The Final Frontier Season 1 Episode 14: Spacism

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[00:00:12] Hi everybody! Welcome to The Final Frontier. I'm Jake, that's Justin, you know who we are. We're your crew.

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[00:00:45] Yes.

[00:00:46] Anything to add, Justin?

[00:00:48] No, no, no. Vote. Vote for, you know, any podcast you feel deserves it. Even if they're the scrappy underdog.

[00:00:56] Fuck them. Vote for us.

[00:01:00] Yeah, but the scrappy underdog is me!

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[00:01:15] Vote long, and prosper.

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[00:01:19] I love how our friends went to the same place. Oh my god, are we synchronizing?

[00:01:23] Maybe we've achieved a mind meld.

[00:01:26] The Final Frontier Podcast.

[00:01:48] These are the voyages of Jake Boger and Justin Spurr.

[00:01:51] Our weekly mission, to explore memories of Star Trek's strange new worlds.

[00:01:55] To recall the search for new life and new civilizations.

[00:02:00] To boldly go where no one has had the spare time to go before.

[00:02:53] Welcome everyone, to the Final Frontier.

[00:02:57] I don't know why I'm doing this.

[00:02:59] Is this a Romulan thing or a Vulcan thing? I don't know.

[00:03:02] Anyway, we are talking about one of the most beloved episodes of Star Trek, not just of the original series, but of the entire franchise.

[00:03:10] We are talking about the first introduction of the Romulans, the episode Balance of Terror.

[00:03:16] My note on the description of the episode is literally just,

[00:03:21] First Appearance of the Romulans!

[00:03:23] So, get that out of there.

[00:03:25] That's the actual description?

[00:03:27] No, no, that's my note on it.

[00:03:29] It was just like, the description was just, Kirk gets into a conflict with the Romulan ship.

[00:03:35] I was like, First Appearance of the Romulans!

[00:03:37] So, what's interesting though, and I don't think a lot of people think about it, like they know it, but they don't really think about it.

[00:03:42] So, the iconic sort of, I'm not going to say villains because they become allies later, but sort of the iconic rivals of the Federation and Star Trek are the Klingons, right?

[00:03:52] Yeah, yeah.

[00:03:53] The Romulans.

[00:03:53] That was my thought.

[00:03:54] Yeah.

[00:03:54] I was like, I feel like, okay, now I feel like I'm confusing the Romulans and the Klingons.

[00:04:00] Because I always thought like, the Klingons were like the main antagonists of Star Trek, but this episode would have me, made me think that it's the Romulans.

[00:04:08] Like they seem like they're the big bad, big bad of the series.

[00:04:11] They're one of the two big bads.

[00:04:12] And what's interesting is, they're very similar in many ways, but I always say the Romulans are fascists, the Klingons are imperialists.

[00:04:19] Interesting.

[00:04:20] Which one?

[00:04:20] Because this episode was really, they were really giving me, oh, the Krill from Orville.

[00:04:27] Are the Krill like a combination?

[00:04:29] I think they are.

[00:04:30] The Romulans, Klingons?

[00:04:31] I think I see the Krill as more Klingon-like, but yeah, I think the Krill are more Klingon-like.

[00:04:39] There's certain aspects.

[00:04:40] They feel Klingon-coded to me.

[00:04:43] So I was just like, I, but I'm like, but the whole like being hyper-religious thing, that's where I was kind of like, at least they gave me the vibe of being hyper-religious.

[00:04:50] I don't know that you could call the Romulans religious per se.

[00:04:53] Um, and, and we're going to get into that, but yeah, I don't know that you'd call it religious.

[00:04:57] I said, that's why I refer to the Romulans as fascists because they have a very, very militaristic hierarchy structure.

[00:05:03] I see, but I guess their arc are the architecture with their ship looked like it looked very religious coded, which is why I went it.

[00:05:11] Like it looked almost like, like it matched his style with the opening scene of this space church.

[00:05:18] That was my note.

[00:05:19] To me, the ship.

[00:05:20] Generic space church.

[00:05:21] To me, well, the, uh, sorry.

[00:05:24] Many denominations.

[00:05:26] I was just impressed that they, uh, it wasn't monotheistic.

[00:05:29] It was like, praise Jesus.

[00:05:31] The 1960s.

[00:05:33] We come here this day to this place of religious worship to praise and give thanks to insert your deity here.

[00:05:42] Um, uh, oh, so no, but the Romulan warbird, it kind of, it just reminds me of a space trans am.

[00:05:51] You know what?

[00:05:52] How did you say that?

[00:05:53] I can see what you would say.

[00:05:54] It kind of does.

[00:05:55] Well, I mean, it's got the giant bird painted on it.

[00:05:57] I mean, come on.

[00:05:57] It's got the, it definitely has the giant bird painted on it.

[00:05:59] You're right.

[00:06:00] You're right.

[00:06:00] It's like if that thing had rolled up and Panama was playing in the background, I've been like, yeah, this jives.

[00:06:05] Well, this episode takes place between stardate 1709.2 to 1709.6.

[00:06:12] And you may notice we have once again traveled back in time because these episodes were aired out of production order.

[00:06:18] The show date is still the year 2266.

[00:06:20] And the original air date was December 15th, 1966.

[00:06:24] So we're getting close to Christmas.

[00:06:26] In fact, uh, next week will be the episode before Christmas in have a Christmas episode.

[00:06:33] No, which is interesting because your first instinct would be your first instinct would be no, because they don't talk about religion in Star Trek.

[00:06:41] But in this one and the fact that in a couple episodes ago, they referenced directly a Christmas party.

[00:06:46] So, yeah, well, I mean, this, I mean, I was surprised that there was any sort of reference to religion because we constantly reference the Orville.

[00:06:55] But the Orville is a universe where there is no religion other than the Krill.

[00:06:59] Like on Earth, there's no more religion.

[00:07:01] I think that the cron's character specifically says that.

[00:07:04] So that, that, that shows my always like, I, I assume Star Trek was also, there was no religion.

[00:07:09] So it surprised me to find out in this episode that there still is religion.

[00:07:13] Yeah. And I'll be honest, I have a hard time finding because technically speaking, Vulcan philosophy is kind of a religion in a way.

[00:07:21] It started out as one.

[00:07:22] I know.

[00:07:22] They touch on, they touch on that in Star Trek Enterprise.

[00:07:24] It started out as very much kind of a religious sort of thing.

[00:07:28] I don't know that religion would ever really go away.

[00:07:31] It'll definitely morph.

[00:07:33] Yeah.

[00:07:33] And Futurama talks about the church of Star Trek, which that is, that's a hilarious irony.

[00:07:39] The movie Paul went like, aliens inherently disproved.

[00:07:43] I'm not saying this is true, but that movie went, aliens inherently disproved the existence of God because God, the Bible says that God created everything on Earth.

[00:07:50] How do you explain me?

[00:07:54] Yeah.

[00:07:54] Yeah.

[00:07:54] This episode was written by Paul Schneider and directed by our friend Vincent McIntyre.

[00:07:59] He's got that big E in there.

[00:08:01] Oh, he's done a few thus far.

[00:08:03] Of course I can't remember, but I think this is his third or fourth one.

[00:08:08] I wish I could remember because this episode felt really good.

[00:08:11] If I remember correctly, our favorite episodes have been McIntyre episodes.

[00:08:18] That is not a surprise.

[00:08:20] That's not a surprise.

[00:08:20] Yeah.

[00:08:21] And fun fact, because we were talking about this at the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention in Las Vegas in August of 2016.

[00:08:28] The fans voted this the eighth best episode of the Star Trek franchise ever.

[00:08:34] Eighth?

[00:08:35] Interesting.

[00:08:36] You know what the best is?

[00:08:38] At one point, it was an episode that's coming up actually at one point, and it's my personal favorite.

[00:08:43] It was the city on the edge of forever.

[00:08:45] That was considered the best Star Trek episode period.

[00:08:48] But I don't know if that still stands because that was pre 2016.

[00:08:53] So maybe it got voted.

[00:08:55] Our adventure begins in space with the Enterprise investigating a loss of communications with the line of Earth outposts near the Romulan neutral zone formed under the terms of the peace tree.

[00:09:07] That ended the Earth Romulan war a century earlier.

[00:09:10] Because there were no visual communications at the time of that war, these two races have never actually seen what the other looks like.

[00:09:20] So the episode begins opens up on a wedding, which I had a few questions about what just more naval coded like more naval references because obviously a Navy captain can marry someone at sea.

[00:09:32] At least that's what television has taught me.

[00:09:34] Actually, no, they can't.

[00:09:36] But that's not a thing.

[00:09:37] It used to be a thing.

[00:09:39] Oh, interesting.

[00:09:40] Because like, do you know why that was?

[00:09:42] Or like, this is like Kirk being the one to marry them is clearly a reference to that, if I'm not mistaken.

[00:09:49] Yes, but the irony is that in the 20th century, that right privilege was taken away from them.

[00:09:57] Oh, okay.

[00:09:58] Why were they in the first place?

[00:10:00] I know that's a thing because I've seen it in movies, obviously, but I'm always like, I'm not going to bother to Google this.

