An Earthling's a Creature as Plain as Can Be
I've been getting more and more wrapped up in anticipation for Star Trek over the past few weeks, reading or watching everything I can connected to the movie (while, paradoxically, trying to keep myself from being completely spoiled)--whether that means the official clips released so far; Countdown, the official comic prequel to the film, and the also-connected comic "When Worlds Collide" in Wired magazine; or even following the really elaborate international Alternate Reality Game created for viral marketing purposes.
I've also been trying to figure out how I might rearrange the Star Trek Timelines at The History of Things That Never Were before the film comes out next week...
All this is, of course, in the knowledge that I'll probably need some sort of online blackout at the end of next week to safely avoid those spoilers.
Besides all that, I've been getting thoroughly into that old-school frame of mind by rewatching The Original Series (in production order, natch). I seriously doubt I'll make it through the whole thing in the next eight days, but I've already managed to finish off Season One, and some stuff jumped out at me this time around.
First off, despite the show's "seek out new life" mandate, many episodes deal with either completely human antagonists ("Mudd's Women," "Dagger of the Mind," "The Conscience of the King," "Court Martial," even "Space Seed"), essentially human antagonists ("The Return of the Archons," "A Taste of Armageddon"), or non-speaking phenomena ("The Naked Time," "This Side of Paradise"). There are very few episodes which feature "new civilisations" at all, and even the new species we do meet are usually represented by only one of its members ("The Man Trap," "The Squire of Gothos," "Arena," "The Devil in the Dark") for most or all of the episode in question.
I realise the real-world production reasons for all this, but it's still striking to see these patterns all at once.
It's also worth noting, given how much continuity has accumulated in the franchise over the years, that there are some things in this very first season of Star Trek which have huge implications (the First Federation, the Shore Leave Planet, even the famous Guardian of Forever), but are never so much as mentioned again in any live-action series.
In fact, most of these episodes don't even have indirect sequels in subsequent seasons/series, so it's surprising that the franchise is often accused of constantly rehashing past plot points...
I've also been trying to figure out how I might rearrange the Star Trek Timelines at The History of Things That Never Were before the film comes out next week...
All this is, of course, in the knowledge that I'll probably need some sort of online blackout at the end of next week to safely avoid those spoilers.
Besides all that, I've been getting thoroughly into that old-school frame of mind by rewatching The Original Series (in production order, natch). I seriously doubt I'll make it through the whole thing in the next eight days, but I've already managed to finish off Season One, and some stuff jumped out at me this time around.
First off, despite the show's "seek out new life" mandate, many episodes deal with either completely human antagonists ("Mudd's Women," "Dagger of the Mind," "The Conscience of the King," "Court Martial," even "Space Seed"), essentially human antagonists ("The Return of the Archons," "A Taste of Armageddon"), or non-speaking phenomena ("The Naked Time," "This Side of Paradise"). There are very few episodes which feature "new civilisations" at all, and even the new species we do meet are usually represented by only one of its members ("The Man Trap," "The Squire of Gothos," "Arena," "The Devil in the Dark") for most or all of the episode in question.
I realise the real-world production reasons for all this, but it's still striking to see these patterns all at once.
It's also worth noting, given how much continuity has accumulated in the franchise over the years, that there are some things in this very first season of Star Trek which have huge implications (the First Federation, the Shore Leave Planet, even the famous Guardian of Forever), but are never so much as mentioned again in any live-action series.
In fact, most of these episodes don't even have indirect sequels in subsequent seasons/series, so it's surprising that the franchise is often accused of constantly rehashing past plot points...