Friday's Child (TOS - S2E11)

[Hailing Frequencies Open]

This week on Treks and Tangents, we’re trekking through Friday’s Child, where the Enterprise arrives on Capella IV to negotiate for valuable minerals and instead finds a Klingon rival, a deadly coup, a pregnant leader’s widow, and enough running through rocky terrain to qualify as a Starfleet fitness test.

McCoy finally gets a chance to shine... though mostly as an unwilling obstetrician and accidental baby daddy, while Kirk and Spock build primitive weapons, Scotty chases fake distress calls, and everyone struggles with Capellan customs, questionable choreography, and some truly majestic space-pony fashion. Is this an underrated McCoy episode, or a chaotic pile of unanswered questions wearing a feathered cape?

[End Transmission]

Transcript

Intro/Turbolift Tease Recap

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Failing frequency is open and welcome aboard Trek's Tangents. I'm your co-host Brian.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

And I'm your co-host Jackie on the Star Trek TV who checked off on tangents.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

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

SPEAKER_03 0:22

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 11, Friday's Child.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Welcome back. Remember to stick around to the end of this episode and find out what our topic is going to be for our bonus Star Note episode posted on our Patreon. Go check it out after this episode. But welcome to the episode of way too many running outdoor scenes toward the end. They're perfecting their art. There's a lot of issue. There's a lot of different thoughts I have to this episode. It's kind of interesting to see how they're going to. Well, I'm interested to hear what you think, but before we get too far into it, let's just quickly see what you thought last week by revisiting the turboliftees. That was where I gave Jackie the title of this week's episode, and Jackie without any other information or context, which is probably not helpful. She tried to guess the plot of this week's episode. So, computer, what was Jackie's prediction last week?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Jackie's prediction last week was we learn that one of Kirk's friends is pregnant, and even though it is super literal, she is going by Friday, and we are all going to go visit her, and she is going to come on the Enterprise. And uh-oh, something happens and Friday needs help. But we deliver a healthy baby.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

So, middle of the road, we'll give you a C for this one.

SPEAKER_03 1:55

Well, there's kind of like a a war with Enterprise and someone else.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah, kind of. So

Initial Impressions

SPEAKER_01 2:03

what ultimately is your thoughts? What are what were your first thoughts to to the episode?

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Okay, so I have to like divulge a secret because every time we talk about the uh Klingons, I have this like vision in my head of Wharf.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

And then when they bring out a Klingon in this episode, it looks nothing like Wharf. True. And I had to Google. And uh yes, they're both Klingons, but they both have different looks.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

They do. Did your research tell you why that the Klingons? I thought we'd have this conversation more in depth for trouble with Tribbles, but what did your research show why the Klingons look so vastly different?

SPEAKER_03 2:46

Kling kind of, but I don't really know.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So, I mean, even the two times we've seen the Klingons so far in the original series, they look have looked much different. The Klingons originally in the original series before this episode had um, I will just say problematic facial hair, and that has changed since now. But you are correct. You're thinking Warf from the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine with those prominent uh forehead ridges.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Right. He like definitely looks like Neanderthal crossed with a alien.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yes. So while we won't go too deep into it, the lore explanation inside the Star Trek universe is the Klingons suffered as a race of people, a virus that caused a genetic mutation, and I'm using terms to explain it to a newbie. Thank you. So don't shoot me down for being a hundred percent not accurate. But for a period of time there was this genetic mutation, this infection that ravaged the Klingon race, and part of that resulted in generations, a couple generations of Klingons not having their ridges. So they're supposed to have the ridges. Star Trek has explained it away as they are supposed to have the ridges, and the Klingons that we see are in the original series are take place in the time period of Klingon history where they're suffering from that virus in the generation that generational infection period.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Okay, I can live with that.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

So that is the official reason. Besides the Klingons, what did you think of the rest of the episode?