[00:10:05] Jake always knows his stuff offhand.

[00:10:07] Well, I don't know.

[00:10:08] But my guess would be because they're an authority figure in the open sea.

[00:10:12] Oh, and this is like, in terms of when they were allowed would have been like 19th century and earlier.

[00:10:19] Oh, okay.

[00:10:20] It's like where like the pirate era.

[00:10:22] Yeah.

[00:10:22] Well, I think to be doing a lot of sailing.

[00:10:24] Yeah.

[00:10:25] And I think the logic of being prior to radar, you may not necessarily know exactly where you were in the ocean.

[00:10:31] So you may or may not be in international waters.

[00:10:35] So they just kind of defer to the, and a ship's captain is a rank that's kind of universally recognized.

[00:10:40] Even if you're not on friendly terms with the country of origin of the ship, like the ship's captain is still the ship's captain.

[00:10:48] Fair enough.

[00:10:49] So, okay.

[00:10:49] So we talked about the, we talked about the Romulan's backstory.

[00:10:52] I have, I have a couple of questions about the Romulans.

[00:10:55] Oh, first of all, Sulu's back.

[00:10:57] I miss Sulu.

[00:10:58] He's back.

[00:10:59] And he is here.

[00:11:01] The Romulans are definitely the bad guys.

[00:11:04] So are the Romulans an allegory for Russia or Germany?

[00:11:09] Because this feels very Cold War coded.

[00:11:12] It has a very Cold War feel to it.

[00:11:14] So a little bit of both and many, in many, in many ways, this feels like cold era anti-Soviet.

[00:11:21] But the, the, the way that Romulans operate their societal structure, like I said, it's very fascist.

[00:11:27] So it feels a little Germany to me.

[00:11:30] But I think, I think it's a bit of both.

[00:11:32] I mean, I would say, you know, cause it's in the sixties, that's very much peak Cold War, but also obviously we've talked about, you know, that they're still coming off the heels of world war II.

[00:11:40] Like they're still really close to it culturally speaking.

[00:11:43] So that's why I could believe it's a little bit of both.

[00:11:45] Well, there's a, there's a direct reference though.

[00:11:47] That makes me, that makes me want to say more Soviet.

[00:11:51] I don't think it's a clear cut allegory, but there's definitely elements of both there.

[00:11:55] Um, and then, uh, I just, the Romulan human war, that first war, that sounds interesting.

[00:12:00] They should make a movie about it.

[00:12:02] I'd watch that.

[00:12:03] I agree.

[00:12:03] I would definitely watch that.

[00:12:05] Another fun thing is during Spock's overview of the Romulans where he's, you know, giving the exposition, he mentions the planets Romulus and Remus.

[00:12:13] The map on the Romulan side of the neutral zone shows Romulus, but the other major planet that is labeled is labeled Romii.

[00:12:20] That's Rom, R-O-M-I-I.

[00:12:23] It's not known or explained whether that's an alternative name for Remus or that it's an incorrect usage of the Roman numeral two to designate the planet as Romulus II.

[00:12:34] Cause isn't that, isn't that a story on a storyline later on where Remus gets destroyed?

[00:12:39] Like, no, no.

[00:12:42] So actually Remus to my knowledge doesn't ever come up again.

[00:12:45] That's just a direct thing.

[00:12:46] Yeah.

[00:12:46] That's just a direct taking of the legend of the founding of Rome, the brothers Romulus and Remus.

[00:12:51] So the whole thing is between Romulus and then Vulcan, right?

[00:12:54] Cause I know that like the hate, like, isn't that the whole beef that what's his face has Eric Bana has in 2009.

[00:12:59] He hates Vulcan cause they like blew up Romulus.

[00:13:02] Oh yeah.

[00:13:03] That is Eric Bana.

[00:13:05] Yeah.

[00:13:06] Oh, and the makeup, makeup was very good.

[00:13:08] Um, yes.

[00:13:08] Specifically Spock though.

[00:13:10] And the thing of it is this gets really confusing because Spock seems just as surprised as anyone to find out that the Vulcans and Romulans look the same.

[00:13:18] And yet later on in the series, even in this series, they talk about how like the Romulans and the Vulcans have like this ancient grudge against one another because they share a common ancestor.

[00:13:30] So it's like, no, it's oddly coincidental that no one would have been like in this, in this massive war.

[00:13:36] And not one person would be like, Hey, you guys look the same.

[00:13:41] Yeah.

[00:13:42] Fucking photograph.

[00:13:44] Yeah.

[00:13:44] Yeah.

[00:13:45] I don't know.

[00:13:45] I just feel like a very, very odd coincidence that I, any, an exactly identical looking group of people would wind up in this organized organization that fought them off.

[00:13:55] So I, yeah, I don't know.

[00:13:56] Feels, feels like a, uh, kind of a coincidence.

[00:13:59] Maybe it's not.

[00:14:00] We continue.

[00:14:01] As you said, Kirk is officiating a wedding between Lieutenant Tomlinson and Ensign Martine when outpost four comes under attack.

[00:14:08] So this is the first time in Star Trek lore that the ship's captain performs a marriage ceremony for his crew.

[00:14:14] There's a note here though, that I found that 20th century naval captains were prohibited from doing this.

[00:14:19] The writers have may have gotten this idea from the film, the African queen made in 1951.

[00:14:25] In that movie.

[00:14:27] Oh, have you?

[00:14:28] Is it good?

[00:14:28] Yeah.

[00:14:29] I, yeah, I, I, it's a, Oh, what's Humphrey Bogart.

[00:14:33] I quite like Humphrey Bogart.

[00:14:35] Oh, okay.

[00:14:36] Yes.

[00:14:36] I see.

[00:14:37] Yeah.

[00:14:38] He's the one.

[00:14:40] All the men from those, from that era generally suck.

[00:14:44] Um, that's just so like, Oh, they just never, they just, but mostly they, they, they believe in the ancient art of negging or treating women like shit.

[00:14:51] And, uh, Oh, the one that was like Clark Gable.

[00:14:54] I watched so many Clark Gable movies and he's just a real piece of shit to woman.

[00:14:58] To women.

[00:14:59] He just treats them like his whole bed.

[00:15:00] He's like, uh, it happened one night.

[00:15:02] The whole movie is supposed to be this romantic comedy.

[00:15:05] It just is him being mean to this poor woman.

[00:15:08] It's yeah.

[00:15:10] Humphrey Bogart.

[00:15:11] I quite like he was nice.

[00:15:13] I mean, maybe in comparison, but I mean, Humphrey, Humphrey Bogart has his moments, but it's usually, it's usually, it's usually more funny.

[00:15:20] Who were you last night?

[00:15:21] Not so long ago.

[00:15:22] I don't remember.

[00:15:24] Will I see you tonight?

[00:15:25] I never make plans that far ahead.

[00:15:27] It was the era.

[00:15:28] You know, it was the era.

[00:15:29] Oh, I know.

[00:15:30] But that was, that was when, when a woman was being hysterical, you slapped the sense into

[00:15:34] her.

[00:15:35] I had a, and it didn't really well.

[00:15:37] Tick tock.

[00:15:38] Oh, I can't.

[00:15:39] It was the apartment five in five, the apartment five B is what it was called.

[00:15:42] But there's a shit.

[00:15:43] There's a scene where a woman is like acting hysterical and there's a doctor and you just

[00:15:48] start slapping her in the face.

[00:15:50] And it was like, this is moved from like the 1960s.

[00:15:53] I think like that was their idea of therapy.

[00:15:55] That's how they dealt with not saying it was right.

[00:15:59] I'm just saying that.

[00:16:00] And that video did upsettingly well on Tick tock.

[00:16:03] Well, what you have to understand is that when a woman is hysterical, she needs one of

[00:16:06] two things.

[00:16:06] She needs either a slap on the face to bring her back to her senses or a slap on the behind

[00:16:10] to tell her she's doing a good job.

[00:16:11] I'm not saying I condone it.

[00:16:13] I'm just saying it's what they believed.

[00:16:15] I know.

[00:16:15] That's why I'm talking like this and not a normal, not the normal way that a normal person would

[00:16:19] talk these days.

[00:16:20] Well, I'm doing that transatlantic accent, you see.

[00:16:22] You're doing that transatlantic accent, see, where it's neither English nor American.

[00:16:26] And yet for some reason they think everyone in America talked this way.

[00:16:29] That's why we chose to go to space to hunt down the Romulans.

[00:16:35] And then we gave up.

[00:16:36] Because they're jerks.

[00:16:39] Anyway.

[00:16:39] They're jerks.

[00:16:40] And an almost unnoticed bit of staging, which I actually missed.

[00:16:43] I had to go back and look for this indicates that Angela Martin was Catholic, which I, of

[00:16:48] course, these days.

[00:16:49] Oh, I totally missed that.

[00:16:51] That makes sense.

[00:16:51] That would explain the church.

[00:16:53] And Kirk definitely seemed off, off put by like a, like a chapel kind of situation.

[00:17:00] He was like, I don't know that I got that vibe, but I'm sure William Shatner being a Jew.

[00:17:07] Oh, is he?

[00:17:07] I didn't know that.

[00:17:08] Yeah.

