Catspaw (TOS - S2E07)

[Hailing Frequencies Open]

It’s just a jump to the left… and somehow Star Trek wandered straight into a low-budget Rocky Horror fever dream. This week on Treks and Tangents, Brian and Jaci explore Catspaw, an episode packed with black cats, haunted castles, mysterious aliens, and enough Halloween decorations to make Frank-N-Furter feel right at home. Brian makes his case that Korob and Sylvia are basically the galaxy’s discount Riff Raff and Magenta, while Jaci tries to figure out why every spooky prop in the universe ended up on one random planet.

Join us as we discuss magical amplifiers, giant cats, suspiciously sexy pillow-talk interrogations, and whether Sylvia got drunk on human emotions faster than a first-time Rocky Horror audience member with a bag of props. It’s spooky, it’s campy, it’s a little ridiculous... and honestly, that’s just the way we like our Star Trek.

[End Transmission]

Transcript

Intro/Turbolift Tease Recap

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Alien Frequencies Open and welcome aboard Treks and Tangents. I'm your co-host Brian.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

And I'm your co-host Jackie. I'm the Star Trek Newbie for Trek Gop on Tangent.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

And I'm your Star Trek expert who is here to get the Tangents back on track.

SPEAKER_04 0:23

Each episode we watch and talk about a different Star Trek episode, and this week we watched Star Trek, the original series, season two, episode seven, Cat's Paw.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Welcome back for another episode, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Don't forget to stick around till the end of the episode where we'll reveal our bonus Star Note episode topic, where we'll post over on Patreon a deeper dive into a topic about this episode. And our infographic. And the infographic on our rankings. But besides all that, before we get too far into it, let's quickly get out of the way, revisiting last week's TurboLift Tees, where at the end of last week's episode I gave Jackie the title to this week's episode, and Jackie, without any other context, tried to guess or predict what she thought this week's plot was going to be.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

How about we skip that?

SPEAKER_02 1:15

So, computer, what was Jackie's prediction last week?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Jackie's prediction last week was the Enterprise encounters a cult on one of their expeditions, and even though they were going to be helping, you know, giving aid to someone else on that same planet, they learned about this cult, and now they are trying to help the cult members know that they are being ordered around, and then finally we are able to get them the change their minds, and we get them to safety at the other part of the planet that they were just helping.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

So, Jackie, how accurate do you think your prediction was?

SPEAKER_04 1:50

I mean, cult and cat both start with C.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Yes. They do both start with C.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

See, I win, and then they had three followers.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

They did have at the end, by the end, three followers. Kind of.

SPEAKER_04 2:04

I tried.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:05

This is very hard when these these names are like donkey. Huh?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Yes, tune in next week for the episode entitled Donkey. Donkeys in Space.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

But I did look up the word cat's paw and I learned a lot.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah, well used the dictionary a lot during this episode. Thanks, Spock. Okay.

Initial Impressions

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Well, let's let's jump into our initial thoughts. Why don't you see it's in your notes, why don't you explain what a cat's paw is?

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Alright. It is it means to dupe an un or an unwitting tool of another derived from Jean De La Fontaine's fable, The Monkey and the Cat. So basically it's like a like a dangler.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Yeah. It's to use someone as bait, and the other person that's being used as bait doesn't realize that they are being used as bait, or they're not cooperating in being the bait. Like fishing. Like allure. Yes. Yes. So that's what cat's paw means.

SPEAKER_04 3:09

It makes no sense.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

It has a very loose interpretation or application in this episode.

SPEAKER_04 3:14

Perhaps if they put the hyphen in the title, I would have gotten it better. Sure. It was just one word.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

But what did you think about this week's episode?

SPEAKER_04 3:24

It was intriguing. I liked how they threw in like things that we we as in the general public know, like Halloween themes. I have no idea when it came out. But like black cats, castles, ghouls, witches, but they were all in the wrong context. And it reminded me a lot about the Lord of Gothos.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

The Squire of Goth. Squire, yes. Squire of Gothos. Sure. I I didn't read anywhere that it's the same set, but it it is very similar. It's a castle in the middle of nowhere.

SPEAKER_04 3:56

And he can they could make up whatever they needed to do.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Sure. Not members of the Q continuum as we find at the end. So sad for you. So sad for me. Definitely very Halloween. And you're right, very off, which again ties into the overall plot of the script, in a sense, because they do mention about how they're able to penetrate the brains of the humans where they're drawing all this imagery and this dread, but it's from their subconscious, their lower brain, not their high conscious. They can't penetrate that far.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

They don't dive into it too far, but I had to rewind that part a lot because I didn't understand it.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

I don't think the writers understood what they were going for either.

SPEAKER_04 4:40

They tried.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Yes. It's not going to come as any surprise. This is not a very highly rated or ranked episode.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

I can understand it took a while to get like some like stuff going.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

It has some problems for sure. However, But you loved it. I do like this episode. And the reason why I like this episode, it's Rocky Horror. If you break down Rocky Horror, and I've sprinkled in little Rocky Horror references because I love Rocky Horror. Shout out to all the Rocky Horror fans of the podcast. This is basically Rocky Horror. You have aliens from another dimension, another part of the galaxy, coming in, studying humans. You have one of those aliens going off mission. They no longer want to participate in the study. They want to go off, they want to indulge in their basic instincts, their their more primal instincts, because they become addicted to that, experiencing that, and they have to be put down, which is exactly what happens with Frankenfurter in Rocky Horror.

SPEAKER_04 5:47

So we're gonna need to watch that again so you could tell me what this means.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

No, no.

SPEAKER_04 5:56

I mean I can dissect Conair to and from, but I have no idea what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

Yeah, so again, Rocky Horror, you've got Frankenfurter, you've got Riffraff that's Rocky. Oh, okay, see, see? Who is made by Frankenfurter. Because Frankenfurter, Riff Raff, and Magenta are aliens. They come down to Earth, they're there to do a mission. Frankenfurter is the semi-leader of that mission, but then he gets caught up in human emotions, lust, pleasure, so forth, and goes off the rails and has to be stopped. So there's, I think if you really want to, if you compare them and you list them side by side, huge similarities. Absolutely. And that's why I like the episode. So it is completely biased of me.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

So we need to find like a Rocky Horror Con for you to go see.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

They have Rocky Horror Cons.

SPEAKER_04 6:50

Oh serious? Oh we're gonna Google that along with all the other words I Googled on.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Yeah. I've been to Rocky Horror Con.