SPEAKER_03 4:39

I actually kind of liked it, and I thought that after this woman's husband died, she was like the boss lady and they had to listen to her. I mean they Like they didn't like really like admit it, but when she said something, they had to listen to her.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

They did, but she was kind of on a path toward being killed. Well, we don't wanna say that yet. Oh, spoilers.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

But the moment she had her son, she was gonna die.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Well, no, even before she was gonna have her son, because she was willing to accept being put to death right in that moment in the tent. And Kirk has to intervene and save her. So it very much was no, our culture is your husband, the leader, has died. And you're attached. And so now it's time for you to die. Oh, well, well, really and she was willing to go along with that. Oh, I was wrong. It's not entirely a clear plot to give that impression, because it's definitely a muddled plot line. My initial impressions to the to the episode, I don't I don't like the episode. I don't like the plot points. We saw this in one of our test episodes for SG1 with them on the planet that had been populated by the people from ancient Mongolia, and they had a whole plot system about females and their place in society and so forth. It's not a plot point that I particularly care for. Besides that, though, it's not a well-executed episode as far as filming and choreography.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

No, I felt like the they were like free to roam around, and then the direct the photographer was just like, keep going, I'm having fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Right. And none of them are wearing it's 1960s, so none of them are wearing lapel mics. A lot of a lot of the scenes that take place outdoors. Is it the Gorn area? It is the exact same filming area as the Gore as the Gorn episode, the arena, uh, which you'll see many episodes from that area. But when they're outdoors, none of them have microphones. So when there's those shots that have they're far away, but they're still talking to each other and or they're like shouting at each other, yeah. That's all redubbed. That's them overlaying audio, the dialogue over. So a lot of it doesn't sync up, a lot of it doesn't make sense. I think the dialogue was purposely written so that it was short, choppy, and to make it easier to overlay and dub over the film, but it means it's not a very effective episode. Besides which, it's another episode where you have people talking and delivering lines of dialogue that feel like they come from being kind here, a high school drama department.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Basically, like Shakespeare 101. Yeah, like I'm taking this class not because I have any interest in it, but I'm in theater because I just want to I I have no talent, I have no interest in learning the theater. I just want a class to boost my GPA. But they had really nice hair. You like the costumes?

SPEAKER_03 8:06

I did, and they're like feather boa capes.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah. So I have in my notes when they when we first see them, then it's just like, oh my god, the My Little Pony Broys got jacked. The bronies. The bronies. Uh, because they kind of look like that. Because the actors, uh, I'll burn a uh triple tidbit for an interesting fact. All of those actors are wearing elevated shoes because remember at the very beginning seven feet tall, supposed to be seven feet tall. None of them get to that height, but they are wearing elevated shoes. So I mean, they kind of if you watch them, they kind of look like they're clopping around like bronies. That's that is true. Yeah, so uh Jackie likes the episode. Well, I mean, I didn't say I loved it, but you said you kind of liked it, so it'd be interesting to see how we rank it. Everyone remember, I seem to rank the episodes based on how entertained I was when I watch them. Jackie's supposed to rank them the same way, and then she just gets completely biased at the end because she's like, Oh, you brought up a lot of good points, so I'm gonna change my rankings. So we'll see how unbiased of a review we can get from Jackie.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

We have an open mind.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Okay, we'll we'll see about

Treking Through the Episode

SPEAKER_01 9:17

that. But enough about our initial impressions. Jackie, why don't you walk us through this episode?

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Okay, well, it's very exciting because my man uh McCoy is the knowledgeable one of this said race because they're in a conference room. McCoy, Kirk, Scotty, Spock, Chekhov, and Ohura. And they are approaching this planet called Capella 4, which we don't learn the name of the planet until like 20 minutes later. But um McCoy is sharing what he knows about these people because he seemed to be on the planet before on a detail to give them aid, but they refused his medical assistance.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Right. So to set up it in complete terms, the planet Capella 4 has a mineral. You know what the mineral is? I didn't get there, but topeline. Topeline, and so that is used in Starship life support systems. Starfleet is trying to court like they often do, and we've seen before. Yes. They come across civilizations and planets that has a resource, and they say, Why don't you join the Federation? We will give you mutual aid and protection, and in turn, you can let us mine these minerals on your planet or whatever natural resource that they have to add to the collective of the Federation. So I'm glad you brought up Dr. McCoy going to visit them previously. It's not fully explained. I would have liked a better explanation as to why McCoy was sent. Because it seemed like, correct me if I'm wrong, McCoy was there by himself.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Yeah, it didn't seem like he was there, like you know, like doctors beyond borders or anything special. It was just like he popped over. Hi, anyone need me? And they're like, no, we have our own version of Darwinism.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

See you later. Yes. And um, and yeah, just kind of uh here's our first impression. I it what that wouldn't have been first contact, that that would be a terrible first contact mission, but yeah, it just seemed kind of weird that McCoy just popped down and tried to give them aid, and this is the first that they're learning about the culture. It seemed like that would have been handled a lot differently. It seemed like they might have sent a team down.