[00:17:08] Well, I don't know if he was a practicing Jew, but he was raised in a Jewish household.

[00:17:12] So I imagine, I imagine he was kind of like, are we really still doing this in the future?

[00:17:18] Is Kirk Jewish?

[00:17:19] I don't know.

[00:17:21] I don't, I don't believe Kirk is ever identified as Jewish.

[00:17:23] Oh.

[00:17:24] I don't think he's ever identified as any religion, uh, denomination.

[00:17:28] But anyway, she's seen genuflecting in front of the altar of the chapel before her wedding

[00:17:32] is promptly aborted.

[00:17:34] The, the, it goes into a bit of a note though.

[00:17:36] It said, well, hardly controversial today for the 1960s.

[00:17:39] It was, it was, it would have been a fairly bold thing to show in the television show, considering

[00:17:44] the prejudice against Catholics was still common in the United States in those days.

[00:17:48] However, it's not exclusively a Roman Catholic practice to, um, um, genuflect.

[00:17:54] For example, Episcopalians also genuflect in front of the altar.

[00:17:59] Huh?

[00:18:00] So it suggests she could be Catholic, but it's not outright saying she was Catholic.

[00:18:05] Cause I did not see a wizard.

[00:18:06] I did also notice it's very odd that no one is in a dress uniform for the wedding.

[00:18:10] That is odd.

[00:18:11] It feels like a, it's just giving me Vegas vibes, Vegas wedding vibe.

[00:18:15] Let's just get this over.

[00:18:16] Very, very, very space race wedding.

[00:18:18] Everyone back to work, back to work, everyone.

[00:18:21] I mean, to a point, to a point, it's not like they're going to go on a honeymoon.

[00:18:25] We got, we got a spaceship to run.

[00:18:27] Come on.

[00:18:28] Dude, kiss the bride.

[00:18:29] Let's get this done.

[00:18:30] Also notice the bride is not wearing white.

[00:18:32] So I'm assuming this tradition also goes away in the future.

[00:18:35] Well, I guess that's why I was like, Oh, when they were like, I guess when they were

[00:18:38] writing it, they were like, uh, yeah, they were like any religion, every religion is, is,

[00:18:43] is technically still around.

[00:18:45] I wonder, it's funny.

[00:18:47] Cause we were talking about something kind of similar off air.

[00:18:49] I wonder at what point people in the future, like maybe they just started adding like all

[00:18:53] the religions together to just be like, we represent faith.

[00:18:58] How many religions got added to this before everybody just went, okay, this is too much.

[00:19:02] We just need to.

[00:19:03] Just need to just cut it, cut it, cut it down.

[00:19:06] It's just, it's guy.

[00:19:08] We worship guy now.

[00:19:09] Well, once you go in deep enough in space, the floating spaghetti monster doesn't seem

[00:19:12] all that preposterous anymore.

[00:19:13] So can we just call it a day here?

[00:19:15] You know, the fart that the floating space fart.

[00:19:19] You know, once you see that, what's this a guy with pointy ears?

[00:19:23] He's got real pointy ears.

[00:19:25] It looks like Satan himself.

[00:19:26] He does.

[00:19:28] I don't know about you, but I don't trust him.

[00:19:30] Also with Spock wearing eye shadow, this episode really looked like it seemed like he

[00:19:34] was wearing eye shadow.

[00:19:35] I think towards the end, it looked like Kirk was too.

[00:19:38] And I'm like, you know what?

[00:19:39] I get it.

[00:19:40] They got to, they got to make him look like you have a real furrow brow.

[00:19:43] His brow is so.

[00:19:44] Upon hearing the news, the enterprise races to outpost four's aid and contacts the base

[00:19:49] commander named Hanson, who reveals he is the only survivor of an attack by an unknown

[00:19:54] enemy.

[00:19:55] As they're speaking, the enemy ship reappears, fires and disappears, destroying the outpost.

[00:20:01] That might've been a surprise, but so is this early ad spot.

[00:20:06] Come with me to discover the transformative power of kindness and the joy it brings.

[00:20:12] Join me as we explore every Monday morning, simple yet profound ways to elevate your happiness

[00:20:18] one gesture at a time.

[00:20:26] Oh wow.

[00:20:27] Fantastic baby dance.

[00:20:35] The ship's sensors locate the attacker, which remains invisible.

[00:20:39] They're using motion sensors, which I actually thought was a nice touch.

[00:20:43] The fact that it's like, we can't see them, but obviously there are ways you could theoretically

[00:20:48] get like energy readings or something.

[00:20:51] Well, it was showing up on the screen is like red.

[00:20:54] They, that was them.

[00:20:55] They couldn't see that.

[00:20:56] That was the idea.

[00:20:56] No, that was the weapon.

[00:20:58] Oh, that was the weapon.

[00:20:59] Oh, okay.

[00:21:00] Okay.

[00:21:01] Okay.

[00:21:01] So, so they initially the, the mystery of this is, is it the Romulans?

[00:21:05] That's what they're trying to figure out.

[00:21:06] Yeah.

[00:21:07] It seemed like they were trying to argue if they, if they were trying to be aggressive,

[00:21:10] like hacking outposts outposts directly feels aggressive.

[00:21:14] Well, the problem though is, and this is what I, I really, really, really, really liked

[00:21:19] about this is the fact like, yes, the Romulans attack these outposts, what the Romulans are

[00:21:25] trying to do, because I mean, Germany did this in the second world war.

[00:21:30] They would, it's a staged attack, right?

[00:21:34] So they're destroying outposts.

[00:21:35] The enterprise engages them.

[00:21:37] They're trying to get the enterprise to cross into the neutral zone.

[00:21:40] Yeah.

[00:21:40] That was, that was the question is the neutral zone.

[00:21:42] That feels like a thing from real life.

[00:21:45] In a way, in, in a way it is like conceptually.

[00:21:48] Yes.

[00:21:48] It's very much a real thing.

[00:21:49] Like all it is, it's just a buffer zone between two adversarial people.

[00:21:55] Oh yeah.

[00:21:55] Cause I was like, I'm pretty sure I like heard something in world war one where they had

[00:21:59] like neutral zones that if you crossed it, that was like a signal that you were going

[00:22:02] to like attack.

[00:22:03] And then it was, well, you're talking, you're talking about no man's land, which that wasn't

[00:22:06] so much a border.

[00:22:07] That was just, I mean, it was the space between the two lines.

[00:22:11] And if you were walking in no man's land, you would probably be killed immediately.

[00:22:16] Swiss cheese.

[00:22:17] Yeah.

[00:22:18] I mean, you're, you're not going to last very long in no man's land.

[00:22:21] Kirk surmises that the attacker is equipped with a cloaking device.

[00:22:24] Really?

[00:22:25] You think a ship disappears and he's like, ah, must have a cloaking device.

[00:22:29] Hey, you know what?

[00:22:30] He was doing a lot of good cap cap.

[00:22:32] He was, but I mean that moment, it was kind of like that moment was a very much.

[00:22:35] Thank you.

[00:22:36] Captain hindsight moment.

[00:22:37] My work here is done.

[00:22:38] I'm off to find others in need.

[00:22:41] God bless you.

[00:22:42] Captain Hart's heart.

[00:22:43] God bless you.

[00:22:44] Yeah.

[00:22:44] Well, I, so it's the implication that the Romulans are like more technologically advanced

[00:22:48] than the enterprise.

[00:22:50] So Star Trek does something with cloaking technology that I actually really like.

[00:22:54] It's not necessarily that it's more advanced per se because it has its drawbacks.

[00:22:59] I eat until I'm trying to remember what movie it is.

[00:23:02] Um, even because the Klingons get cloaking technology as well.

[00:23:06] But the thing is you can't fire your weapons if you're cloaked.

[00:23:09] It's Star Trek six, the undiscovered country.

[00:23:11] I believe when the Klingons figure out how to be able to, um, fire weapons while cloaked

[00:23:17] because cloaking technology requires a lot of energy or at least they say that in the,

[00:23:23] they say that in the show, which makes sense.

[00:23:25] In this episode.

[00:23:26] Yeah.

[00:23:26] They're like, Oh yeah, that's how, I mean, that ends up being the thing.

[00:23:30] Weakness.

[00:23:31] But, but I just, I did not, was there not a line of dialogue where they were like the,

[00:23:35] the, they seem to imply that the Romulans had higher or more advanced technology than

[00:23:39] them.

[00:23:40] Did I misread that?

[00:23:42] I don't know.

[00:23:44] Cause I know what you're talking about, but the thing of it is it's, it's pretty, nothing's

[00:23:49] ever like outright stated, but it's sort of implied as the episode goes on that the enterprise

[00:23:53] is larger, more maneuverable and better weapons.

[00:23:56] Say for that one, say for that one that the Romulans have, but it has its weakness because

[00:24:01] it requires a ton of energy.

[00:24:03] They have to decloak to use it.

[00:24:04] And the enterprise show that they can pretty much outrun it.

[00:24:07] Okay.

[00:24:08] Okay.

[00:24:08] Because it's because just, just to be clear by the end of this, the enterprise doesn't

[00:24:12] end up crossing into the neutral one.