SPEAKER_04 6:56

It was the Did you dress up?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

I have a dress you could wear next time.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

It was in and it was in Vegas. We got kicked out of a food court. It's a lot of it was a lot of fun. So ultimately, I did like this episode. Okay, back to the episode. Back to the episode. I liked it too. I d and I like it more. I like it more than I think most Star Trek fans like it because of that parallel. And it's just kind of a fun episode. Again, it has its problems. We'll address them as we get to them.

Treking Through the Episode

SPEAKER_02 7:24

But I think enough about the episode. Why don't we just jump into it? Jackie, why don't you walk us through the episode?

SPEAKER_04 7:31

Alright, so first of all, I didn't know what planet we were on until the very end. So I want to start from the end and go to the beginning so that we know what we're doing. We're on the planet, we're orbiting the planet Pyrus 7. Right. And I found that on Memory Alpha say I do my research. And so, okay, setting. Now we are opening up on the bridge, and Ahura is trying to desperately contact Sulu and Scotty and Jackson, who are a landing party on said planet. And Kirk and Spock are like, what's wrong? Why can't you find them? Because they've gone radio silent.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Yes. There's also some discrepancy, at least when I watched it in the beginning, because they mentioned several times there's no other life forms detected by the ship scanners except the landing party. But are they still reading the landing party? Because I if they are, I and they can't get a hold of them, if there's no other life forms, why don't they just beam them up? So it must be like it happens later in the episode where those life forms disappear and they must be referring to the fact that when they first beamed down, they were able to detect the landing party's life forms or life signals on the planet, and no other life forms were detected.

SPEAKER_04 8:54

Agreed.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yeah, but just from a logistics or procedural standpoint, again, your landing party suddenly stops communicating, you can't get a hold of them. If you have a sensor lock on them, you should beam them up to get them out of danger.

SPEAKER_04 9:12

I believe that they've lost complete uh from what I gathered, they've lost complete contact. Their Apple Pay, all that great stuff is not being connected until Jackson is like, yo, beam me up. Just one of me is alive, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yeah, and they just don't and it's just not mentioned in dialogue that they've lost the sensor reading for the awaiting.

SPEAKER_04 9:37

And he doesn't even say anything. He just it's just mechanical. Beam me up, one's ready. I nothing, like no other mention.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Right, because we find it's not really Jackson.

SPEAKER_04 9:48

And so they're like, Where's Scotty and Sulu? And then again, he's like, Come on, come on. So Kirk and Spock like run to the transporter room, and McCoy is also called to join them in case Jackson needs help because two are not coming. One has been able to what maybe escape. So McCoy, save us. And I did note this is the first time I noticed how beautiful O'Hora's communication board is. All of those beautiful jewels, I love them.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yeah, it is kind of funny. I have it in my notes too, because it is a very prominent shot of that panel that she's working with. Other panels are switches, buttons. Some of them have kind of a jewel-like look to it, but her workstation looks like a crystal shop.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

I love it. I've I reround it a couple times because it's really pretty.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Yeah, and there's no labels.

SPEAKER_04 10:42

No, she knows where like a keyboard, she knows where all of them are.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

Yeah, there's no labels on any of the buttons. There's no screens on any of that, there's no touch pads. It is literally all just crystal buttons.

SPEAKER_04 10:53

She's like a court reporter. She's got her own little called a stenographer. There you go. So, anyways, so they run to the transporter room, and our good old Mr. Kyle is down there ready to beam up Jackson. And McCoy has arrived, he's like, Why am I needed? And then Kirk simply just tells him, trouble. And then Jackson arrives, he is just standing there, and instead of like walking off, he tumbles off dead. But then he's dead, but there's another voice coming from him that we learn this person's name is Korob, and he's telling them uh there's a curse on the Enterprise, you better leave or you're gonna die. And then I also put a side note that why are we killing off crew members like every single episode?

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Because it's fun, because it's entertaining.

SPEAKER_04 11:50

I mean, we even gave this guy a name.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Yeah, we did give this one a name.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

Poor Jackson.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Yeah. Also interesting that the entire so to jump forward slightly and we'll cover it when we get to it, Scotty and Sulu are the quote unquote cat's paw. They're the lures, there's the bait. But Karab and Sylvia try very hard to scare them off. Why?

SPEAKER_04 12:17

Because we learn that these are all tests.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

But for what? What are they testing?

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Loyalty, bravery.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Yeah, but what does it get them?

SPEAKER_04 12:26

I think because when we learn where those two people or aliens are from, they don't get to feel these sensations. Bravery is a sensation, loyalty is a sensation, even though you can't feel it, you feel it within your soul.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

So they're just setting up all these different tests to elicit these things from the Enterprise crew so they can experience it themselves.

SPEAKER_04 12:49

Plus, they're going to gain who knows how many more human type people, uh, you know, Spock he's human-like. Like they're gonna gain so many more people, so that's so many more brains that they can elicit information from.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Sure. Because we never do it's never explained to us in plain detail what their quote unquote mission is while they're here, other than just the vague sense of explorers and gainers of knowledge.

SPEAKER_04 13:19

Right. So now we are going to go down to the planet. I don't know why Kirk always has to go down, and then he takes his first officer, and then of course a doctor. So, like the three most important people are leaving, and we leave this assistant, he has a title, but we leave the Sall in charge, and he has he thinks he has a lot to prove. Yeah. So he's very stressed.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Well, not just the top, not just the captain, not just the first officer, Spock, but Scotty's already missing. And Sulu. And Sulu's already missing.

SPEAKER_04 13:52

And who knows what Jackson was in charge of.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

They're really digging deep into the roster, sending guys down to the planet on this one.

SPEAKER_04 14:00

And so we're now on the planet, and the planet is like gloomy, it's rocky, we see fog, and but when they're researching the planet, fog was not on it. There it was basically a dead planet, like nothing, just rocks. So they're surprised, but Spock is like, it's not real. Like, dude, we could see the fog. But oh well, and so they keep walking around. They talk about how the area doesn't have any water, the temperature is not requiring the water to mix with the air to create the fog, so where's the fog coming from?

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Right. Our first clue that this is all manufactured in some way.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

And this is the exact spot where Jackson beamed up.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Right. Because where else would you start looking?