SPEAKER_03 11:41

I would presume so, and because he could have easily been killed, because you know he's just a doctor, not a warrior, not an ambassador. So, but in any case, and so he like keeps talking, and then Spock is like, I would suggest a landing party go heavily armed, and then when they do go down, do you see any weapons with them? No, they're tiny and they're hidden.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Right. Yeah, it's a it's an awkward suggestion from Spock. I mean, yes, practical reasons go down with weapons, but Spock almost seems to be suggesting like they should go down with a show of force.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

Yes, because well, I mean, all that McCoy keeps talking about is how violent they are, and they have this like major Cleagot weapon that they love to use, but and then Spock's like, well, we don't want to die when we first arrive. I think that was mainly his uh worry. Right. For lack of human terms.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Yeah, but aga yeah. So they beam down.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Yes, and we also I also forgot, um, this race also has a lot of taboos, so uh we have to make sure we don't like step on toes and we have to be nice to them still. Right. And so we go down and we leave Scotty in command, and he Scott Kirk does tell Scotty that Klingons have been seen in the area, so keep your peepers open.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Right, foreshadowing to what we're gonna find.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

And so we go down to the planet Cop Capella, and this is where we see all their pony outfits. Like they have full blonde hair that's in a ponytail, they are wearing bright colored like bodysuits, and then like their feather bow capes.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Right. Well, it's and they're more than ponytails in some instances. Some of them are wearing like full head caps with their hair coming out the top.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

So I when I was young and I was learning I was like in a dance group, and the older girls they did dance with their their hair pulled through a giant cone.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, so it's it's less of a ponytail and more almost resembling like a horse tail. That's what I saw, yeah. By the way, we're going to assign all of these horse references and horse metaphors and continue to refer to them as bronies and my little pony jokes. There's no horses in the episode. No. They are not a horse culture. This is us absolutely projecting onto this poor society.

SPEAKER_03 14:16

Well, I mean, and along with horse culture, a lot the hair is very intricately um braided and decorated. Like the women's hair is so beautifully, it's not just a bun, it's like multiple braids. It's beautiful hair.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Beautiful. But they get down to the planet and we meet the horse people, and with them is a Klingon. Fun fact, do you know the name of the Klingon? This is a trick question.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

I probably do, but I can't find it.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Okay, we'll get to that later. But with with the horse people is already a Klingon, which is a he wants to take the Topoline for himself. For the Klingon Empire. Right. And of course, we get, I think, I don't want to say it's my favorite moment of the episode, but it is kind of the funniest moment to me where we the landing party is projecting this aura of we're friendly, we're human, the Klingons are bad. And then the very first thing that happens is the red shirt in the in the landing party goes, a Klingon, and whips out his phaser, and then blah! He gets this projectile boomerang frisbee thrown into his chest and and killed.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

And then and then Kirk Light goes, Hi, uh, we're trying to be nice, and McCoy gives another salute. Like, I know how to officially say hello, um, but uh uh this officer is young and dumb. You killed him, uh, but we'll forgive you.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, like oh man. It is there a better example of a red shirt being absolutely disposable up to this point, better than this example? Because we've seen red shirts die in absolutely throwaway moments, like the flower and the apple. Yeah, but at no point was that followed up with his colleagues going. I guess he's yeah, he's young and dumb, don't know what to tell you.

SPEAKER_03 16:17

So I mean that wasn't very uh full of you know, we should be well armed. No. So why bring one security officer? No. So now it's just three of them, and then our music intro.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Right, and for reference, the three of them are Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

We learned that the Capellan's leader's name is Mob, M-A-A-B, and he asks Kirk and McCoy and Spock to hand over their weapons, kind of like a test of blind trust.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

And I think it's the fact that we've seen the landing party show blatant aggression.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Yes, not like, hi, we come in peace. Kirk wants to contact the Enterprise, but the Klingon that they have with them says, oh, they're just afraid to bargain honestly, so don't let them. And so the landing party just tosses all of their weapons and the communicator to Mob.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Uh they tossed them on the ground, which was kind of funny because it wasn't like they toss them on the ground like they're being held at gunpoint, and yeah, they're not really, they just kind of know that the Capellans are quick on the draw with their little death frisbees. And so it's just like they easily could have just I don't know. It was a weird moment where it's just like throw everything on the ground instead of like, here's all of our stuff. Especially after we've just been done trashing the dead red shirt and saying we have no idea what the hell he was doing.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