[00:24:14] Right?

[00:24:14] They do not.

[00:24:15] Okay.

[00:24:16] Cause yeah.

[00:24:16] Cause I was like, they were hitting them from, from range.

[00:24:19] Right.

[00:24:19] And then the Romulans were sitting in.

[00:24:21] Okay.

[00:24:21] Okay.

[00:24:21] Well, the Romulans were so much happens at the end of that episode.

[00:24:24] The other thing, this episode does a really good job of doing that.

[00:24:27] They never outright say is making you understand how vast space is because they make it clear

[00:24:35] that they're actually quite far away from each other.

[00:24:37] It's just that their weapons have so much range.

[00:24:40] Cause they're not within visual range.

[00:24:41] They were in sensor range, you know?

[00:24:43] So they're, they're probably at the very least thousands of kilometers apart from each

[00:24:49] other at any given time.

[00:24:51] Um, that being said though, space is so huge.

[00:24:54] Like the Romulans are headed back to the neutral zone.

[00:24:56] And if you look at that map, right, where all the, the outposts are.

[00:25:00] Yeah.

[00:25:01] Those might be several thousands of kilometers away.

[00:25:05] Okay.

[00:25:05] Just refresh me.

[00:25:07] What, what, what, so is the, the, the, the, um, the neutral zone is in front of earth

[00:25:12] and between earth and Romulus?

[00:25:13] Is that where?

[00:25:14] Between, uh, Federation and Romulan space.

[00:25:18] Now, the map that Spock shows kind of implies that the planet Romulus is close to the neutral

[00:25:24] zone, but I, that's probably not true.

[00:25:27] Okay.

[00:25:29] Okay.

[00:25:29] Cause it's the Romulan star empire, which means they have more than one planet.

[00:25:34] They have, they have lots of planets in the empire.

[00:25:36] So wouldn't that be a, wouldn't that be a bitch if they're all named Romulus and nobody

[00:25:41] knows where like Romulus prime is.

[00:25:43] I feel like you can at least number a few of them at that point.

[00:25:46] Well, I mean, they kind of, they kind of do.

[00:25:48] I mean, that's, that's kind of how they do with star systems, but anyway, a coded message

[00:25:55] from the Romulan ship provides a view through one of the internal cameras, very convenient,

[00:25:59] revealing humanoids with the appearance like Vulcans.

[00:26:02] Lieutenant styles, the navigator whose family lost several members during the aforementioned

[00:26:08] earth Romulan war begins to question the loyalty of Spock.

[00:26:11] So just a lot more space racism or a space ism, if you will.

[00:26:16] Like I said earlier, I keep confusing Klingons and Romulans because I was not expecting them

[00:26:23] to look like Vulcans.

[00:26:24] So when they, I was like, Oh shoot, it looks like Vulcans.

[00:26:27] Well, and what's funny is in later series, they, they make a concerted effort to make

[00:26:31] Romulans Vulcan inspired, but still very different.

[00:26:34] Like they get not rich foreheads, but just like beefier foreheads.

[00:26:38] Yeah.

[00:26:39] Less, less to differentiate them from Vulcans, which I actually don't like that.

[00:26:43] I really wish they would have kept up the appearance because I think part of the fun of the Romulans

[00:26:47] is like, Oh, it's a Vulcan, but it's a, it's a feisty.

[00:26:50] But it's evil.

[00:26:51] I, I also, okay.

[00:26:52] With their, with their, uh, their wardrobe, the helmets.

[00:26:56] Couldn't with the fucking helmets.

[00:26:58] So that was, that was actually, that was actually just a cost cutting measure because

[00:27:03] apparently the Vulcan ears are very time since time consuming and expensive to put on.

[00:27:08] Oh, it's to hide the ears.

[00:27:10] Oh, it didn't even occur.

[00:27:11] Didn't even occur to me.

[00:27:13] Television network restrictions at the time forbade the tackling of any contentious subjects

[00:27:18] such as the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, or the rise of feminism.

[00:27:22] So Star Trek under the guise of science fiction, boldly clouded these rules, which is true.

[00:27:28] Star Trek often, you know, tackles things like racism and that, and more than a few times.

[00:27:33] Uh, this story, for example, openly deals with the subject of racism, uh, reflected through

[00:27:38] Stiles opposition to Spock, but it's okay because it's an alien.

[00:27:42] Yep.

[00:27:43] Makes it okay.

[00:27:44] So racism, so racism, NBC says no.

[00:27:49] Spacism.

[00:27:51] Uh, uh, just bomb them.

[00:27:54] Funny.

[00:27:56] Funny.

[00:27:57] You mentioned that it comes up later.

[00:28:01] Hey, Justin, what does Star Trek and Godzilla have in common?

[00:28:05] The atomic.

[00:28:06] Yeah.

[00:28:06] Yeah.

[00:28:07] That.

[00:28:07] Yeah.

[00:28:08] You're right.

[00:28:08] The atomic bomb.

[00:28:09] They're just like bomb them.

[00:28:11] Just bomb them.

[00:28:13] Bomb them.

[00:28:13] Bomb them with the atomic bomb.

[00:28:15] Obviously it took that.

[00:28:16] We were in space and they still had the atomic bomb.

[00:28:19] And they're considered old weapons.

[00:28:21] I would like to live in a time where a ship could survive an atomic blast.

[00:28:26] Although we need to get to lasers, but here's the thing though, that actually makes sense

[00:28:31] that a starship would be able to, because what is a new, a nuclear explosion is just

[00:28:34] a small sun at the end of the day, you know?

[00:28:39] So you, not even theoretically, a star ship would have to be able to sustain heavy amounts

[00:28:45] of radiation.

[00:28:46] So.

[00:28:47] Although I mean, it doesn't, considering they moved away from it though, it doesn't sound

[00:28:50] like it did all that well.

[00:28:51] Cause his, his tone suggests that it's something that they found regrettable or at least, at

[00:28:57] least that's a tone of voice suggested.

[00:28:59] Who said what was regrettable?

[00:29:00] Oh, no, I just, the, the, the Spock, when he's talking about, we used to use atomic

[00:29:04] weapons back then that the laser guns are preferable.

[00:29:08] Well, I think that goes back to, so, so for example, like this is, this is a very odd

[00:29:12] question, but it's like, what would you rather be shot with modern ammunition or ammunition

[00:29:16] from say, you know, the American revolution?

[00:29:20] Probably modern day.

[00:29:22] Yeah.

[00:29:22] I'm just saying that you're, you're not like you slowly bleed out a very painful death

[00:29:27] when you get shot by one of those guns.

[00:29:29] Or, or, you know, the, the lead ball just gets stuck in you and slowly kills you.

[00:29:35] Yeah.

[00:29:35] You get lead poisoning.

[00:29:37] Yeah.

[00:29:37] Or, you know, the, the, the little lead ball gets trapped in your leg and it gets gangrenous

[00:29:42] because we don't have, uh, we don't have antibiotics yet.

[00:29:45] And then assuming that the gun doesn't explode in your face.

[00:29:48] I mean, fair, fair, fair enough.

[00:29:51] Right.

[00:29:51] Although muskets weren't that unreliable by that time, but I mean, it, it would, it's

[00:29:56] something that could happen.

[00:29:57] Could happen.

[00:29:58] Mark Leonard plays the Romulan commander later in his career.

[00:30:02] He played the famed role of Spock's father, Sarek.

[00:30:06] He also plays.

[00:30:08] Yep.

[00:30:08] He plays Sarek.

[00:30:09] Yeah.

[00:30:10] He's very good.

[00:30:11] He also plays a Klingon in star Trek, the motion picture, making him the first actor

[00:30:16] to portray the three major alien races, Vulcan, Romulan and Klingon in the star Trek franchise.

[00:30:22] He would later go on to say that while he enjoyed playing Sarek, his favorite role, uh, was this Romulan commander.

[00:30:29] I can see it was, it's really like, it's really good.

[00:30:32] Several notes about him being like this.

[00:30:33] He's really, I mean, there's him and, uh, you brought his name up earlier, but the guy who's space racist.

[00:30:38] What's his name?

[00:30:39] Oh, um, his name is Lieutenant Stiles.

[00:30:44] Lieutenant Stiles.

[00:30:45] He's got a really, the sequence when they're all in the boardroom and he gets up and he had that big long monologue.

[00:30:50] Quite good.

[00:30:51] I was like, there's some, here's some good guest starring all around.

[00:30:54] Which you've come to love and expect from our beloved star Trek.

[00:30:58] Yeah.

[00:30:59] Yeah.

[00:30:59] Honestly.

[00:31:00] Yeah.

[00:31:01] I think like for me as, as a guy who considers himself a performer, it's like, yeah, that's

[00:31:06] kind of space I'd want to be at.

[00:31:07] You show up for like one, one week and you give it like your all.

[00:31:10] That's what these guys are doing.

[00:31:11] They're laying, laying it all out there.

[00:31:14] Well, and this was a time again where they were sitting with like, it was funny.

[00:31:17] There were three television networks, but there was a lot of work happening.

[00:31:20] Yeah.

[00:31:21] Yeah.

[00:31:22] And it's like, you're right.