SPEAKER_04 14:50

So they're cave they're carefully walking through the fog, and you see Kirk like gingerly walk down a a drop in the rock, and they like keep going away, and Spock is scanning the area. There's nothing, but he does pick up life forms that were once there in a lower, flatter area. So they keep going down, down, down. And Kirk is finally able to contact the Enterprise and wants to know about readings from the ship. The ship doesn't have anything different to her give them. It's like nothing.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

Right. They're different. The whole time throughout this entire episode, the ship never detects any of these things that they see, the two life forms. The only thing that they pick up is it's a dead planet. They get the three signals from the landing party, which eventually disappears, we learn. But yeah, they never get to experience any of this on the ship's sensors.

SPEAKER_04 15:49

And then when we're trying to talk back to them on the planet, there's static interference and they cannot communicate because the fog is getting thicker and there's interference, and the Sall's kind of upset that all this is happening and he doesn't know what to do.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah, I don't think DeSall wants to be in charge. You're right, he has a lot to prove, and he does his best, but I betcha he's just sitting there going, Man, I just wanted a normal shift today.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

Well, he yells at Chekhov for no reason. Right. Later on. So all three on the planet have their phases ready because they hear high-pitched wailing behind them, and they turn around and see these three grotesque beings calling out to them like, Don't go over there. There's a curse on the Enterprise.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Which you could only understand if you had the captions on.

SPEAKER_04 16:40

I had them on the on the Yeah. I had them on.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

That was the moment when I was watching the episode where I realized I didn't have the captions on because I was trying to listen. I'm like, what are they say? Oh, I gotta turn the captions on. I can't understand what they're saying.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

And then Kirk's like, what did we just see? And Spock says bad poetry.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Bad poetry, bad special effects, because it's supposed to be a special effect where it was just floating disembodied heads. But as you watch it, they have bodies, you can see that the three actors or actresses who are playing these parts of these witches are wearing just full turtleneck bodysuits. And kind of funny that they didn't fix that in the remastered version, because that's what we watched.

SPEAKER_04 17:23

I think they tried to make it more floaty like a ghost.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Yeah, but it does not, it doesn't it's not executed well.

SPEAKER_04 17:30

So in the these voices also talk about how the winds are gonna get high and the ship is gonna be pushed away, go away, be safe, but not until we get our men. And yes, the wind picks up, the fog gets deeper, so the men are pushed into like a crevice, and I like how Kirk's like it's the like a trust fall into Spock and McCoy as he's like, Oh, the wind. Yeah. And then they all go and hide in this crevice.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yeah, and everyone hides in the crevice. Kirk kind of stays outside the crevice, he definitely gets the most wind blasted, his hair gets completely messed up, but then of course in the next scene it's all fixed.

SPEAKER_04 18:14

And he's like, and McCoy's like, Whoa, those winds were sure real for being an illusion.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Yeah. This is the part of the episode where they between the disembodied heads of the witches and the wind blast, someone is showing off the special effects that they have on set today.

SPEAKER_04 18:32

They're very proud of them. So then they turn around from the wailing heads and they see a giant black castle. It's beautiful and grotesque, and I mean things that we love.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

We love the macabre. Yes, and it's raining. There's a giant flag on the top of the castle of a lightning bolt. They shelter beneath some newspaper, they start singing there's a light.

SPEAKER_04 18:56

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

Jackie catches on to the Rocky Horror reference.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

Well, I'm focusing on what's next on my uh I think only have ten pages of notes this time.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Ten pages of notes this episode. Jackie is falling down on the job.

SPEAKER_04 19:10

I'm working on it. And so they all like run to the castle, and as they enter the castle, they are welcomed by a black cat. Yes. Like, okay, hello. And they're starting to think, ghouls, castles, what's going on here?

SPEAKER_02 19:29

They're starting to draw that huge, heavy-handed comparison that the show is trying to put, and references they force in about Halloween. There's lots of fun little quotes and funny moments about trick-or-treating and Spock not getting the reference to trick-or-treating.

SPEAKER_04 19:46

But he'd be a natural at it if they did.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Yeah. So also a lot of well I don't know exactly what part in the episode, I'll just point it out overall. There's a lot of interesting musical choices to the episode. It's a lot of that oboe sound.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

English horn.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

There's a lot of that English horn sound that gets kind of associated with goofy moments.

SPEAKER_04 20:09

Yeah, like a goofy evil, like something creepy's happening.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah, and so it's not tense, it's not horror, it still adds in this comedic element to this whole episode. Sometimes I think it fits, sometimes I think it doesn't fit.

SPEAKER_04 20:26

I think because the English horn, we don't know about it as much because it's a cousin to the oboe, and it adds a a dramatic effect.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 20:37

I just love music. I gotta explain what I'm talking about. So they continue walking and then the door slams shut. So, well, what can we do? Let's keep going forward. Let's I mean, the cat seems to be leading us somewhere. Maybe they're like a dog and we walk we follow it.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Knowing what we know about the cat and what the cat is and who the cat is, do you think the cat's leading them to the next scene? Totally. Okay, I agree.

SPEAKER_04 21:04

Because what what it does is it leads them down a corridor where oh my gosh, a hole appears and they fall down.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Right.

SPEAKER_04 21:12

And they're all like passed out and then we have a com commercial break.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Yes. Kind of we also kind of funny because it takes me it took me a minute to recognize we'll come back from they fall down, we get the scene or the the shot of them at the bottom of this chamber now that they've fallen into, and then we come back from commercial break and they're chained up against the wall, and then later in the episode we find out it's the exact same room.

SPEAKER_04 21:39

Right. And also no this is also where we notice that the cat has a giant jewel hanging from its collar.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Right, which will be important to the episode later.

SPEAKER_04 21:49

So I called it the whole dungeon, like hole and dungeon. 'Cause when we come back from break.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

No, no, no, the the whole dungeon. Hole H O L E. No, no, I got it. I'm just Yep, that's an apt name for it.

SPEAKER_04 22:05

Because it has the hole on top. Alright. So Kirk, Spock, and McCoy awake from their unconsciousness and they are chained to the wall.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

And in the hole dungeon.

SPEAKER_04 22:18

Yes. And McCoy is like staring at a skeleton that is also chained to the wall.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

There's Iron Maidens. If you don't know what that is, Google it. It's not the band.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

It's not an Iron Maiden.

SPEAKER_04 22:31

Kirk talks about Iron Maidens. He talks about other things that are scary with Halloween.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

Yes, he talks about Iron Maidens, but there is no Iron Maiden.

SPEAKER_04 22:42

Correct. He just is listing all these things that go hand in hand with what they're experiencing.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Yes, we're going to get the torture implements right on this episode, gosh darn it. Iron Maiden's right there in front of them. It's not an Iron Maiden. We we're back. We pulled up the scene. The Google machine. The Google machine to confirm because we want to give the best, most accurate information to our audience. Jackie, it is not an Iron Maiden. It is a gibbet. It is a gibbet. It is a device used to display the remains of executed prisoners or killing them. Waiting for them to die.