So the landing party is moved to a tent and Kirk is pacing. He's super angry that they lost a crew member already. And if there's a Klingon on the planet, that must mean there's a Klingon ship, like he presumed. It must be near the Enterprise. And so he's just like, you know, freaking out at that moment. Then we go to the Enterprise, and guess what? Chekhov notices a ship in the area, and he cannot tell what kind it is, but Scotty decides not to tell Kirk just yet. He wants to have all the information.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, it's kind of weird that they don't even attempt to radio down. Because in that moment they would have attempted to reach the landing party.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

And they wouldn't have been able to.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

And we would have a different outcome to the episode. So it's weird that I it's almost like Scotty's breaking Starfleet protocol in this one, but did you notice that the screens have been upgraded also?

SPEAKER_03 18:52

They're like poster boards.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

I think yes, and I think that is a remaster change. Just just for the just for clarification, I don't think in the 60s they did anything. I think this comes from the remastering, but I just find so many like new things.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

I'm so excited. So we are back in our tent, and these tents are absolutely beautiful, like Moroccan style. It's I don't know, they're just gorgeous.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Jackie the world explorer.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

But Kirk, he apologizes to McCoy for his outburst earlier. And McCoy, you know, I forgives him. And then Spock is just like, emotion is inefficient at this time. So, you know, let's calm, you know, be normal. And then Kirk adds that, oh yeah, emotion is also illogical. I thought that was weird how they both agreed on the same thing when they're like in this turn in kind of danger. And so they take a seat, you know, just to figure out what their next move is, and then inwop a beautiful woman with like a tray of food. And there's an example of where her hair is all intricately braided, and she kneels and places the food in front of Kirk and tries to give one to her, like give a piece of food to Kirk.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yes, on Earth we would call this entrapment.

SPEAKER_03 20:21

And then McCoy's like, don't take it. Because if he took the food from her, then the Capellans would have her near closest male relative arrive for a bout at combat.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Right. And then you see, I don't know, because they don't explicitly say it, but then the next moment a male Capellan pops into the tent. I think that was the relative.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

Yeah, he was ready to, he's like, come at me.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

I think he was they don't follow through on it in the show, but the male Capellan pops in. I think that was her relative popping in to say, Did you take the food? Are you ready to fight for it now?

SPEAKER_03 21:03

So and he is disappointed, but then now we pop into another tent. We have so many.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

And what style tent is this, Jackie?

SPEAKER_03 21:11

It is very majestic, and we have a large fire.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Still of the Moroccan aesthetics.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

I think so. I mean, I've been watching a lot of 90-day fiance, and these tents remind me of where we're going when 90-day fiance the other way happens.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

The other way.

SPEAKER_03 21:30

Yeah. It's when Americans go visit the the other country.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

It's its own show, 90 Days the Other Way.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

It is. That's what it's called.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

Hosted by Jackie.

SPEAKER_03 21:41

So this is where we meet a car, not a car.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

No. All of the Capellans have two syllable names, and their names are pronounced 50 different ways throughout the whole episode. It's like a car, and then it's ac R, depending on who. Pronouncing it.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

And I lean.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Yeah. And Mob, the opposing leader, is like mob muhob. But the leader, he is the tear. Right. And sometimes it's tear, sometimes it's closer to tear, sometimes it's tear.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

Whoever is speaking, we never really know.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

There's no consistency. Someone on this episode, do when they did the table read, probably should have came up with a consistent way to pronounce these names.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

But I got all the spellings from my CC, the close captioned. So I have the right spellings. I got my spellings from Memory Alpha. So this leader is the leader of the ten tribes. There's ten tribes. And of course, he has beautiful blonde hair too, but he doesn't have to wear it in a ponytail. He can just wear it down.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

No, and he is significantly older than anyone else we've seen so far.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

Yeah, like Uncle H. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Uncle T reminded me of Uncle T Ear.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

How am I gonna finish this?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

And zoo. So tell us what Uncle T Eer says.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

When he arrives, like he brings more people, and he's flanked by another blonde woman, and this is the woman we were talking about earlier, and her name is a lion, but it's spelled Eileen. Right. And so and she's super pregnant, like pop any day now. And a car, you know, the tear, he is sure that she's going to give birth to a boy, which is why I mentioned it earlier. Like that's gonna be the the next in line, all that great jazz. But anyway, Kirk introduces himself to a car, and he's upset that his security officer was killed that day. And then a car is like, wasn't it an honor for him to die for you?

