tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post7581097650720884689..comments2024-03-28T14:49:36.133-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Star Trek 50th Anniversary Blogging: "That Which Survives" (January 24, 1969)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-21277982999504706842018-10-24T21:23:05.705-04:002018-10-24T21:23:05.705-04:00I began watching Star Trek when it first aired on ...I began watching Star Trek when it first aired on NBC. I've seen every episode countless times. The issue I have with this episode is one that many (and I mean many) other fans have expressed for years. That is the behavior of Spock towards the crew. He's obnoxious, rude, irritating, sarcastic and "OCD" to the highest degree. In none of the other episodes has Spock ever behaved in this way. At least in Amok Time, his craziness is explained as a Vulcan biological mating sickness. His fidgeting with his little device for almost the entire show is never explained but irrelevant to his un-Spockian atiitude. I blame the writers and script editors. I was also surprised that Nimoy never went to them with a grievance about the way he is depicted in this. Maybe he did.Elliot Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964519903027517480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-44485783254789915272017-08-17T19:20:04.760-04:002017-08-17T19:20:04.760-04:00I agree that this is a pretty darn good episode, v...I agree that this is a pretty darn good episode, very elegiac and mournful in tone. How memorable it is, with the lovely Lee Meriwether (who is still beautiful at age 82!) dolefully repeating "I am for you" throughout and the unusual visual effect of her replicas popping out of existence by squeezing first vertically, then horizontally! As a kid, I was struck by that visual effect because it resembled the way older TV's--or just malfunctioning cathode ray tubes generally--shut down, sometimes leaving a central square or dot in the middle of the screen that glowed for over a minute before disappearing. So visually effective and yet not especially remarkable.<br /><br />I find That Which Survives to be quite representative of the third season as a whole--much, much better than people remember and credit. Said it before and will say again: The only things notably different in Season Three as compared with prior seasons were a) more "bottle shows", b) something slightly off kilter about the overall tone, c) bad pacing--in part because Leonard Nimoy's delivery grew increasingly slow and deliberate, and d) the handful of worst episodes were that much worse than before. Other than that, there really was not much difference from prior years, and the standout episodes, such as The Enterprise Incident and The Tholian Web, were on level par with any in foregoing years.Sherinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-84648243505347307742017-08-15T22:51:20.386-04:002017-08-15T22:51:20.386-04:00John,
I do not know whom these persons of which y...John,<br /><br />I do not know whom these persons of which you speak are, that do not like this episode. I've always found "That Which Survives" to be a standout Year Three entry. I felt bad for D'Amato, was haunted by Losira, and found myself intrigued by the mystery of the Kalandan ship that never arrived. There's a certain sadness to their story, and the fate of their leader, who has been re-imagined as a mournful killing machine by a computer designed to keep others away for their own good, even if it has to explode their atoms to do it. Kirk's final statement brings the proceedings to a poignant and memorable end.<br /><br />I also found the subtle undertones of Spock's humanity coming through to be nicely done. Let's face it: if it were any other Vulcan pushing that button, Scotty would've been jettisoned into space at the first sign of trouble. Mr. Spock's human half took a gamble and it paid off (as it did in "The Galileo Seven"). He's got a pretty good track record as a betting man. He must've learned that from Kirk!<br /><br />SteveAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13101722769411384962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-34539935378960041612017-08-15T17:04:21.889-04:002017-08-15T17:04:21.889-04:00This episode remains a favorite, partially because...This episode remains a favorite, partially because it's one of the first Star Trek episodes I can remember watching and therefore my first introduction to Star Trek when it was syndicated in the Boston area. I liked the jeopardy, I liked how the crew operated efficiently and professionally and that there was a lot to do for almost the entire cast. It's another strong season 3 episode and as I mentioned earlier, a personal favorite for the entire original series.Pierre Fontainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09928175455443075350noreply@blogger.com