[00:31:23] They, they're hiring those character actors who like want to, but, but yeah, because I mean,

[00:31:26] you'll, you'll work, you'll work on star Trek this week.

[00:31:30] And then you'll go do the Andy Griffith show.

[00:31:32] And then you'll do, I love Lucy.

[00:31:33] And then you'll do, I dream of Jeannie.

[00:31:35] Probably not Gilligan's Island.

[00:31:37] That was a fairly.

[00:31:37] I was going to say, I was to say maybe some Gilligan's Island.

[00:31:40] Cause that was the sixties.

[00:31:41] If they need a guy in a monkey suit, because there weren't that many other human.

[00:31:45] No, no, they need a guy to, they need a guy to, to show up on the island and then

[00:31:49] leave, leave the island at the end of the episode and leave the cast behind.

[00:31:53] Okay.

[00:31:53] That always reminds me.

[00:31:54] I can galaxy quest till it was like, you don't think Gilligan's Island.

[00:31:59] Oh, those poor people.

[00:32:07] I love, I love Gilligan's Island.

[00:32:09] Oh, I love Gilligan's Island.

[00:32:11] It's a lot of fun.

[00:32:11] My favorite Gilligan's Island joke is from the, I think it's the first movie where it's

[00:32:15] skipper being like, when I, when I, when we got trapped on that island skirts were down

[00:32:20] to here and then we came back and now they're up to here.

[00:32:24] And it was just such a, it was just such a, a spicy joke for the skipper to say.

[00:32:29] I've never forgotten it because I mean, I mean, realistically, I mean, Star Trek has some of the

[00:32:35] shortest skirts ever on television, which to be fair that I mean, they're wearing like.

[00:32:39] We saw, we saw, I don't want to be weird, but there is a point when, when a hur got up where I'm like that short, that's very short.

[00:32:45] Yeah.

[00:32:46] Yeah.

[00:32:46] No, I know exactly the moment you're talking about.

[00:32:49] That's the thing.

[00:32:49] And actually I think that unfortunately when Nichelle Nichols was sitting down, I think it

[00:32:54] kind of like folded out on the seam.

[00:32:57] So there was like, I can't believe that got past the sensor.

[00:33:00] That's what I'm surprised.

[00:33:01] I mean, that's, but I mean, that's, that's just it.

[00:33:03] I mean, there's something there.

[00:33:04] It's not like, it's more like a score than a skirt.

[00:33:07] Really?

[00:33:08] Yeah.

[00:33:09] Yeah.

[00:33:09] True.

[00:33:09] It's showing more leg, but in essence, like it's not showing anything terribly scandalous.

[00:33:13] I say that.

[00:33:14] And the fact that you can see her upper thigh was probably like, Oh my.

[00:33:18] That's the point where you can see her, where you can see her underwear.

[00:33:22] That's not her underwear though.

[00:33:23] That's her.

[00:33:23] Oh, it wasn't.

[00:33:24] It looked like underwear.

[00:33:25] I was like, has Devin looks like some underwear?

[00:33:26] No, no, no, no.

[00:33:27] That's, that's the bottom part of this.

[00:33:29] That's what I said.

[00:33:29] It's almost like, it's more like, it's more like a score really, but.

[00:33:33] Oh, okay.

[00:33:33] Okay.

[00:33:34] Okay.

[00:33:34] Fair enough.

[00:33:34] Fair enough.

[00:33:35] It's like a, it's like a bikini score.

[00:33:38] Gotcha.

[00:33:38] Fair enough.

[00:33:39] During a discussion of the Romulan ship's capabilities, styles suggest the enterprise

[00:33:43] attack before it can reach the neutral zone.

[00:33:47] Spock surprisingly agrees.

[00:33:48] He reasons that if the Romulans are in fact an offshoot of the Vulcan species, which I mean,

[00:33:54] really?

[00:33:56] Are we, are we doubting this at this point?

[00:33:58] Look, don't want to be space racist, man.

[00:34:01] I mean, but come on.

[00:34:03] Anyway.

[00:34:04] Yeah.

[00:34:05] They may have retained their martial philosophy of the Vulcan's ancient past.

[00:34:10] They would surely take advantage of any perceived weakness if this is the case.

[00:34:15] A cat and mouse game ensues.

[00:34:18] The enterprise is faster and more maneuverable while the Romulan ship has a cloaking device

[00:34:22] and immensely destructive plasma torpedoes.

[00:34:25] However, the range of these torpedoes is limited and firing one requires so much power

[00:34:31] that the ship must de-cloak first.

[00:34:33] Uh, this is the only time in which a ship's weaponry is fired through a chain of commands

[00:34:38] being the enterprise, which I thought was odd.

[00:34:41] And then I was like, I don't remember them having to go through all these steps.

[00:34:44] Like normally they just push the button on the console on the phasers fire.

[00:34:49] Push the, push the button and make it go poo poo.

[00:34:52] Although the core of the episode, the Corbamite maneuver, which we talked about earlier comes

[00:34:56] close to this with Bailey's phaser drills.

[00:34:58] This gives the episode more of a submarine versus destroyer feel, which they were.

[00:35:04] So my next note is the first vibe I got of this was I'm like, oh, this is an allegory

[00:35:09] of the human missile crisis.

[00:35:10] Um, there's a more direct reference than that though.

[00:35:13] It's actually, it's basically just a retelling in space of the movie, the enemy below against

[00:35:18] a U S destroyer and a German U boat.

[00:35:21] I didn't notice there was a lot more naval coding this episode.

[00:35:24] Like there's a lot of naval coding of this.

[00:35:26] Yeah.

[00:35:26] This feels like a naval shit.

[00:35:28] Um, but, uh, I just, I just, my notes are the stakes just got fucking high.

[00:35:34] It's a tense episode.

[00:35:36] It really is high stakes in this.

[00:35:38] Well, and it's, I seriously, that's, this episode's really good.

[00:35:41] Is this a bottle episode?

[00:35:44] Yes.

[00:35:45] It is a bottle episode, right?

[00:35:47] Yeah.

[00:35:47] Everything.

[00:35:47] Everything takes place aboard the enterprise.

[00:35:50] Um, I like the fact.

[00:35:52] I thought, I just, cause I thought maybe it wasn't cause we do see the, the, um, Romulan

[00:35:56] ship.

[00:35:57] That's right.

[00:36:00] Um, I think the, okay.

[00:36:02] I think at that point you're, you'd have to get nitpicky.

[00:36:04] Um, yeah, but I, I, I, I, I'm concerned it felt like a bottle.

[00:36:07] It was a really good bottle episode.

[00:36:11] I'm going to say it's a bottle episode because everything that happens with our main cast

[00:36:14] takes place in the enterprise.

[00:36:15] But I like the fact that in the captain's log though, Kirk mentions that they've been,

[00:36:19] you know, basically waiting on high alert and tense for over nine hours.

[00:36:24] Yeah, man.

[00:36:25] That made me feel, I was like, Whoa, like nine hours is a lot of time to just be sitting

[00:36:29] there waiting on edge.

[00:36:31] Like there was a previous episode where they had to sit, sit somewhere.

[00:36:34] And I don't know if they said the duration of how long it had been, but when you're like

[00:36:38] it's eight hours of just waiting, it's like the most agonizing feeling.

[00:36:42] It definitely added to the atmosphere.

[00:36:44] But waiting with the possibility of death.

[00:36:47] Yeah.

[00:36:47] Not knowing if like, not, not even know that I guess they do know what it looks like,

[00:36:51] but not knowing necessarily like what they're going up against.

[00:36:54] Well, okay.

[00:36:55] Okay.

[00:36:55] The possibility of death starting a war or maybe, maybe winning, you know, it's

[00:37:03] that's nearly avoiding an international incident, but in space intergalactic incident, intergalactic

[00:37:11] incident.

[00:37:12] Oh, this is my question is when the Romulans fired the plasma torpedo and the enterprise

[00:37:17] like those maximum warp in reverse.

[00:37:19] I'm like, why, why didn't you just turn the ship to the side?

[00:37:23] Move to the side.

[00:37:24] Dodge!

[00:37:25] Why don't you just dodge?

[00:37:27] Dodge!

[00:37:28] Why didn't you dodge?

[00:37:33] But the spaceship equivalent to it.

[00:37:36] I mean, I'm just, I'm sorry.

[00:37:41] Maybe, maybe he was looking to play chicken and like, try to figure out their weakness,

[00:37:47] but I got nothing.

[00:37:50] I got nothing.

[00:37:51] Mr. Miyagi, no B there.

[00:37:53] You know, like, I mean, I get, you'd have to go in reverse, but like, you can reverse

[00:37:58] and go off to an angle.

[00:38:00] It makes me think of like, anytime you play a game with the pirate ship, you're like, I'm

[00:38:03] going to get you as soon as I make the big long circle to come back around.

[00:38:06] I'm going to, I'm going to get you.

[00:38:08] Which fair enough.

[00:38:09] They may not be able to do that while they're at warp and they would need the speed to outrun

[00:38:12] the torpedo.

[00:38:13] That is true.

[00:38:15] Yeah.

[00:38:15] I'm going to go with that.

[00:38:17] I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to explain my way.