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:05

Like duh.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Kirk, keep your mouth shut. He's dead. Fix it in post.

SPEAKER_03 24:11

And then mob explains that they're different customs. Oh, I know what the Kleon's name is. It's Crass.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

It is Crass.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Whoop, whoop. So everyone gets like bright, beautiful attire, and Mob is stuck in black. He has ugly tassels, and he's his poor headpiece is just like a a black hood.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Right. He's not cute at all. Bet you those tassels. We're looking at a picture of it. Bet you those tassels came off of what do you think? Jacket? Curtain or carpet is what I was gonna ask. You think curtain? So and his headpiece, again, is just designed to make him look taller than he actually is to fit the aesthetic or the lore that these people are.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

Well, it could be loose looser for the actor. The poor guy looks like he's bloating.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

He looks really hot, like hot literally like hot in this outfit.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

So it was uh I I don't know if it's in my troubled tidbits, but it was extremely hot for the outdoor scenes when they were filming. And so all of the actors, all of the Capellans were miserable during filming. I can imagine.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Oh, look, here's my note, my note about how is Crass a Klingon, because I know Wharf is a Klingon.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

There you go.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Only eight pages for this episode. And McCoy continues, like every time a leader uh appears, McCoy always gets in front of Kirk and does that weird salute, like across the chest and then open heart. Like he opens his hand in front of the heart. And it's like because Kirk refuses to do it for some reason. So and McCoy thinks he knows everything, so he's gonna do it for them. And McCoy also tries to appeal to a car that cross line. Like whatever he's saying is not the truth. And Mob calls the topeline rocks, like kind of saying that they don't really know how valuable these are, but then he sees that two different races are so important, so then these rocks must be important.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Right. Well, they'd have no reason to if the only known purpose of the mineral is for life support systems on starships. I think we can agree. The Capellans are not a space voyaging people.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

No, they're happy on their planet.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Right, but they accept and acknowledge that there are other cultures that travel through space. Yes. Which is interesting because a lot of the times you don't make first contact with pre-warp societies. You observe them, but you don't interfere. Warp technology is kind of gonna become the line in the sand of when the Federation views a culture as ready to face the reality that there are other aliens in the system. Probably dating back to the fact that we humans found out that there were aliens out there right at the same day when we achieved warp technology and we met the Vulcans. Star Trek First Contact, a movie we will eventually get to.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

So this is like a new, like a nuance because we've already apparently met them with McCoy. So that would show that they already know others are there are others among us.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah, because they don't alone. They don't have any reaction to Klingons, humans, Vulcans, they don't question Spock, you know. So they must have a history of contact with other um species.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

And so Cross also is trying to like get in Mob's ear, like you don't want to trade with Kirk and the Federation because they're gonna give you medicine and knowledge and education for the youth. Who needs that? The Klingons and you, Mob, we're on the same team. The strong will live and the weak will die. No need to change that.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Power through overwhelming conquest.

SPEAKER_03 28:32

And then like Kirk's like, duh, like I agree with this, but knowledge will increase your laws, and your race is your own, and everything will still be the same, but with us, but if you trade with the Klingons, they're gonna take you over, and then you won't be around anymore. So Car now has to think who he wants to have give access to these topoline rocks, and he sends everyone away. And as he does that, a giant fight breaks out between basically everyone's fighting everybody.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Yeah, with no real explanation. It it's uh quite jarring to jump into the scene where there's just we're back outside the tents, the original set where they first meet the Capellans, and everyone's fighting everyone. There is no explanation. You just kind of have to figure out as you're watching, you see Mob fighting some of the people, you see a car fighting some of the people. Ultimately, you need to come to the conclusion that it's a coup. A car seems to be, whether he was actually or not, a car put out the impression that he might want to do trading with the humans. Mob didn't care for that. He wants to do business with the Klingons. And so he stages a coup. And while we get all this fighting and we see all this action shots, we jump back to one of the tents where Kirk and company have entered to try to take advantage of the chaos and find their communicators, their phasers, but they find the Klingon doing pretty much the exact same thing.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