SPEAKER_04 23:20

Yeah, poor things. And then Spock's like, wait, we are like in all kinds of things that you earthlings like manifest. Like this is like a your worst thoughts kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

Right. This is the uh also point out there's a fun little scene in this where Kirk looks over at McCoy and he goes, Bones? Doc? But they're also looking at the skeleton.

SPEAKER_04 23:43

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

That's a fun little scene. But yeah, it's a also to point out that the did you notice that the skeleton that is hanging up in the shackles has the incision or the cut in its cranium marking it as a medical skeleton.

SPEAKER_04 24:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

That would be used in medical school.

SPEAKER_04 24:03

And every time they showed a skeleton, I re I remember your skeleton when I met you. Not like your physical one, but the one we dressed up.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Steve.

SPEAKER_04 24:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Steve, we uh ha bottom from Spirit Halloween, made many appearances at Rocky Horror shows and other things. Yeah, Steve Irwin. We miss him.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

So they're chatting, trying to figure out what's happening because uh Spock has made the astute realization that these chains are in fact real.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 24:31

And not fake. So enters Sulu and Scotty and they're like, Yeah, thank you for saving us. And the men are straight faced, and Scotty has a phaser, and they're like, Uh-oh. Yeah, they're not here to save us.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Yeah. You just expressed a thousand times more enthusiasm than the poor acting exhibited by Kirk and McCoy.

SPEAKER_04 24:58

Well, I'm looking at your say uh your stopped image, and they all look like they're modeling for some bikini outfit or something. I mean, look at Kirk. Hey, look at my bum. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

For for the reference, we're still looking at the image of the gibbet. Uh, if you want to look at the remastered version of Kirk showing off his butt in the shackles, it is at mark 13 minutes 27 seconds.

SPEAKER_04 25:26

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, epitome of human function.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

It's because this is the part where they're still unconscious. Oh. They haven't woken up yet, is where I've paused in. And so Where were we?

SPEAKER_04 25:38

And so Kirk's like, hey, unlock us. Put the phaser down. Hi guys, wake up. And then Kirk's like, do you know who we are? After McCoy's like, do you n they've been drugged? Like, they're not answering any questions. Right. But they do acknowledge they Sulu and Scotty know who these three men are.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 26:02

But they can't do anything except hold up the keys, Sulu does, and walk toward each man and unlock them from their cuffs.

SPEAKER_02 26:12

Yeah. One of one of them says, I think they're going to release us, and then we have to sit through what feels like twenty minutes of Sulu pantomining, unlocking the shackles with the key. Because if you notice, he's not doing anything with that key.

SPEAKER_04 26:27

No.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

He just walks up, holds it against the shackles, does a little half turn with his wrist, and then they physically pull down on their arms to release the shackles.

SPEAKER_04 26:37

I mean it's a giant key. Maybe he's, you know, weak today.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Or they have safety shackles.

unknown 26:43

Shh.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

Alright, and so the men, Scotty and Sulu are ushering them up the stairs, and then Kirk and Spot like turn around trying to like tackle them and take the favors away, and then poof, we are now in a beautifully decorated room, and a man who you say you love is sitting on a throne in this beautiful robe with a chin beard and bald head. I mean, he is pretty fancy.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

This is Korob, and I don't love him. I think he's an interesting character. First and foremost, well, I can't wait till October. Fantastic costume.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Fantastic robe with the scene eye. I just think it's an he's an interesting character for the episode.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

He definitely develops in the way I did not expect.

SPEAKER_02 27:39

No, no, definitely takes it in a direction that you don't expect.

SPEAKER_04 27:44

And so, of course, Kirk does compliment him about, you know, this is great use of illusion, but why are we here and why is Scotty and Sulu acting like that?

SPEAKER_02 27:55

And why do you have a cat?

SPEAKER_04 27:57

Well, he's just sitting there being loved at the moment. And the man that we know is Korob uh responds with his own questions. When did your race, meaning humans, begin questioning things and not just accepting the is, like what you're in right now? And Scott and and Sulu are not mindless beings, they're just simply controlled.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Right. Not really sure why that distinction is important to point out. Also kind of weird that they well, I guess so. Do we just think that he's upset or questioning why Kirk and Spock and McCoy are doubting their surroundings because it interferes with his mission? Do you think the mit his mission goes smoother if they just accept reality for the illusions as reality?

SPEAKER_04 28:50

I think if they didn't already believe that these were all odd manifestations from like child lore and what he assumed was quote normal for them, it would have been okay. But I think he's surprised that they don't see it as normal.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Right. Because I mean it's an it's just an odd statement to roll it back to what you said, because that's exactly what he says is when did you humans start questioning everything? But he doesn't have any contact with prior contact with humans. Right. This is the first time that they've come to this dimension, this planet, encountered humans, etc.

SPEAKER_04 29:30

Well, he has two examples, because Scotty and Sulu were already there.

SPEAKER_02 29:34

So did they accept everything as reality?

SPEAKER_04 29:36

I wouldn't think so.

SPEAKER_02 29:38

So I think he just has to be referring to the fact of again, they can only access the subconscious and these lower parts of the human brain, and that just is evolution and instinct. But he's just confused because he thinks that's what humans are.

SPEAKER_04 29:55

Exactly. And he hasn't yet clocked Spock as being different, I think. Correct. And since he's there, he already knows everybody's name, and the black cat that they've been following is sitting next to him on its own throne, his giant jewel, and it's kind of like you know how when our cats want to be pets more and they like get in your face, like this cat is insisting on being listened to.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Right. Well, because we later learn why that it is in fact trying to boss Korab around.

SPEAKER_04 30:30

And then, of course, Korab reminds him that uh you didn't have to be here. You insisted on coming. So now you get to stay. And I mean Kurt insults him by calling all of this mumbo jumbo. And then that's when the cat becomes really upset, and I mean, Spock, because because Spock's like, we've already been here. A while ago, we charted this planet, there was no life forms, so why are you here? What's happening? Answer our questions so we can go home.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

Yeah. It's also uh kind of messy the way this episode deals with Korob and Sylvia and their quote unquote powers, because they're not very together in their cultness. No, because they refer to their powers as magic. Kirk and Spock refer to it as magic. There's in this moment the awkward reference that Spock makes about wizards and their demonic familiars and witchcraft and the witches outside and yes, the cat is the demon in animal form. And I'm just like, uh, and none and which, by the way, seems to set up that Karab had summoned a quote unquote demon. This is how I interpreted it in this moment. Karab had summoned a demon, Sylvia, and gotten all of his powers through her, and had was working, quote unquote, in tandem with her, but she ultimately was in charge and the more powerful of the two, and all of that. None of which is true. They're equal. They're both on a mission, they're both just aliens.