[00:38:19] I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it was good tactics.

[00:38:24] Attaboy Kirk.

[00:38:25] Kirk.

[00:38:25] After several attacks, the Romulans plant a nuclear weapon amidst jettisoned debris.

[00:38:30] When Spock detects a metal cased object, Kirk orders a point blank phaser shot that detonates

[00:38:36] the device.

[00:38:37] The Enterprise is shaken by the blast and many of the phaser crews are incapacitated, requiring

[00:38:42] Stiles to fill in down there.

[00:38:44] Which kudos to Stiles because he's obviously not, he's obviously a little spacist, but at

[00:38:50] the same time when they're like, when, when, when some of the people in the phaser batteries

[00:38:56] are knocked out of commission, his immediate training is like, that's where I was first.

[00:39:01] Yeah.

[00:39:01] And he's like, go, you know, Hey man, he just, because he's got his little spaces doesn't

[00:39:07] mean he can't be professional.

[00:39:08] Listen, listen, he was, you know, he lived in a different time.

[00:39:12] Is it, it was the 1960s, uh, idyllic space future.

[00:39:16] It was, it was the 22 sixties, man.

[00:39:18] I mean, to be fair, nobody had ever seen a Romulan before.

[00:39:21] I mean, that would shock anyone.

[00:39:23] I mean, how was he supposed to know?

[00:39:25] Right.

[00:39:25] They just, they just saw them and they looked like Vulcan.

[00:39:27] They were like, I knew my bad feelings about Vulcans were validated.

[00:39:31] Yeah.

[00:39:31] It's, I mean, it's kind of, it's kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[00:39:35] I mean, it's like, if you get mugged by a Romulan, you know, you're like, I knew

[00:39:40] I knew by Romulan.

[00:39:41] Yeah.

[00:39:42] I knew they were all alike is what he said to himself.

[00:39:45] Also.

[00:39:45] I do have to call into question, like Spock makes it pretty clear that this is obviously

[00:39:49] a trick because there's not enough debris to be an entire ship.

[00:39:52] But then when something metal comes around, Kirk's just like, shoot it.

[00:39:56] Just shoot it.

[00:39:57] Just to be safe.

[00:39:59] I mean, I assume maybe there are some go.

[00:40:01] I'm really, I'm really going to bat for Kirk in this episode.

[00:40:03] Maybe they're assuming it's some kind of like torpedo that's eventually going to detonate.

[00:40:08] So they want to shoot it prior.

[00:40:11] Maybe.

[00:40:12] I just, I just, I'm again, ships do this thing called moving and they can, they can go around

[00:40:18] things.

[00:40:18] I'm pretty sure the enterprise is a fairly maneuverable ship.

[00:40:21] I mean, it, it seems, and certainly at the, at the capable hands of Sulu as the helmsman.

[00:40:26] I mean, provided he remembers to take the, turn the parking brake off.

[00:40:29] Here is the parking brake on.

[00:40:35] Ready for warp, sir.

[00:40:37] Let's punch it.

[00:40:38] Did you notice the very, very similar scene with Kirk and bones that we saw in the, to

[00:40:43] what we saw in the cage with Pike and his ship's doctor?

[00:40:45] Kind of.

[00:40:46] Yeah.

[00:40:47] I was just like, wait, when he said that there's, I can't remember what the number was for how

[00:40:51] many planets that were like earth.

[00:40:53] I'm like, is that accurate for the time?

[00:40:56] Like, is that how many planets they believed that is that like, is that, is that true?

[00:41:00] Well, I remember he said it was, but I was like, that true.

[00:41:04] I mean, mathematically it's probably likely because the case future.

[00:41:09] Yes.

[00:41:09] No, no, no.

[00:41:10] Because the case I always make for aliens and it's important to note that Star Trek,

[00:41:13] everything that happens in Star Trek takes place in the Milky Way galaxy.

[00:41:17] Oh, okay.

[00:41:18] Okay.

[00:41:19] I didn't know that.

[00:41:19] Okay.

[00:41:21] So everything in Star Trek takes place in the same galaxy, our galaxy.

[00:41:26] Now here's the thing in our own galaxy.

[00:41:28] I can't even remember how many, okay, hang on.

[00:41:30] I'm going to do some.

[00:41:31] Wait, wait, wait, before you do that, does that mean?

[00:41:33] We theoretically could have a Star Trek, Star Wars crossover because Star Wars takes place

[00:41:38] in a galaxy far, far away, not our galaxy.

[00:41:42] Probably not.

[00:41:45] It's not because, because also a long time ago and Star Trek is a long way in the future.

[00:41:49] Oh, right.

[00:41:51] Valid point.

[00:41:52] Dang it.

[00:41:52] Devastating.

[00:41:53] So I'm looking up how many stars are in the Milky Way.

[00:41:56] The Milky Way has anywhere between 100 billion to 400 billion stars.

[00:42:02] Let's just assume for a moment that every million stars.

[00:42:09] So one out of every million stars has planets, right?

[00:42:12] That's still just an insane number.

[00:42:16] Yeah.

[00:42:16] You know, that's, that's just, that's an insanely massive number.

[00:42:20] I always argue the case for mathematically, like you said, for aliens.

[00:42:24] Now keep that in mind.

[00:42:26] So 100 billion to 400 billion stars in the observable universe, meaning the universe that

[00:42:33] we can measure, which we have not reached the end.

[00:42:35] There are 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.

[00:42:41] Yeah.

[00:42:42] Now just extrapolate that mathematically.

[00:42:44] Like it's a virtual impossibility to say that planet Earth is the only planet that has

[00:42:51] life.

[00:42:51] Right?

[00:42:52] I mean, it's, it's just, it's mathematically laughable to suggest that.

[00:42:58] Well, and then consider how much life is on this planet, just this planet.

[00:43:03] Right.

[00:43:04] I mean, come on math, mathematically, and we can't be the only, because again, mathematically,

[00:43:10] we can't be the only species that's capable of space travel.

[00:43:12] Now, again, they may not be to the point where they can travel across the galaxy, because

[00:43:16] that would still take, you know, thousands, hundreds of thousands of years to do.

[00:43:21] But as technology gets there, relativity is still a bitch, but.

[00:43:26] Exactly.

[00:43:26] Who's to say that they're not like us, and they can only get to their moon?

[00:43:29] Or maybe, maybe we'll be the species that makes first contact with our real world counterparts

[00:43:36] of the Vulcans.

[00:43:37] Maybe we'll be first.

[00:43:38] Maybe.

[00:43:38] Maybe we're the, maybe we're the Vulcans just in our early warlike period.

[00:43:43] Maybe, maybe we'll have the replicator technology.

[00:43:46] I do.

[00:43:47] We can give it to the irresponsible teenage girl.

[00:43:49] I don't.

[00:43:50] I do believe, honestly, that if that ever, I mean, and Star Trek makes this clear that

[00:43:54] technology changes the planet.

[00:43:56] Yeah.

[00:43:57] Yeah.

[00:43:58] Well, I like, that's one thing I like about the Orville where they're like, yeah, but

[00:44:01] you have to reach a certain level societally before you're like, ready for it.

[00:44:06] You have to be ready for it.

[00:44:07] Well, that's the whole point of Star Trek first contact.

[00:44:10] The Vulcans are observing the planet, but once a human is capable of warp speed, that's

[00:44:15] their, that's their indication.

[00:44:18] They're ready.

[00:44:19] They're ready to know about space.

[00:44:21] Yep.

[00:44:21] And they're ready to get there.

[00:44:23] And Enterprise, Star Trek Enterprise really digs into that whole thing about how the Vulcans

[00:44:28] actually purposefully hold Earth back on purpose to be like, no, you need to crawl before

[00:44:34] you, you, you're not even walking yet.

[00:44:37] You need to crawl before you run.

[00:44:39] Interesting.

[00:44:40] Yeah.

[00:44:41] And, and some people like Captain Archer resent the Vulcans for it.

[00:44:44] And the Vulcans are not super great people in Star Trek Enterprise.

[00:44:48] And I, I really liked that.

[00:44:50] I really liked that.

[00:44:51] It's a, it's a, it's an interesting change in dynamic.

[00:44:54] Interesting.

[00:44:55] I'm excited to get to that.

[00:44:57] But I actually prefer Pike's scene with his doctor in the cage to this one.

[00:45:02] Interesting.

[00:45:03] It's, it's a nice moment, but I just feel like I, so, okay, here's the difference.

[00:45:06] Pike's scene feels like genuine exhaustion to me.

[00:45:09] Kirk seems like he's kind of complaining.

[00:45:11] Yeah.

[00:45:12] I mean, I just, I, you know, me and my film, my cinematography, I really liked some of the

[00:45:17] closeups on, on bones, but after Kirk leaves where he's like, he's really having to like,

[00:45:21] take a moment to collect himself.

[00:45:22] I really quite liked that.

[00:45:24] I don't know.

[00:45:24] The cinematography was better for sure, but I just mean the feel of the scene.

[00:45:28] Oh, fair.

[00:45:29] Yeah.

[00:45:29] Fair enough.

[00:45:30] Yeah.

[00:45:31] Fair enough.

