UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek The Original Series - S2E12 The Deadly Years
Added 2022-09-07 00:51:13 +0000 UTCHere is our full uncut reaction to Star Trek TOS Season 2 episode 12 - The Deadly Years
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Comments
Not the worst episode, but they REALLY drag out and play up the crew getting old. Some of the earlier scenes as they started to age were fine, but too much repetition, and Kirk during the hearing came across more as a stereotype of being old. I agree that commodore Stocker was very matter of fact in carrying out his duty, and even at the end he understands right away Kirk belongs in that chair now that he's better. I just don't buy his complete lack command ability. A commodore is between a captain and an admiral. Now sure I can see him never commanding a ship of his own, but to reach that rank, he must have served on starships, in which case he should pick up some things. Scotty and Sulu have been in command temporarily, as has Spock. It's a little hard to buy the idea that he reached that rank never having served on a bridge crew and knowing enough to not be paralyzed in a combat situation.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-04-16 03:18:49 +0000 UTCI'm totally with you there! Also, imo, it ties in nicely with the Kirk we've seen in The Enemy Within. James Kirk might not be the nice old man in his late years, but become one of those grumpy old guys ... and ultimately who can't grapple with the fact that their abilities are declining, as many old people do and which is totally understandable. Also, the thing I find quite interesting is the fact that the crew, who normally is loyal to their Captain, was forced to stand in the hearing and make statement against him, although they naturally try ot protect him. This one is really one of the episodes I like watching. I also liked the resolution they gave the whole thing, that Chekov was not affected because of his strong frearful reaction to seeing a corpse ... which also adds to his character, emphasizing that he is young, inexperienced and has a lot to learn still in contrast to what the other more senior officers have seen already.
DataDroid
2023-01-12 07:59:48 +0000 UTCOh, come on guys - you can't tell me the Alex and Josh aren't going to die laughing when they see "A Piece of the Action". Abeit, not one of my favorites, but that episode is worth it just for the memes. Plenty of good episodes left in season 2 that are better than the last two.
Ricky Johnson
2022-09-12 19:12:59 +0000 UTCAt the time this episode was filmed, the network had not yet committed to a second half of the second season, and this was the last episode they were contracted for. So the cast and crew spent the whole time wondering if this was the last STAR TREK they were ever going to do.
MntrTodd
2022-09-10 15:59:03 +0000 UTCAs for upcoming episodes: I think Episode 13 is a good psychological piece; Ep. 14 I don't care for; but, as many have said, Episode 15 is a masterpiece.
Ken Schneyer
2022-09-10 03:50:13 +0000 UTCI think Ricky's right.
Ken Schneyer
2022-09-10 03:44:57 +0000 UTCI think you fellas may have, to an extent, missed the point. This is another character episode. The question was: How would Jim Kirk react to the failing of his faculties? Some people age gracefully, some find strategies for accommodating their losses -- Jim Kirk, it turns out, becomes paranoid, resentful, and in full denial. Someone as completely invested in his own competency as Kirk simply cannot handle it when it fails.
Ken Schneyer
2022-09-10 03:44:11 +0000 UTCI have always wondered how these actors felt about these performances when, many years later, they reached the ages they were playing in this episode. The performances are, to a certain extent, caricatures, and I can imagine them cringing later. If you look up the Star Trek Blooper Reel, you'll see a very funny clip of William Shatner in the full age make-up, cussing up a storm about having to put it on every day.
Ken Schneyer
2022-09-10 03:11:31 +0000 UTCI said it before Babel. I like Obsession. Wolf in the fold is great maybe only because it is about Scotty and Trouble with Tribbles is great. So I took at least those 4 and some more and said it. I think it is true.
Carl Peterson
2022-09-09 00:28:27 +0000 UTCIt will get better - I predict "Trouble with Tribbles" will take over Alex's number one spot from "I Mudd". Next one puts the spotlight on Scotty if I remember the order correctly.
Ricky Johnson
2022-09-07 19:57:31 +0000 UTCNot in my top half of episodes, but it's not one that I avoid either. The court scene recounting previous events didn't bother me. In this case, and other episodes that you guys have reviewed, I think the pacing of 1960s dramas are sometimes too slow for the generations which are used to a faster pace. No criticism of the way you see it at all - it's just the way it is. In general, Star Trek is one of the 60s shows that do hold up for the most part, despite the occasional weak episode.
John Schmitt
2022-09-07 19:47:19 +0000 UTCThere are a lot of good episodes left in season 2 and a couple of average ones. However, I don't think Friday's Child is as bad as you guys do. Obviously, these shows were not written for the modern attention span. Some are more dense plot-wise than others.
Chas Summers
2022-09-07 16:58:12 +0000 UTCDefinitely not a great one. Dealing with old age was interesting but indeed drawn out too long. The characters stuff is interesting. You can again see how much his command means to Kirk and how attached he is to his ship.