SPEAKER_04 32:12

Right. And then he, I mean, don't forget that Karab also no now this is when he notices that Spock is different, that there is no color in his thinking. It's all black and white, logical, one and done.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

Yeah. Different lower brain function than humans.

SPEAKER_04 32:31

And then did you also notice that this is when we see a magic wand, like a black stick with a giant glass ball on the end. Yeah. I was very jealous of that wand.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

It's gonna be very key to the story here.

SPEAKER_04 32:46

I do wish that it had a bigger like importance until like it waited until the end. Krob just held it until like the end.

SPEAKER_02 32:55

And we don't really get any kind of why well, there's no formal explanation as to what it is. Right. I mean, the way this the way the episode ends, with it destroying everything when it is destroyed, seems to make it this focal point and it is the source of their power. But just beforehand, Sylvia tries to explain it away as it's not the source of our power, it's just the focus of our power. Our our minds are our power. Yeah, so who knows?

SPEAKER_04 33:23

So, and then then Krob's like, oh my gosh, where are my manners? You guys must be hungry, thirsty, and flip with the wand, there's a feast on the table. And the men refuse to eat, like, uh no thank you. And then so Krob's like, Well, what about this? And empty plate, then poof, filled with jewels, diamonds, sapphires, rubies. This is what you want, right? Take all of these, go away, don't ask any questions. Love you, bye. And Kirk's like, we can just make these on our own. Just give us our friends. And again, Krob is still confused, like he read differently. So it sounds like he studied them, like humans in general.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

Yeah, but he wouldn't have had an opportunity to study them unless they studied them in depth while they were passed out after they fell in the hole.

SPEAKER_04 34:12

But Well, this is when we realize that about those tests, bravery, unable to be bribed, they're loyal because they came back to get their crew, and again, the cat is like very mad and she runs out. We learned it's a girl, and she runs out of the room. And then poof, she comes back, and she's this beautiful lady dressed in black, and she has her hair up on her head, and she has you know beautiful turquoise makeup. So pretty.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

And she has a necklace that is identical to the jewel that was on the collar of the cat, so we know it's the cat.

SPEAKER_04 34:48

Oh, I have a matching necklace. Maybe I can be a kitty.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

There you go. And she introduces herself as Sylvia.

SPEAKER_04 34:55

Yes, and she teases Kirk, Spock, and McCoy about how easy it is to gain access to the human mind. Like, but Spock's like, how can that be? And he's like spouting out options, hypnosis, telepathy, mind probing, and she's just laughing. And as she plays with her necklace, McCoy is staring at it. And then when Spock suggests telepathy, Sylvia's like, well, that doesn't include control. So he's almost on track.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Right, and she gives a very generic explanation of you guys would know this as sympathetic magic. We don't have time to get into what sympathetic magic is, that's a whole nother topic. Much like this episode of our podcast, this episode of the TV show, we when it has pacing issues, we tend to follow. So, quickly to summarize the next scene, they want information from the humans. So they produce this little miniature metal model of the enterprise, and they say, Well, obviously, if we can't influence you, we have to exert pressure on you. So then Sylvia dangles it over a candle. We get a very prolonged scene where they are able to communicate with the enterprise for a brief moment, and they report down to Kirk that the temperature on the enterprise is quickly rising, draw the parallel. She's basically doing a voodoo doll. She gives an explanation. This is how she killed Jackson in the very beginning. It's all very convoluted. But Kirk seems to give Sylvia what they want and says he'll cooperate. He pulls her hand away from the candle, puts the little metal model of the enterprise on the table along with the phaser that he was holding. There's a really weird back and forth between Karab and Sylvia, where Karab is trying to explain some things about yes, it's magic, but we have a device that we use. That's how we entered your quote-unquote reality. Sylvia keeps cutting him off, telling him that he talks too much and that he's giving too much away. But in any case, Kirk gets tired of it. He says that there's gonna be people coming down to rescue them, and Karab says no, and they he uses his magic, he uses the wand, I think, in that moment.

SPEAKER_04 37:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

And encases the metal miniature model of the enterprise in clear plastic resin, is what it looks like, and says, Well, now there's a force field around the enterprise, now there's no landing parties coming, nothing you can do about it.

SPEAKER_04 37:37

And this is when McCoy realizes you used Scotty and Sulu as cat's paws and lured us here.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

That's where we get the explanation of the title of the episode.

SPEAKER_04 37:50

On the Enterprise, DeSall is having Chekhov work on the force field. They have d determined that it is in fact real, so that means it could be affected. So the Salle reaches out to engineering and has them divert all their power and impulse engines to create like a super heat, and they're going to try and create a dent in the force field. And I love his line. It's like, maybe we can't break it, but I'll bet you credits to Navy Beans, we could put a dent in it.

SPEAKER_02 38:23

Yeah. It's kind of I love him. It's kind of the kind of the catch quote of the episode. Don't steal my quote. I'm not, trust me, I really, really did not want to use that as my favorite quote for the episode. There's also no point to this. It doesn't affect any, it doesn't change anything about the episode.

SPEAKER_04 38:41

I think he's trying to do whatever he can so he can reach his captain.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

100% agree, but yes, and they manage to put a dent in it, like he says, but ultimately that doesn't change the outcome or the trajectory of the plot for the episode.

SPEAKER_04 38:56

And so as we missed earlier, they Sylvia and Karab have sent Spock and Kirk away so that they can just do one-on-one counseling, mind probing with Dr. McCoy. And Spock's like, oh, we've been in here for 22 minutes, 17 seconds. And this is also when the two start talking about all of these myths, dungeons, black cats, ghosts, they're referring to race memories, which I thought was interesting, and being in the subconscious, how Sylvia couldn't reach the conscious mind when she tried.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

Right.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

But she got underneath, and that's where they found all these creepy Halloween things.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

Which I think is probably the most interesting part of the episode that they never follow up on.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

It would have been fun to explore more.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

Yeah. I think later when Kirk is seducing Sylvia, that we'll get to, they that again is kind of what they were trying to tap into. Is she played into it because that's what she was able to detect in his brain.

