopular. It's refreshing to watch a YouTube channel that doesn't chase after likes by fawning over everything they watch.
David Felgate
2024-01-29 14:54:44 +0000 UTC"The Doomsday Machine" was D. C. Fontana's least favorite TOS episode. I have no idea why. (D. C. Fontana was a woman, by the way.)
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-01-29 14:51:52 +0000 UTCThis was one of the episodes where your reactions to it surprised me. I always saw this as a strong episode.
Joe Concepts
2024-01-29 14:24:08 +0000 UTCI'm in complete agreement with you guys on this one. Even when I watched it as a kid, I could appreciate Windom's performance, as well as some other positive aspects you mentioned, but overall I found the episode uninteresting. The overused musical score was way too repetitive and grating, and the doomsday machine itself just looked silly. Like Josh, I've never understood the abundant fan-love for this episode. (On the other hand, "The Tholian Web", with all its flaws, is one of my favorites, so to each their own.)
Jeff
2024-01-29 13:55:57 +0000 UTCNuclear veapons? On nuclear wessels? Absurd. Seriously, I see your points and respect your opinions, but it is still in the top 12 episodes for me. It’s Moby Dick in space. Decker is Captain Ahab chasing his white whale. And I like new FX despite having seen the original effects hundreds of times.
Collin Freeman
2024-01-29 13:37:41 +0000 UTC