Andreas Schmitt
2022-09-07 16:01:17 +0000 UTCFor the record, I thought people saying things like “it’s uphill from here” and “it only gets better from here” have lost their collective minds. Even TNG has its bad episodes waiting to hit you like a well placed land mine. The TOS movies don’t things like this.
BURKE Wells
2022-09-07 13:09:55 +0000 UTCAnother Hot Mess. There is only 1 more really good episode left in season 2. The rest are solid to meh. Season 3 has 2 very solid episodes. The rest are ok to WTF. Thank god for the movies to bring the OGs back to honorable glory.
BURKE Wells
2022-09-07 09:01:18 +0000 UTCMy cat Newman just turned 18, and he's not a kindly, grandfatherly type of old man, but a "get off my lawn," Gran Torino type of old man. Old Kirk brought that to mind. I do agree that this episode suffered from pacing issues and shortcomings in the script that become more apparent when viewing critically.
Lin Phillips
2022-09-07 05:39:56 +0000 UTCYup, another in the long list of episodes where I just accepted it when I first saw it as a kid, and now I just shake my head at some of the moments. There were so many plot points just stretched to capacity that there's not much of a payoff. Mental deterioration became the plot, and that became the main thing at stake. While it gave Shatner a nice character arc, it grew old, which was quite appropriate. A long episode of watching Kirk wrestle with the loss of his mind as well as his ship just falls flat because there wasn't anything left. Waaaay too long. But then sure, let's up the stakes with a weak side plot where yet another Starfleet Commodore is an idiot and blunders into danger And then have it resolved in one big bluff. Whole thing was solved in thirty seconds. Sigh. Although the Corbomite was a nice throwback
Firekrys FWO
2022-09-07 05:08:28 +0000 UTCIt's the little mannerisms and stuff like the way he says "Maybe you'd like to relieve Dr McCoy?". I can watch this for Shatner any time.
Ken R
2022-09-07 03:57:48 +0000 UTCYeah Ken, I was noticing the same thing. A lot of little nuance in his performance, especially during the court scene. The interminable court scene. I almost went out to take a piss. I did go out to take a piss during one of those long long scenes between him and Dr. Macy’s mannequin.
Rich Cirivilleri
2022-09-07 03:51:20 +0000 UTCI love this one for Shatner, it is a showcase for him and you see all these little things he is throwing in. For me it is a partner to Enemy Within and the very last episode of the series, where Shatner once again changes it up. He is mocked and the general wisdom of the western world is he is not a good actor, but he is really very good. Oh, Season one is better.
Ken R
2022-09-07 03:44:09 +0000 UTCAnd as for ” The Thing”,,, I can’t wait to watch that with you guys. I was in the first audience to ever see that film a couple of weeks before it was in theaters. I was part of the test audience. On my audience card, I gave it four stars and told John Carpenter that he was fucking awesome.
Rich Cirivilleri
2022-09-07 03:42:07 +0000 UTCAnd haters can attack me in three. Two. One. Go!
Rich Cirivilleri
2022-09-07 03:38:23 +0000 UTCSooo… it’s been about 50 years since I first saw this episode and I still have the same annoyed question that I had the first time I saw it, and it never gets better. It’s this. How. The. Fu.k does radiation sickness cause your hair to wildly grow and change style? And further… How the hell did McCoy manage to have his regular old shorter style back after he got the shot. What the F? Did He pop in to the barber before he came up to the bridge? This begs explanation. You guys are always spot on in your analysis. Nobody knows more about Star Trek than I do. So what I say goes. And I say that you guys are right. You have been right. And you will continue to be right. I have spoken.
Rich Cirivilleri
2022-09-07 03:37:08 +0000 UTCThis is a great way of putting it. If you like the joke, you probably really like the episode & vice versa
Josh (Target Audience)
2022-09-07 02:59:24 +0000 UTCThe producers and writers (including Roddenberry and DC Fontana) didn't like the script, the plot, the guest characters, the disease, or its cure, but they fixed it up as best they could. The cast are back to their young selves at the end because the age makeup would have added an additional day to what was already scheduled for a six day shoot.
deconstructionist66
2022-09-07 02:53:32 +0000 UTCI am not a fan of this episode. I think it was an attempt at injecting humor by using the main characters as senile old people. The actors did a great job, and clearly Shatner and Kelley were having a ball with it, but overall, I think it was one big bad joke at the audience's expense.
Collin Freeman
2022-09-07 02:49:02 +0000 UTCIt is not one of the best but it is okay. But then again I thought Friday's Child was not as bad as y'all did. But I like the next one and the two after are two of the best by far.
Carl Peterson
2022-09-07 01:53:40 +0000 UTC
