EARLY ACCESS - Why Is Spock So Grumpy In That Which Survives? (S3E17)
Added 2023-04-06 14:48:55 +0000 UTCOur YouTube edited reaction to That Which Survives will be posted on Sunday, but you can watch it right now!
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Comments
It's an OK episode, probably at best to me. I like when they beam down to a planet even if it isn't a great episode. It is weird that D. C. Fontana wrote that episode as the character of Spock was a bit harsh. You would have thought that Ms. Fontana was making a commentary about female drivers with the female helmsman remarks. The US didn't get its first female astronaut until 22 years after its first male astronaut. Perhaps she wanted there to be another female bridge officer if possible but did not want such a new character to be too experienced. The security guard at the end is Ensign Roger Lemli. It looks like he was in about half of the episodes. He does not appear in the first season. His last name was a combination of the first names of Shatner's three daughters -- Leslie, Melanie and Lisabeth; Shatner later chose LEMLI for his vanity license plate. Lemli sort of replaced Lieutenant Leslie who was named after Shatner's eldest daughter. Eddie Paskey, the actor for Leslie, who died only two years ago was often William Shatner's stand-in and occasional body double, but he retired during the third season due to a back injury and severe headaches aggravated by the television lighting.
Chtphr Rrr
2023-04-06 22:53:18 +0000 UTCDorothy Fontana's disillusionment with Star Trek's direction had been growing for a while by the time she wrote the first draft of the script for this episode, and the multiple rewrites ordered by newly hired producer Fred Freiberger further chafed her (although in his defense, Freiberger was operating under increasingly onerous limitations placed upon him by NBC and the reduced budget). According to Marc Cushman's book about season 3, Fontanta "wanted nothing more to do with Fred Freiberger’s Star Trek, and that included the use of her name. For her 'story by' screen credit, on both this and the upcoming The Way to Eden, she chose the pseudonym of Michael Richards, a combination of her brothers’ names, Michael and Richard."
Gaius Frakking Baltar
2023-04-06 21:54:41 +0000 UTCHas anyone else noticed that whenever Spock gives a near precise estimate of anything to Kirk it isn't as ridged or condescending as it is with everyone else, not just in this episode but in general especially with Bones. With Kirk as they are close friends he expects a soft polite repeat of what he said and usually is accepting of it with no retort. As Spock has said numerous times he is a logical being who isn't seeking command nor is he afraid of it, it simply exists. We have seen times he's been in command and still at odds with the crew etc. but in this case as the Enterprise was hurled so far away from the planet, an alien force doing so and killing people at great distance his internal Vulcan/Human sides were most likely causing him distress and the only way he can deal with it is by using logic but as he is frustrated uses it as a battering ram forever wanting the illogical Humans to get on his level, but knowing they never will be.
Brad Barter
2023-04-06 19:46:33 +0000 UTCHe's grumpy because the writer must have seen Galileo Seven, and wanted to go with more of a Spock caricature than the real thing. Mind you, I love Galileo Seven.... but THIS episode really shows the same demeanor... just worse. I don't think the writer captured the spirit of the character. Just some kind of parody, thinking it would make for an interesting portrait.
Tom Occhipinti
2023-04-06 18:52:09 +0000 UTCI believe they had what they termed a star trek "bible" a writers guide that gave writers the parameters of the characters their back stories etc. Since Star Trek had many many different writers that episodes writers obviously leaned heavily into the traits and mannerisms outlined in the writers guide. On a different note I only noticed after your comments on the use of the term "the girl" rather than the crew members name in lieutenant Mira Romaine in the Lights of Zetar episode. It was many many multiple uses of "the girl" by Doctor McCoy it was bad writing not sexism Never noticed it until now. Dr McCoy would have used her name.
Sherman Lin
2023-04-06 18:46:31 +0000 UTCI think the writers just believed that's how Spock acts and went overboard with it. And Losira is played by former Miss America Lee Meriwether, who also later started with Buddy Ebson in Barnaby Jones.
KatWithAttitude
2023-04-06 15:10:33 +0000 UTCNot one of my all-time favorites, but I've always appreciated the atmosphere of this episode.
Rob
2023-04-06 15:08:32 +0000 UTCFrom what I generally hear, the fan consensus is that Spock is just badly written in this episode. Definitely a throwback to Galileo Seven-era Spock, not the Spock we expect in season 3.
James H
2023-04-06 14:52:52 +0000 UTC