SPEAKER_04 40:03

Suddenly the dungeon door opens, and like, oh, someone coming to save us? No. McCoy is now straight faced. He's a soldier along with Sulu and Scotty. And they take Kirk out of the dungeon towards the pretty room.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

And then we jump over to that pretty room and we get Sylvia and Karab and we get them in an argument. Again, this is very much my parallel draw to Rocky Horror. Sylvia is saying that she likes these new sensations that she's experiencing. Karab is arguing back, saying that she's going off mission parameters and she's straying from their original intention. And Sylvia is very much like, I don't care. I have the power. You can't do anything to stop me. If you don't like it, tough. Don't stand in my way. Also of note, Karab, as he's reminding Sylvia about their mission, says that they have a duty to the old ones, which again I think is fantastic. I we'll get to it later. But again, Sylvia doesn't care.

SPEAKER_04 41:07

And she even calls the sensation stimulating. And then she just like walks to the throne with her beautiful dress like flowing. Right. She loves everything touch. It's pretty wild. So Kirk is finally brought into the room where Sylvia sends the others and Karab away. Is she going to wipe his mind now too? And Sylvia responds, they've all been drained of knowledge and will, no damage at all. However, Kirk tells her, like, as a woman, you should see there's damage and have compassion. Like, what's wrong with you? But she's like, sure, I'm a woman, but I've never felt all these things. Like, she's like drunk on sensation.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

Right. Drunk on all these new feelings that she's experiencing. And it's kind of unclear whether she had this plan coming into this meeting with Kirk or if she just kind of decides in the moment. But Kirk definitely jumps on this opportunity and starts to seduce Sylvia, starts to Well, because she asks him what power feels like.

SPEAKER_04 42:13

And how do you explain power? Right.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

And Sylvia explains that, you know what, forget my mission, forget Karab, forget all of this. Why don't you and I she wants to join Kirk and she says, hey, with my power and your ability to, I don't know, guide me through these sensations, and we can go exploring and we can go off on our own and do our own thing. Kirk very much leans very heavily into it to get more information, which is where we get that reference to the transmuter, and that's the device that they use. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:48

His pillow talk is like, so where are you from?

SPEAKER_02 42:51

Yeah, so where are you from? You got a transmuter? That's cool. Where you keep it, girl? But it's uh it yeah, it's kind of still muddled. It's the key to her power, but not really. Who knows? But ultimately at the end, she discovers that Kirk is basically just taking advantage and using her. Don't know how she discovers it, but she must tap into something. And she gets pissed off at Kirk and has him hauled away back to the dungeon.

SPEAKER_04 43:20

Now we're in the castle dungeon and the the whole dungeon. The dungeon in the castle?

SPEAKER_02 43:26

The whole dungeon, as you referred to it at the beginning of the episode. Oh yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

And Krob is racing in and he is releasing them from their shackles and gives the communicators and the weapons back to Kirk and Spock. Sadly, the phaser has been drained of energy, and he's like, dang it, I could have stole this from Scotty at the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

Right. And Karab expresses remorse in how everything's kind of turned out. He kind of offers an explanation that he feels like this could have been a more Peaceful encounter that he never intended any harm, kind of throwing all the blame on Sylvia, and she's drunk on what she's experiencing with these sensations, and she's slowly lost her mind. They and then we get this very long, drawn-out process where Karab leads them out of the dungeon, they're running through the castle hallways, they encounter Sylvia back in cat form, but now she's gigantic. She fills the entire hallway, and that's where they find the phaser's been drained. She chases them all the way back into the dungeon, and we get more giant cat special effects. The cat knocks down the heavy dungeon door onto Karab, which seems like it kills him but doesn't. We find out later. Surprise. No, not a surprise. But Karab does drop the magic wand that you like so much. I do. We also find out that this is this is the scene where we find out that the dungeon and the room that they fell down the hole in is the same. Because they I don't know why. I guess there's no other way out, but they Spock and Kirk jump up through the hole back to the original hallway. They have a huge fight scene between Sulu, Scotty, McCoy, who are still under the influence of Sylvia.

SPEAKER_04 45:28

Don't forget Sulu's funny stunt double.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

Sulu's funny stunt double. Yeah, Scotty and McCoy have like these giant maces that they're using, like medieval maces. And then Sulu has nothing, but he knows martial arts. Because that's uh not stereotypical, problematic. Moving on.

SPEAKER_04 45:50

He already did a show like that. He's good. And then Kirk has the wand now, and he's like, Sylvia, I have the transmuter. And then, oh, she comes back to being a human, quote unquote. Yeah. And she's all like, oh, let me have that. And then Spock's like, don't let her have it. And she's like, Oh, I was just touching my my chest. Oops. And then poof, they're in the pretty room again.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

Right. Which let's just cover this real quick, because this is toward the end of the episode. Sylvia never needs the wand to execute her powers.

SPEAKER_04 46:28

She just calls it an amplifier to what her brain is thinking.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

Corbos always needs the wand.

SPEAKER_04 46:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 46:35

To use the powers. So I don't really know why she wants the wand so bad. That way she'll always be powerful and she can do whatever she wants. But she doesn't need the wand. She's like a scepter. She never needs the wand to use her powers. She never is in she's never holding the wand when she does it. Even in this moment where she poofs Kirk, the wand in her into the pretty room, she's not holding the wand.

SPEAKER_04 47:01

I think the way that she wants to have it though, will give her extra power.

SPEAKER_02 47:06

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 47:07

Like it's a and like she keeps calling it amplifier. Her mind is the source. So as an amplifier, it would give her a bigger reach.

SPEAKER_02 47:18

Okay. Like Thanos and all the infinity stones.

SPEAKER_04 47:22

Sure. Or like a guitar amplifier.

SPEAKER_02 47:25

Both very different comparisons. Anyway, we're in the pretty room.

SPEAKER_04 47:28

And she she's like, tell me more. Like we can become powerful together, you and me, Kirk. I y I can learn from you, you can learn from me. We'll be powerful couples. And like just come with me. And Kirk's like, no, you tortured my men. You tease them, asking for love, but only give them pain. And then of course she's like, give me the transmuter. And then Kirk finally is like, You want it? You want it this bad? Smashes it on the table. And then giant poof. And we are now on the rocky planet. The entire illusion is gone.

SPEAKER_02 48:08

Right. There's no more castle. There's no more fog. There's no more fog of any kind. It's all gone.

