ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

TOS 3, Episode 14: That Which Survives

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Star Trek on Television
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3401
Location: New York

PostPosted: Wed May 04, 2022 10:30 pm    Post subject: TOS 3, Episode 14: That Which Survives Reply with quote

"That Which Survives." January 10, 1969.

Written by John Meredyth Lucas (with Arthur H. Singer, uncredited), Story by D.C. Fontana (as Michael Richards.) Directed by Herb Wallerstein.

Sidebar: This was never a particularly favorite episode of mine---few were from the series third season---in spite of it having an imaginative idea for the plot. The concept was wonderful but the show had neither the budget or special effects technology back in 1969 to do it much justice.

I'm mentioning it because I was so impressed with writer James Blish's version of this episode in the series of books he did which adapted TOS episodes.

At the end of this aired episode we have this exchange between Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock: Kirk's eyes were on the dissolving image of Losira. "She was---beautiful," he said.

Spock shook his head. "Beauty is transitory, Captain. She was, however, loyal and highly intelligent."

Kirk opened his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise. Five of us to beam up. By the way, Mr. Spock, I don't agree with you." End of episode.

Now this is what Blish has in his book after Kirk's final line on the episode: "Beauty survives, Mr. Spock. It survives in the memory of those who beheld it."

For me, that final line by Kirk added so much more poignancy to the scene compared to the episode's ending.

I'm unsure if that was a case of the line being cut from the script, or if Jim Blish added it himself with the approval of Gene Roddenberry.

If it was in the original script and was dropped they made a big mistake doing so.

It goes to show you just how important scripted dialogue can be to an episode, and how they can make it so much more profound. Or less so by excising a line or two.

The line would not have required breaking their budget. No new sets, wardrobe, guest stars, or special effects had to be added to that scene. Only words, precious words.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3401
Location: New York

PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2022 2:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

These Are The Voyages: Season Three by Marc Cushman with Susan Osborn.

Written by John Meredyth Lucas (with Arthur H. Singer, uncredited.) Story by D.C. Fontana (as Michael Richards.)
Directed by Herb Wallerstein.

Assessment: "That Which Survives" is entertaining and, in many ways, unique, although there are some examples of recycling.

The often-used Star Trek formula--Enterprise landing party separated from their ship while the ship is subjected to attack--is repeated here.

But the dual formulas are formulas are handled differently this time. Planet-bound kirk does not save himself and his ship. Instead, Spock and the crew of the Enterprise pull it together and charge in at the end like the cavalry.

And the antagonist, the computer which projects an image of the reluctant siren with the deadly touch, expresses great regret for its/her actions.

Also unique: the earth-quaking land mass, the Enterprise being beamed from one location to another, and the landing party believing the ship has crashed into the planet.

What doesn't completely work is the story's theme. Gene Roddenberry was concerned that the central theme to this story would go over most viewer's heads.
Roddenberry knew that themes concerning war, prejudice, birth control, or man-versus-machine, were easier to comprehend than one based on possessiveness and the recklessness of setting defensive traps.

Sidebar: Gene doesn't appear to be giving his audience the benefit of the doubt on this one.

"Survival" was the original title for this episode.

The main problem for Roddenberry, besides an unclear theme, was a lack of scientific explanation and consistency in the story.

It was over this script that producer Fred Freiberger and D.C. Fontana clashed and where Fontana quit the show, and/or Freiberger fired her, depending on which story you believe.

Fontana was quickly becoming disillusioned with the direction Star Trek was taking under the guidance of its new showrunner, Fred Freiberger.

D.C. used the pseudonym of Michael Richards, a combination of her brothers' names, Michael and Richard.

Losira was originally to be called the Guardian from Osiris.

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3401
Location: New York

PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2022 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicker's Guide.

After conducting a "detailed" analysis of the planet, the landing party reports back to Kirk. They have a meeting, and the captain decides that finding water is one of the highest priorities. He sends D'Amato to look for an underground source.

Wouldn't a detailed analysis of the planet include this information?

Kirk does an amazing job on the headstone of D'Amato's grave. It is nicely square and has "LT. D'Amato" written on it. A few moments earlier, the episode demonstrated that the rock on the planet was almost impossible to cut with a phaser. How then did Kirk create this object to begin with?

Also, with what did he write D'Amato's name on the stone? Have we ever seen Starfleet officers carrying pens?

Sidebar: Even if a phaser could be used to dig a grave, create a headstone, and then carve an inscription, is any of this a wise protocol in this situation?

Kirk and company are stranded on an unknown world, the Enterprise is nowhere to be found. I would think it would be best to not use a phaser needlessly---with all due respect to the deceased crewman---under such perilous circumstances. They may well need every bit of phaser power they have.

After his first encounter with Losira, Sulu is amazed that someone so beautiful could be so evil.

Sidebar: That seems like extremely provincial thinking for humans from the future. Because someone is attractive they cannot possibly be bad. Because someone is ugly they must be automatically evil? We haven't come very far, have we?

When Losira "comes" for Kirk, McCoy tries to take a reading on her with his medical tricorder. There is not even a mechanical signature according to Bones.

Yet earlier in the episode, when Losira attacks D'Amato, McCoy registered "a life form reading of tremendous intensity," and a biological one at that.

After Losira sabotages the Enterprise's engines that will cause the starship to explode, Scotty must crawl into small chamber in order to fiddle with the magnetic containment field that holds the antimatter.

Sidebar: So Scotty enters this crawl space and doesn't need to wear any kind of protective suit? He continues to communicate with Mr. Spock with his communicator lying beside him.

Couldn't such a powerful device have radio signals that could dangerously affect the containment field that we see has bolts of energy jumping around in the crawl space?Scotty is also very casual with the tool he's using to shut this all down. Again, isn't it possible that if it contacts the faltering field and antimatter, couldn't the ship go boom?

Great Moments: The creators used a nice transporter effect for Losira. She appears to flatten, squash into a black vertical line, and then the end points of the lines come together and disappear.

Sidebar: That was a cool and original looking visual effect. They could have made it some kind of minor variation of the Enterprise transporter effect. Add different colors, make the sparkling move faster, create a halo effect around Losira.

Instead, they give us an entirely fresh take on transporting and they're doing it on a tight budget to boot.
Bravo!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3401
Location: New York

PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From NBC press release, issued November 11, 1968:

Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelly) face death on a hostile planet without food and water as the Enterprise is hurled 1, 000 light years away from them, in "That Which Survives" on NBC Television Network's Star Trek, Friday, Dec 13....

Both Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), aboard the Enterprise, and Capt. Kirk, on the barren planet, face an unknown enemy who is a beautiful female capable of exploding every cell in the human body with but a touch. Lee Meriwether guest-stars as Losira, the surviving female of an ancient civilization, who has been left to guard the planet until her people arrive from her home.

Thoughts: Losira isn't a surviving female from her race in this case, she is an android creation.

I also think this press release reveals too much about her character. I'd have just left it at having Kirk and his crew encountering this mysterious woman who is out to kill him, and his landing party, for reasons that are unknown to them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Star Trek on Television All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group