And Kirk is able to get on top of Cross, and just as he's trying to get more information, Mob comes in and separates them because you know Mob is pretty much team Klingon at the moment. And then we learn that Tyr, we learn that Akar has died, and Mob has taken the position as tier for himself, and he's gonna see a new way. And then Cross whispers to Mob that they did have a deal, so now that he's a tier, let's do it. But Mob's like, Well, we're gonna be changing things up now that I'm the tier.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Right. And then because what happens is is as the Klingon is trying to convince Mob to honor the deal, he's telling Mob that he should just have Kirk and company killed. Kirk steps in and takes advantage of the moment to say, Well, why don't you let me and the Klingon fight? That should be entertaining. And rather than take him up on the offer and seem eager to do it, the Klingon very much is like, no, no, no, no, no. That we had a deal. Kill Kirk, kill everyone. And Mob is like, Well, actually, now it seems like you're kind of scared and you may not be the great warrior that you were pretending to be. So I don't really know that I want to continue to do business with you. So at least Kirk has bought them some time.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Now we pop up to the Enterprise after all this has been happening, and Ohura has been able to find a faint distress signal from the SS Didre. SS Didra. And Scotty is like, Deidre is a freighter. Why would they be out this far? And so they must be under attack by the Klingon ship. Let's go save them. And then Sulu goes to work to find out its location, and Uhura is trying to reach Kirk and still can't. And then back down onto Capella 4 in our beautiful tent. Aline, our pregnant woman, she is brought in at knife point. And since Akara is gone, she too must die. She's given up her life and her unborn baby, because that is a threat to Mob.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Yeah, that's the reason behind the death. And they don't respect her. I mean, as she enters the tent, Mob trips her, she falls, her arm falls in the fire and burns it. So it's very much set up as we have no value to you anymore. Or it's very much set up where she has no more value to society, and yeah, your life is forfeit. And she goes along with it.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

And so Mob brings up his sword to, you know, to kill her, but Kirk yanks her out of harm's way and a fight breaks out. Once everyone is subdued, the landing party and Eileen now are taken away to another part of are taken into another tent as prisoners. And Spock makes a comment that they're an hour behind on check-in, and so hopefully somebody on the Enterprise will notice. And McCoy is trying to tend to Eileen's burn. He's like, I can tend her a burn, and I'll only die once. So at least she'll be you know healed. And they use this as a ruse because of course she does not want to be touched, and they're able to subdue their security detail and find their communicators and run out of the tent into the surrounding hills. We return to the Enterprise and they're at the coordinates where they believe the Deedra should be, and all of her communication has been, but there's no debris, no radar, nothing. So they've been tricked.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

And we pop back to the planet and we're in those hilly canyons, and the four are kind of hunkered down because McCoy is focused on trying to, you know, help her burn. And you know, how when does your baby do? And she still refuses to let him touch her. She slaps him, and then he slaps her back and it like like flips a switch because then she's like, Okay, you can touch my baby, my belly bump. And he's able to tell that the baby is ready to come for real. And then I Eileen even mentions that he knows more about this than the women in camp. Right. I thought that was pretty cute. Outside with Kirk and Spock, they have created a plan with their communicators that's going to create a sonic boom and break off pieces of the rocks to make those that are following them have to go a longer walk around a mountain to finally get to them. And during that rock explosion actually kills some of our medical pony friends.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Right. Bad science to try to say that the communicators generate enough sound to create what is evident. It's not just a rock slide where they disturb some rocks on a cliff. It's an explosion. So fine, make that make sense.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

I mean, and then Crass even kills somebody. He's like, eh, we don't need them.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Yeah, yeah, he's just like, fine, we don't need this one. So we are going and which takes us to a commercial break and starts the third act of the episode. There's going to be throughout the third act and some of the beginning of the fourth act, there's going to be lots of scenes that we skip over. It's a lot of outdoor scenes where it's just establishing shots of different characters traversing across the terrain, the Enterprise crew trying to escape, and the Capellans in pursuit. But one of the most notable scenes as we're coming out of the episode is the Enterprise crew is still running because again, they've slowed down their pursuers but not stopped them. And we get, it feels like five minutes, but it's probably only 20 seconds, of the three Enterprise crew members trying to get up a not even a huge cliff face, just a little uh rocky hill. And they're trying to help Aene get up across this rocky cliff, and she just keeps going, No, no one touched me. Only McCoy's allowed to touch me, only McCoy can touch me. And it's not like she's it's not a one-off gag where in this scene they try it once and she says no once. They try multiple times, and it's at least three, four times that she says, No, only McCoy can touch me. It's like, we get it, move on episode.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Up in space, the Enterprise is unable to still find the freighter. They cannot find debris, anything. Scotty asks for the distress call to be played again, and the voice asks for Enterprise by name to save them. How do they know the Enterprise was near? Like, so he figures that the Enterprise was diverted from the planet into a trap. Back on the planet, the three of the landing party and Elaine have moved into a cave because our girl Eileen is super close to giving birth to her baby. And Kirk asks for a special rock that turns the flame when it's hit so that they can be warm and everything. And Eileen cries out in pain, and of course, she doesn't want to be touched, but apparently McCoy is able to touch her, and Kirk jokes that he gave her a happy pill. And I noticed that she's been wearing this super long veil the whole time. I would have gotten rid of that long ass time ago, because that's that would catch on some bushes and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Yeah, I'd maybe she kept it because it's culturally important, and boy do we know that she just wants to follow her culture's traditions.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