SPEAKER_04 48:17

And McCoy, Sulu, and Scotty have have been returned back to normal. Yep. Thank goodness.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

And they all reconvene together on Kirk.

SPEAKER_04 48:27

And what we do see though are two little like baby bird-like eyed things that are chirping. And Spock's like, why don't we like, you know, research them and look at them? And then, oh, so sorry, they died.

SPEAKER_02 48:44

They die, they start to disintegrate, they start to smoke. And just blue feathers are left like from a a feather boa.

SPEAKER_04 48:52

Yeah. And then even though they mention all of this was an illusion, Kirk has to remind them that Jackson died, and that was definitely real. And since all of everything, the the interference and the fog are gone, they're finally able to reach Enterprise, and the five of them beam back up. And that's the end. There's no weird joke, no awkward joke, no nothing at the end. They just fly off having fun.

SPEAKER_02 49:19

Yep. And roll credits.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_02 49:22

So, Jackie, what did you think about season two, episode seven, Cat's Paw?

SPEAKER_04 49:27

I found it entertaining. I liked that they tried to incorporate Halloween things and have someone presume this is what humans enjoy. But then I also am struggling that some of these episodes seem to be copying each other with just like a twist in elements.

SPEAKER_02 49:48

Okay, what was this copying?

SPEAKER_04 49:49

Like I feel like they kept like there was still a hint of the Squire of Gothos. Like this is what humans must like, so why not do it? And then put them in like like uh pe like plays like players, like characters.

SPEAKER_02 50:04

Yeah. And I think that's I think that's a good point, and I think that's kind of something that you encounter in the original series. Uh I think when you get into the next generation and later series, they have new ideas, they have new episodes, but then they also have the benefit of being able to fall back on the original series, and when they do repeat some of the episodes later on, and we get these repeated themes, we all just kind of put on our rose-colored glasses and go, it's an homage to the original series. But in reality, they are just repeating themselves. Here in the original series, they have nothing to pay homage to, so they are just repeating themselves. So you're right. It is kind of that same thing where they do kind of repeat a lot of these themes, so but it wasn't blatantly in your face, and I liked that part. Okay. Yeah, and as I said, I like this episode a lot. As a Rocky Horror fan, when you draw a parallel to Rocky Horror, I watching the episode, that's what I think of. My complaint with that parallel is if you want it to be a true homage or link to Rocky Horror, Corbos needed to be the one to kill Sylvia. Much in the way that Rifraf is the one who kills Frankenfurter. You need that plot point for the aliens themselves to rebel amongst themselves and bring the alien mission back on track.

SPEAKER_04 51:32

So does that mean this was made after Rocky Horror?

SPEAKER_02 51:35

No, no, no, no, no, no. In no way. I keep calling it an homage, but it's it's an unintentional parallel for sure.

SPEAKER_04 51:42

Were they made close together?

SPEAKER_02 51:43

No. No, this was 1967 and Rocky Horror was 1975.

SPEAKER_04 51:50

So Rocky could have copied them.

SPEAKER_02 51:53

It could be. Richard O'Brien could have taken um little snippets. Little snippets of this. But in any case, again, I like the episode. Yeah. It has its problems, it has definite pacing issues, because it's a lot of stuff in the beginning, and then they try to cram a lot of stuff into the end. Like that whole part about um Sylvia chasing them down the hallway as a giant cat feels like it takes forever, but between Sylvia first appearing as a giant cat in the very end and then beaming away and flying away, it's like four minutes. So the whole conclusion to this episode is within the last five, six minutes of the episode. Huge pacing issues. But it's fun, it's a good episode.

SPEAKER_04 52:44

Oh, I totally agree. We learned a lot of facts. Like Spock was spitting them out.

SPEAKER_02 52:49

Yes, he was. And before we get to our favorite quotes to round out our thoughts to the episode, again, don't forget to jump over to our Patreon after listening, where we'll post our bonus episode, our Star Note episode, where we will tackle the question and do a slightly deeper dive into did Karab genuinely understand humanity better than Sylvia? So we'll jump into that again over at our Patreon, patreon.com/slash Trexandangents. After this episode, jump on over. Free for all of our followers on Patreon. Jackie, what is gonna be your favorite quote to round out your thoughts to the episode?

SPEAKER_04 53:28

I have two because I loved when DeSalle was like, credits to beans, we're gonna put a dent in it. I'm assuming that was like a phrase in the back back of the day, because he calls it like Navy Beans.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Sure.

SPEAKER_04 53:43

Or like where he's from. Sure. Kind of a lot of pr uh pressure on him. But we kind of skipped skipped over it, but as Spock and Kirk and at the time, Krob, they're trying to get out of the dungeon hole. Uh Spock had already jumped out of the hole, and he tells Kirk, as he's like trying to push a bed under, he's like, a little more alacrity, if you please. And I had to look up the word because he said it so flatly, and he's like, That means can you please hurry up and get out of the hole? And he was just like, flat, just like, come on, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

Yeah, tossing the big words around. My favorite quote is gonna be when Sylvia and Karab are having their real big argument in the pretty room, and Sylvia is going off the rails, talking about how she doesn't care about the mission anymore, and Karab is reminding her that they serve the old ones and all of that, and Karab says, I have the power, and Sylvia says, but you're afraid to use it. Again, I one of the parts of the episode that I really wish they had dived into more, so I like that they had this moment where you see this dynamic between the two of them, and it's it's one of the first times that you kind of understand their dynamic and their relationship between the two of them. I think we'll dive into that more in our star note for sure, but that's gonna be my favorite quote. And I

Tribble Tidbits

SPEAKER_02 55:16

of course have some triple tidbits or interesting facts to the episode, and why do we call them triple tidbits, Jackie? Because triples are the best. Because sometimes they're fun, sometimes they're not, but they're always interesting. F uh uh this episode first aired October 27, 1967, so the week of Halloween.

SPEAKER_04 55:37

Makes sense?

SPEAKER_02 55:38

Totally intentional. The sounds made by the small creatures at the end of the episode that they were the real form of Karab and Sylvia, that sound was freshly hatched baby alligators calling out for their mother.

SPEAKER_03 55:53

I knew it.

SPEAKER_02 55:54

The metal prop miniature of the Enterprise from the episode was later donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by Gene Roddenberry. The original script called for Ohura to be in charge of the Enterprise in this episode, not DeSall. The original order of command written out by Gene Roddenberry put Ohura as fourth in command. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and then Ohura.

SPEAKER_04 56:30

But she's a woman, so she can't be the captain.