[00:45:32] I mean, and I think bones better.

[00:45:34] So maybe I'll, maybe it made me like willfully ignorant.

[00:45:36] Yeah.

[00:45:37] But also I, and I also might feel that way because I saw the cage first.

[00:45:42] Fair.

[00:45:42] I mean, that's fair.

[00:45:44] And then also having another, just a Janice.

[00:45:47] Unfortunately, this is her final appearance in the series as in air order.

[00:45:51] Grace Lee Whitney will not be seen in Star Trek again until Star Trek, the motion picture.

[00:45:57] She was surprisingly involved in this episode, but I, every, I know she's in this, she's

[00:46:01] in it.

[00:46:01] I'm like, Oh, I thought, I thought you said she left.

[00:46:03] So this is like the final, final time.

[00:46:05] Okay.

[00:46:06] This is it.

[00:46:07] I actually kind of thought about like, not dedicating to, but just, I wanted to give attention

[00:46:13] to Grace Lee Whitney because as, as we have come to learn during the Star Trek watch along,

[00:46:19] um, created pretty shitty.

[00:46:22] Yeah, man.

[00:46:23] She should be a more respected part of this franchise, man.

[00:46:27] She was supposed to be, and then, you know, things happen.

[00:46:32] That sounds dismissive.

[00:46:33] I'm just trying, I'm just trying, I'm just trying not to say the word.

[00:46:36] I'm just trying not to say the word.

[00:46:39] Yeah, she was.

[00:46:39] She was.

[00:46:40] I'm not making light of it.

[00:46:41] It was bullshit.

[00:46:43] The whole thing was bullshit.

[00:46:44] Yeah.

[00:46:44] And just her character gets bullied so bad by these writers.

[00:46:48] Her character gets victimized, victimized so much on this show.

[00:46:51] Like she could have sued Starfleet.

[00:46:54] She could have sued Starfleet hard if Earth hadn't abolished all lawyers.

[00:46:58] Right?

[00:46:59] I mean, it's the 1960s.

[00:47:00] It's unsurprising that women are getting victimized.

[00:47:03] I'm just saying there's more than one woman on that cast.

[00:47:07] This is true.

[00:47:08] She seems to get victimized a lot.

[00:47:09] Maybe that's why she hangs around with Sulu.

[00:47:11] It was the one person who never victimized her.

[00:47:14] And she never knew why.

[00:47:15] Kirk orders operations to work at minimal power to exaggerate the apparent damage and lure the Romulans in for the kill shot.

[00:47:23] Although the Romulan commander suspects Kirk's trap, a politically well-connected member of the command crew pressures him to attack.

[00:47:31] When the Romulan ship decloaks to launch a torpedo, Kirk tries to spring his trap.

[00:47:36] But a coolant leak in the phaser control room incapacitates Stiles and Tomlinson.

[00:47:42] Spock returns to rescue Stiles and fires the phasers, mortally wounding the Romulan ship.

[00:47:49] I really, it's like you said, I really enjoyed the cat and mouse game.

[00:47:52] I really enjoyed the fact that these two commanders, these two commanders realize that they're both very good and they respect each other.

[00:47:59] Right?

[00:48:00] And there's a, yeah.

[00:48:01] And Kirk's like, I wouldn't have fought.

[00:48:03] I wouldn't fall for that.

[00:48:05] Game recognized game, son.

[00:48:06] Yeah.

[00:48:07] This happens a lot.

[00:48:08] And this happens a lot throughout history too.

[00:48:11] Like different commanders will often have like this odd, even though they're against each other, they, they develop this odd spirit of camaraderie in a way where it's like, they want to beat the other person, but at the same time they respect them.

[00:48:23] Yeah.

[00:48:24] Yeah.

[00:48:24] You know, what's interesting is when they connect, like if, if both of these people survive and they connect after the war, it is, I think the Romulan commander even says that like in another life under different circumstances, I may have called you friend, which I think that's a direct, that's a sentiment that was very much felt by a lot of people during the second world war, particularly in Europe, not so much in the Pacific, but it was just like, you know, it's like under different circumstances, we probably would have been friends.

[00:48:48] Yeah.

[00:48:49] Oh yeah.

[00:48:49] So I think it's an interesting thing.

[00:48:52] And you know what else is interesting, Justin?

[00:48:54] With that.

[00:48:55] This sponsor.

[00:48:58] For San records is proud to introduce the newest album from Valena, including the singles cut me to the quick and remedy Valena save me from myself available now, wherever you get your music.

[00:49:53] Kirk hails the Romulans and at last communicates directly with his opponent, offering to beam aboard the survivors.

[00:50:03] The Romulan commander tells Kirk that he regrets having met him in combat that quote, you and I are of a kind and a different reality.

[00:50:13] I could have called you friend.

[00:50:15] It's a great line.

[00:50:17] Yeah.

[00:50:17] And, and it's delivered so well.

[00:50:20] I mean, you feel that.

[00:50:21] Yeah.

[00:50:22] Oh yeah.

[00:50:23] When he was like, we looked right in the camera, went nah dog.

[00:50:26] I felt it.

[00:50:27] Speaking of not.

[00:50:28] Oh my God.

[00:50:29] I don't know why I left it.

[00:50:30] So I'm, I'm still in the middle.

[00:50:31] I'm almost done with it, but I'm watching the Joe Rogan experience with Elon Musk, which as the time we recorded this, I'd only come out a couple of days ago.

[00:50:37] And Elon, for some reason is really picked up, started using the word yo.

[00:50:42] Yeah.

[00:50:42] I do it ironically because I think it sounds funny.

[00:50:45] Yeah, no, he's not doing it ironically.

[00:50:47] Oh no.

[00:50:49] And it's very off putting to hear someone like Elon Musk, like dropping yo left and right.

[00:50:54] Of course it is.

[00:50:56] It's a odd man.

[00:50:58] He's funny though.

[00:50:59] I'll give him that.

[00:51:00] He's funny.

[00:51:00] The Romulan commander declines Kirk's offer to beam his surviving crew off of the ship.

[00:51:06] He tells Captain Kirk that it is not the Romulan way to be taken prisoner.

[00:51:10] The commander then triggers the ship's self-destruct system.

[00:51:14] The Enterprise's only fatality is Lieutenant Tomlinson, the man who was to be married at the beginning of the episode.

[00:51:21] That was really sad.

[00:51:25] Was it a red shirt?

[00:51:26] Was it?

[00:51:27] No, it also happens off screen.

[00:51:29] So.

[00:51:30] It does.

[00:51:30] But I mean, I was sort of, because there's that earlier line, it's that earlier moment where he's trying to fire the phasers, where she's like, I, you're, you're not off my hook.

[00:51:39] And I was like, that's what she said.

[00:51:41] But then they were kind of a cute couple.

[00:51:42] So I was like a little invested in there.

[00:51:44] I was hoping for a happy ending where we got to see him get married.

[00:51:47] So that was, it was a little sad.

[00:51:48] Kirk goes to the chapel to offer comfort to a grieving Ensign Martine, who apparently is in the arms of another man in the next episode.

[00:51:57] Okay.

[00:51:57] Okay.

[00:51:58] So just some, what's with the music in that scene?

[00:52:01] It was like, it was, it was like three steps away from like, and then it was like, was Kirk, is Kirk attempting to like console for people who listen to this show?

[00:52:12] I'm doing air quotes, console her.

[00:52:16] Cause like, she's like, I'm fine.

[00:52:18] And then the episode ends with him, like being like, all right then.

[00:52:21] And just like confidently walking like into towards the camera being like, I wasn't just rejected.

[00:52:27] I am a desirable man.

[00:52:30] I don't know that he was trying to pick her up necessarily, but yeah.

[00:52:32] Okay.

[00:52:33] Yeah.

[00:52:33] To be fair.

[00:52:34] I don't give that vibe.

[00:52:36] Kind of.

[00:52:36] We know how Kirk is with women.

[00:52:38] So, I mean, it's, it's a thing.

[00:52:41] Don't, don't worry.

[00:52:42] We can be married for an evening.

[00:52:46] I'm a ship's captain after all.

[00:52:51] I think it was the music that made me go.

[00:52:53] This music feels oddly romantic.

[00:52:55] I don't, I don't know what's the deal with the music.

[00:52:58] I think that's what it was.

[00:52:59] Yeah.

[00:52:59] It did feel oddly romantic.

[00:53:01] Um, but so just some fun facts.

[00:53:03] Cause that, that's the end of the episode proper.

[00:53:05] The rarely seen command work utility jumpsuit.

[00:53:08] So the gold one is worn by several crew members in this episode.

[00:53:11] And I noticed it immediately.

[00:53:13] Cause I thought, why is there like a, why is there like a gold jumpsuit?

[00:53:18] Cause gold is the color of command.

[00:53:19] So this suggests that these people are in the command program, which would mean theoretically, at least that they're officers.

[00:53:26] It, it don't make it a sense.

[00:53:28] It just needed background characters.

[00:53:30] And they're like, but on a costume.

[00:53:32] I, I suppose the Romulan empire is noticeably modeled after the Roman empire, which is the main reason I call them fascists.

