posted
About a month ago, I lent a former co-worker $100 so he could cover his bills. I made a deal: instead of paying me back the $100, he could just get me a copy of Star Trek TOS Season 1 on DVD. Well, it arrived Monday.
When it arrived, I popped it in the DVD player on my Dell and started watching episodes as I continued the long and boring process of sorting my Lego collection (I estimate I'll be done by the time I'm 50).
Anyway, the first episode I watched was "Conscience of the King", then "Shore Leave", then "Court Martial", then "The Corbomite Manuever" at which point I was like, "Where the hell is Scotty?" Later, I watched "Charlie X", "Mudd's Women", "What Are Little Girls Made Of", (then I went to sleep, then to work in the morning, then to my parent's house for dinner and to help them move furniture and paint, I'm cheap labor), tonight I've watched "Miri", This Side of Paradise", and now I'm on "Return of the Archons."
I'm really surprised by how LITTLE I'm seeing of Scotty. Hell, of the episodes I've seen, he's barely - if at all - in them! Sulu's not much better, and Uhura was wearing a gold uniform in like two or three episodes (I remember seeing her in a gold uniform, but I figured it was just a one episode gaffe). Okay, anyway ...
... I'm puzzled as to why Kirk sent Riley to Engineering. Kirk beams back to the Enterprise after his friend's murder, and checks the status of the survivors of the massacre, discovering that he and Riley are the only two left (and what a coincidence that of nine total survivors, two are on the same ship). Anyway, Kirk "demotes" Riley from communications to engineering. Why? This is never really explained. Did Kirk want to put Riley in an isolated section of the ship to use him as bait? Or did he want Riley in an isolated section of the ship to keep him away from Kodos?
PS - I thought this was a really good episode. Kodos' bit at the end, where he said that it was a matter of timing which turned him into the villain, that if the rescue party had arrived later, his actions might have been viewed as neccessary, and he as a leader who made tough decisions under fire. Even with that as consolation, he was still clearly haunted by his actions, and seemed relieved that with Kirk's discovery, he would face responsibility for his actions.
So, anyway, why did Kirk send Riley down to Engineering? It was never really explained.
posted
Oh, it was just a small one. Not the big bugger. I sat in bed and put it together. Then we went and climbed a volcano and had a picnic at the top.
posted
You should have tossed the Lego S.D. into that volcano.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
My (old style and suddenly not cool at all) copy of this episode is elsewhere, and it has been awhile since I've watched it, but don't McCoy and Kirk have a brief conversation about this very thing?
Registered: Mar 1999
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You have to remember that Kirk, Spock and Bones were the only main characters. The rest were Mayweathers.
As to Riley's transfer 'down to Engineering', the best reason I can think of is to isolate him and make him bait for the Karidians. This episode had the idea that Engineering was largely automated and one of the least respectful jobs on the ship.
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