Outside of the cave, while I Eileen is giving birth, Kirk and Spock notice that there's green vegetation around, assuming water is near, and they also need to obtain weapons. And while they are gathering materials to create said weapons, inside the cave, McCoy is trying to talk to Eileen, get give more information because she has expressed that she does not want her child, she actually hates her child, and in her culture they're just carriers, and then the baby is given to the father.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

So I don't know why she hates the child. I don't know if it's a leftover feeling from just cultural differences where the women have no emotional mother attachment to their children because, as you said, the kids are given over to the father and his care, and so pregnancy is just an inconvenience. I don't know if there's any resentment or carry over from the fact that the child's father is dead, and therefore the child and her should have sacrificed their lives way back in the tent before they escaped. So, but yeah, there's there's no connection. She's not looking forward to being a mom.

SPEAKER_03 39:49

And so she gets closer and closer, and McCoy is telling her, basically, you're a woman, this is your choice. Pro choice girl. And then she goes quiet and the baby is born. Very impressive there. When Kirk and Spock come back into the cave, McCoy is proudly holding the baby, and then he tries to give it to Spock to hold, and Spock is like, What am I holding? And then the baby just cries. So McCoy takes it back. But then Aileen is in like the shadows, and she then asks for McCoy, you know, the two syllables, to bring our baby back, and then he'll explain to the other two what our baby means later.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

Right, because what we glossed over when the child was being born was a whole scene where McCoy is trying to convince her and get her in line to understanding or change her mindset by telling her that, you know, say repeat after me, this is my child, and then she just says, Yes, yes, yes, it's your child, fine, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 41:01

On the Enterprise, Ahura receives another distress call. There are so many in this episode, and this time it's from the SS Carolina, which has been listed as being in the area. Scotty tells her to ignore it, and she makes asks, Are you sure? And he says, Yes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And then Chekov is like super excited and says he knows this phrase from Russia. Right. Like you just got a distress call and you're excited.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

Yeah. Everywhere I read it was saying that while this is an ongoing gag of Chekhov and trying to claim certain things as originating in Russia, this might be the first instance of him making that joke. But he also kind of breaks the fourth wall in that moment where I don't know that he breaks the fourth wall, but he kind of smirks in a way that's uncharacteristic, like almost as if he knows his claim is garbage. It's it doesn't actually originate from Russia. He's just trying to throw everyone off.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

Oh, too bad they didn't have Google back then.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

Right. Yes, they didn't have Google back then in the future. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

It's the future. So Scotty has the crew do another sweep for the Deedra before they finally return to Capella 4. And he's going back to the planet because he hasn't heard from the landing party and needs to go check on them.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Well, and I think also he realizes that the they they've we've said it, there is no Deedra, there is no Carolina, that it's all just the Klingons faking distress calls to get the Enterprise away from the planet.

SPEAKER_03 42:47

In the cave, McCoy is sleeping, and Eileen hits him over the head with a rock and runs out of the cave while Spock and Kirk are out still working on their weapons. So she ran away, but she left her baby. FYI.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

Doesn't paint her as a mother of the year candidate for sure.

SPEAKER_03 43:09

And just like how Brian said earlier, back and forth, now we're on the Enterprise and we're 30 minutes away from the planet, but Chekhov notices that there is a ship in their way. Now they know for sure that it's a Klingon ship. And they're all to their battle stations. Uhura tries to contact the ship and it does not respond, but still comes out or the Enterprise, not Uhura. Scotty identifies himself as the commander of the time and still no communication. And then they get ready for it for attack. Uhura closes all communications and they're ready. And then they use that phrase I don't like. We're gonna ram it down its throat.