[00:53:39] The terms centurion and Praetor are borrowed from ancient Rome.

[00:53:43] The only named Romulan in the story introduced himself as Decius, which is a Latin name used in ancient Rome.

[00:53:51] Uh, despite the heavy Roman theme, however, he's the only Romulan character to have a Latin or Roman name until Star Trek 2009 with the Romulan character Nero.

[00:54:00] Oh, interesting.

[00:54:02] Yeah.

[00:54:02] They were very Roman coded.

[00:54:04] Like their uniforms were so they like, it looked like, like, very Toga.

[00:54:11] Very Toga.

[00:54:12] That's the word.

[00:54:12] I mean, it makes sense with the name, like Romulus.

[00:54:15] That's a logical naming, naming scheme.

[00:54:17] It makes sense.

[00:54:18] I mean, yeah.

[00:54:19] Well, I mean, Vulcan too.

[00:54:20] Vulcan has its origins and you know, which I, that's one thing that I kind of disliked about.

[00:54:26] Now, Star Trek does this thing that's kind of annoying where things that are very, very earth, like, oh, I don't know, an ancient culture in the Mediterranean.

[00:54:36] Yeah.

[00:54:37] Somehow, somehow finds its way in space centuries before it happens on earth.

[00:54:42] You know, perhaps that coincidentally, are they similar?

[00:54:49] I got nothing.

[00:54:49] Oh, wait until, wait until the United States Constitution gets found on an alien planet.

[00:54:54] I'm not kidding.

[00:54:56] That is not a hyperbolic joke.

[00:54:58] That is a thing that happens.

[00:55:00] I got nothing.

[00:55:01] I got nothing.

[00:55:02] Anachronisms.

[00:55:03] That's what we call them.

[00:55:04] Oh, there's a lot of spaceism in that episode.

[00:55:07] This episode is the basis of a Star Trek Strange New Worlds alternative version episode called Equality of Mercy, which apparently this is a similar situation where Pike essentially fucks it up.

[00:55:19] And Kirk saves the day.

[00:55:22] Huh.

[00:55:23] Interesting.

[00:55:24] Our red shirt tally remains at two.

[00:55:27] Only that guy thrown on a red shirt.

[00:55:30] Yeah, exactly.

[00:55:32] Even like my wedding shirt is red.

[00:55:35] Could have gotten a wardrobe change.

[00:55:36] That's all I'm saying.

[00:55:37] And now we come to what would normally be the what did we fuck up segment.

[00:55:42] This isn't so much a fuck up as something that an editor Jake addressed it in the previous episode, but I promise to go more in depth.

[00:55:49] Or not the previous episode.

[00:55:51] Sorry.

[00:55:51] But an earlier episode.

[00:55:53] I forgot because we record these in advance.

[00:55:56] And that is, I think, then either the newest one or the new second.

[00:56:01] Kirk is very bad with kids.

[00:56:03] Yes, that was the as of as of recording the most recent episode to be on.

[00:56:08] Correct.

[00:56:09] So if you're like me, you went to IMDB and you became confused because you looked up X-Men the animated series and you probably saw the name Allison Seely Smith.

[00:56:20] OK, yeah, there's a story here.

[00:56:22] So in the first season of X-Men, the animated series, American actress Iona Morris provided the voice of Storm.

[00:56:29] Now, she was actually the second actress to be cast as Storm at funny that we bring up space racism.

[00:56:36] The first actress whose name I honestly can't remember was a white actress.

[00:56:41] And once Fox realized how big this was going to be, they thought we should probably get someone of African-American descent to voice this character, considering that Aurora Monroe is actually from Africa.

[00:56:58] And she probably should.

[00:57:00] And she is black.

[00:57:01] This seems like a good idea.

[00:57:02] However, with the premiere of season two, the role was recast and given to Canadian actress Allison Seely Smith.

[00:57:09] The reason for the change, this is so shitty.

[00:57:12] The reason for the change was that most of the X-Men cast was comprised of Canadian actors who contractually did not receive residuals for reruns.

[00:57:20] Iona Morris, however, was American and by union rules was entitled to receive royalties for repeat episodes.

[00:57:27] So the producers not only recast the role with Seely Smith, but actually had Smith rerecord Storm's lines for season one for the reruns and home video releases.

[00:57:39] Oh, that is shitty.

[00:57:40] Yeah.

[00:57:40] Allison Seely Smith returned to voice Storm in X-Men 97.

[00:57:44] Well, any other thoughts on the episode Balance of Terror?

[00:57:47] I guess that was really good.

[00:57:48] It was really good.

[00:57:50] I guess I've got several times in my notes where I'm like, man, the stakes just got high.

[00:57:56] Like this kept raising the stakes in a way that was like, this is compelling.

[00:58:00] I was a little disappointed with how bow wrapped up in a bow button.

[00:58:04] The ending was, oh, the guy's dead.

[00:58:08] And I don't know.

[00:58:09] I kind of wish they had captured him or like they had had to violate the neutral zone.

[00:58:14] Just the fact that like they didn't have to end up violating the neutral zone and the guy died at the end.

[00:58:19] And there wasn't any like larger escalation of the conflict.

[00:58:23] I would have.

[00:58:24] They're clearly the main bad guys.

[00:58:25] I want to see him come back now.

[00:58:27] I would have actually liked a scenario where, you know, like both of the ships are not necessarily disabled, but to the point where like if they know that if they continue fighting, it's anybody's game.

[00:58:39] So the commanders being the commanders being wise kind of have.

[00:58:44] I think it would have been very interesting for them to have a private conversation and basically be like, listen, captain to captain.

[00:58:54] If we continue this one or both of us is going to die.

[00:58:58] Listen, we fucked up.

[00:59:02] We know you don't want to start a war.

[00:59:04] So how's it about?

[00:59:06] How about we just talk this out like a couple of bros?

[00:59:09] Well, OK, I take that back because apparently that's what Pike does in the Strange New Worlds episode and it almost gets them killed and almost starts a war.

[00:59:17] So, you know what?

[00:59:18] Never mind.

[00:59:19] I wanted to see like, OK, these are clearly like this is clearly like the antagonist of the show.

[00:59:24] I want that to be like, OK, and now the stakes are high and we're going to worry about five Romulans now or whatever.

[00:59:32] Like this kind of just wrapped up.

[00:59:34] OK, the truce is still on.

[00:59:35] We're all still cool.

[00:59:37] It kind of gave me that.

[00:59:38] And I was like, ah, for an episode that was so tense, it just kind of was like for me a little bit.

[00:59:43] Well, so you'll be pleased to know that it's not a Romulan, but they sort of do that sort of start out as enemies become begrudging friends by the end with a character.

[00:59:54] The name is Shran played by the very talented Jeffrey Combs, who plays an Andorian in Star Trek Enterprise, who starts out as an actual antagonist.

[01:00:03] And then he comes back period periodically in the series and they eventually become allies and he becomes instrumental in the formation of the Federation as a representative of the Andorian people.

[01:00:14] And it's actually quite something that that to me is more interesting.

[01:00:19] I don't know. I don't know.

[01:00:20] But again, I like the introduction of a solid like these were the first time I'm like, oh, these are the bad guy.

[01:00:27] There's no moral moral wiggle room here.

[01:00:29] They're the bad guys.

[01:00:31] Mm hmm. Yeah.

[01:00:32] No, they did.

[01:00:33] They did great.

[01:00:34] I loved it. It was it was very, very, very good.

[01:00:37] And it was so funny because when I originally watched the episode, I actually fell asleep, not because the episode is boring.

[01:00:42] I was just exhausted.

[01:00:44] And then I was like, no, I have to I have to rewatch it.

[01:00:47] And upon rewatching it, I was like, I don't know how I fell asleep.

[01:00:50] I must have been really tired.

[01:00:51] I also I see what you meant last week when you were like, you're kind of right to a point.

[01:00:55] And then you were very wrong because of like, you know what?

[01:00:57] They weren't teetering on a stressful situation.

[01:00:59] The high tent situation.

[01:01:02] Very much so.

[01:01:03] Well, join us next time on the final frontier when we take a look at the episode.

[01:01:08] And sure leave.

[01:01:11] Oh, sure leave.

[01:01:12] I mean, what?

[01:01:13] What does that connotate?

[01:01:14] If not Kirk and the crew, they're supposed to be on break.

[01:01:18] But while they're on break, something dramatic happens.

[01:01:21] Maybe the ship gets attacked or like while on shore leave, there's a big mystery.

[01:01:27] Like we'll find out next week.

[01:01:30] I guess.

[01:01:33] So remember, live long and prosper.

[01:01:37] And bring Scooby snacks.

[01:01:45] The interesting thing about this episode is that's sort of the theme is things come out of nowhere, but some seem to really come out of nowhere.

[01:01:52] Yeah, he calls it an ancient weapon.

[01:01:53] So yeah, there's no way Kirk knew to put the safety on.

[01:01:55] Way too long.

[01:01:56] Kind of like that Finnegan fight.

[01:01:57] There were a lot at the edge of the level.

[01:01:57] Thank you.

[01:01:58] Bye.

[01:01:58] Bye.

[01:01:58] Bye.

[01:01:58] Bye.