SPEAKER_02 56:33

Because NBC put their foot down and said no. So shame on you, NBC. Shame on you. Tons of strikes. Theodore Marcuse, who played Karab, unfortunately died in a car accident one month after the airing of this episode. This is gonna be another ep another reference to the old ones. This the last time we heard a reference to the old ones would be What Are Little Girls Made of. Both were written by Robert Bloch, who is a fan of HP Lovecraft. And again, I would love for there to be some more mythos and some more Star Trek references to the old gods and the old ones. That's just me. The puppets of the creatures at the end of the episode were made of random blue fluff, pipe cleaners, and crab pinchers. In the original version of the episode, you can clearly see that the little movements are being manipulated by very thick black strings. Those were later edited out and removed from the remastered version that we watched. I love it. Also of note that those real forms, what Corbos and Sylvia, their real forms are in our universe, you will see them frequently depicted on uh screens and data pads several times in uh Deep Space Nine in the in the Star Trek television series. They appear in background um, so little Easter eggs tying back to the original series. And finally, my last triple tidbit for the episode. This is going to be, while it's not the first episode that aired in the second season, it is the first episode that was filmed and produced for the second season, which is why Chekhov is back in that terrible wig.

SPEAKER_04 58:22

I was gonna say his hair is really bad.

SPEAKER_02 58:25

Yep, it's back to it's because again, it wasn't grown out. This is literally the first episode that they made. So those are gonna be your triple tidbits this week.

Episode Ranking

SPEAKER_02 58:34

But let's dive into ranking our episode. This is where we're going to pretend the episode is a member of our crew of a fictitious starship, and we're gonna assign a Starfleet rank to the episode. A higher rank means we were not only more entertained by the episode, but we find the episode to be a more valuable member of our crew. And a lower rank is of course the opposite. We're less entertained by the episode, and we find the episode to be a more disposable member of our crew. Our ranks start at the bottom with ensign, lieutenant junior grade, and lieutenant, and we can have an unlimited number of episodes at those ranks. And then we move into lieutenant commanders, we can have a total of seven, we can have five commanders, we can have one captain, and we can have one admiral or beyond perfect episode for the season. Jackie, for this episode, joining the crew of the USS Luminaria, what is gonna be your rank this week?

SPEAKER_04 59:33

I'm going to go ahead and add it to the lieutenant.

SPEAKER_02 59:36

Lieutenant, which puts it there with Amok Time, aka the Horny Vulcan episode. Why are you gonna give it a rank of lieutenant?

SPEAKER_04 59:45

I think it did a great job as a storyline in general, but I still have tons of tiny questions. I still have questions about like tiny little parts that I think they could have expanded on. And it's Luminara.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:00

I'm never gonna get that right. And this week for the USS Comet, my ranking. You know what? I'm gonna go on a limb. I'm also gonna rank it on the same rank as Amok Time. It's gonna be a rank of commander for me. Ooh. So again, I think this episode is fun. It's kinda stupid, it's kinda goofy. I'm probably biased in my ranking because I find such a tie and parallel to the story of Rocky Horror, but it's still very entertaining, even though it has its pacing issues, even though it's problematic, even though that there is a ton of storylines that they wish that I wish they had dived deeper into, it's still gonna be probably one of my favorite episodes for the season itself. So I'm gonna put it up there as a commander. If none of that made any sense, because this is an audio podcast, don't worry, we will post a visual representation of our rankings over at our Patreon, patreon.com/slash treks and tangents. Free again for everyone to view, and we will post the update on Wednesday, the day after this episode goes live. Go over, check it out alongside all of the free Star Note bonus episodes that we post. Just for comparison, as over on IMDB as of recording, Jackie, what do you think the ranking is?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:27

I'm gonna go with a six point five.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:30

It is a six point two out of out of ten. Again, not a very well-liked episode. A six, anywhere in the sixes are gonna kind of be the bottom ranking for but I think it was kind of enjoyed by the general public.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:46

I mean, it wasn't like a two or a one.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

You won't find twos or ones. Oh so six is gonna try six is gonna kind of be the bottom of the episode ranking. So again, not very well loved, so we kind of deviated a little bit with our opinions.

Turbolift Tease

SPEAKER_02 1:01:59

And we'll be back next week to trek through another episode, but before we go, we will give our turboliftees or elevator pitch to next week's episode. This is where I'll give Jackie the title of next week's episode, and Jackie with no other explanation or context, will give the plot, or at least her guess to what the plot will be. Jackie, next week's episode is entitled I, Mud, spelled with two Ds, of course.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:29

Our favorite Mr. Mud is coming back, and it's already popped on the Enterprise to do a little wicked magic. But we don't know he's there until one of our security guards find him and bring him up and say, Kirk, what are we gonna do about this?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:46

And tune in next week to see how accurate Jackie's prediction is.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:50

Cross my fingers.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:51

If you want more show information, you can find and directly support our podcast over at Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents. Again, every episode we post a bonus star note episode that is free for everyone who follows our podcast. We take a 10, 15, 20 minute deeper dive into the episode and some questions or topics from the episode we didn't have time to cover here. We also post a graphical representation of the episode rankings, as I mentioned. Again, free for everyone. For those that support our Patreon, our crew members, we do a deeper dive into the animated series for Star Trek. We have all of our test episodes that we recorded when we were just getting started with this little podcast. And when I wrote on paper. And when Jackie still took her notes on paper, driving me absolutely nuts. You know you liked it. You can also follow us on X, X.com slash Trex underscore tangents. We're also on Instagram and Blue Sky as Trex and Tangents. Jackie, where can people find you? And what are you up to?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:57

I am still mostly on Instagram as Jaboom, J-I-B-B-O-O-M. I'm currently uh flooding the Instagram with my bouncing bag from having my hip replaced. I go to physical therapy twice a week. I've been videoing everything I do. I do need to throw my music back in because I mean that's that's my heart. And if you need a lesson, I would be happy to help you with what you'd like to learn because I know all the music instruments and I'd be happy to help you or your child.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:34

There you go. And you can watch me stream a variety of video games over at twitch.tv slash piratepoundtown. On YouTube, I post video game and other content also as PiratePoundtown. My secondary channel on YouTube for coin collecting and other hobby content is Pirate Treasure Hunting. I post socially on Blue Sky as Pirate Poundtown, and you can find me over on Instagram as Pineapple Cannibal. Links to all of our social media mentioned can be found in the episode description. Thank you everyone for tuning in to this week's episode. We hope you had fun like we did, and we will see you all next week.