SPEAKER_01 43:56

Well, sometimes battles are violent.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

Yes, that's true. And we pop back down to the planet.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

Right, 'cause that's the last time we see the Enterprise in this episode.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

Yeah, you you never see them going home.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

No, not really. You see them depart, but more importantly, you never see the resolution of the standoff between the Enterprise and the Klingon ship. You're oh look at you, making me think. Because they just at the end of the we'll get there in a moment, but yeah, Scotty just shows up with everyone.

SPEAKER_03 44:30

You're right. Oh my gosh. See, this episode can be exciting. And so all of the Capellans that have been following Scotty, McCoy, Kirk, and Eileen, they are finally walking around the mountain, and they see that there's a cave opening and scout it. And yes, you know, that's where they are. They can see also that Spock and Kirk are hiding behind rocks across the way ready for them. And then Mob makes a comment about how they're so clever even while they are used such primitive items. But then Crass keeps pushing, like, just kill them. You they don't need these humans. Just stick with me. I next thing we know, Eileen is just walking out of the cave. She said, the baby is dead, the earthmen are dead. All is everyone's dead. And she said she killed them in their sleep. And if they want her dead, she'll be in her own tent.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

Right. Well, she claims that, yeah, she wants to die at home. All of it obviously is trying to get them drawn away from the cave so that they don't harm the enterprise crew, they don't harm the baby. Somehow, she has changed her mind and suddenly cares about the child, cares about the enterprise crew where she didn't before, but her character is so two-dimensional, there's really no way to discover what any kind of moment that she changes her mind, really.

SPEAKER_03 46:05

I think it was when she, you know, had that connection with McCoy. I mean that's the crush.

SPEAKER_01 46:11

That's the only place it can be, is when she changed her mind. But again, side note, they had to change the ending to this episode several times where she does sacrifice her life in a way to try to save them. And Roddenberry didn't like it, so it's a very weak ending to an episode. They had to rewrite it on the fly. And so again, it's gonna end, we'll get there.

SPEAKER_03 46:33

Yeah, because as she's walking, she's like, I'm still the wife of a tear, so uh demanding respects.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Yep, somehow, even though my life is forfeit and I'm supposed to allow you to, you know, kill me, uh, yeah, you still gotta listen to me.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

And so some of the candelans believe her, but Krass, you know, our Klingon friend, ignores her and runs toward Kirk and Spock, you know, he's trying to attack them. And Kirk shoots him with an arrow, and the Candelon that follows Krass, Spock shoots him with an arrow. But Crass has a phaser. Where did he get it from? And shoots the rocket Spock.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

The answer to where he gets it from, it's hard to tell, but the phasers are still with the Capellans, and in a blink and you miss it moment, when one of the Capellans dies in one of the fights and one of the confrontations, he does pick it up. It looks like he's picking up a communicator, but he's picking up a phaser, so he gets it off one of the dead bodies.

SPEAKER_03 47:37

Kirk can still not reach the Enterprise, so he is hoping the cavalry is coming, but he they're kind of on their own still. And Crass is continuously shooting in with the phaser. But then Eileen comes back and she pushes Mob to like fight for with Kirk and Spock, like fight Cross. And she even, you know, disrespects him by saying, Are you warriors or are you children? I think at this point, this is when he decides that death is no longer for her punishment. He's gonna keep her alive. So Mob actually sacrifices himself so that everyone else can live. And Cross shoots him with the phaser. And after all of this, finally, Scotty and his group of security men come running from around the mountain a little bit late.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Yeah, and just before that, after Cross is distracted by shooting Mob, it's important to point out that one of Mob's men throws one of their killer frisbees and hits Cross in the chest, killing him.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

And then, you know, on the happy side, we now see McCoy showing Eileen how to hold her baby. You know, little baby talk, some gentle holding. And she is actually smiling now, because you know, she's frowning the whole show. And then she like keeps calling, you know, the baby that it's McCoy's, and we don't really know how she's going to explain. Well, how is McCoy going to explain that? Would probably be the biggest question.

SPEAKER_01 49:15

Yeah, because ultimately the end of this episode, she signs the mining rights over to Starfleet, but at some point McCoy's gonna have to be like, yeah, okay, I'm I'm gonna leave you and quote unquote my kid behind. Don't know how that doesn't upset them enough to break the treaty. We never find out.

SPEAKER_03 49:37

But his name, the little guy's name is Leonard James Acarr.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

Yep, as we learn the name of the baby. But that's gonna be the episode. Roll credits.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_01 49:49

So, Jackie, what did you think about season two, episode 11, Friday's Child?

SPEAKER_03 49:56

I like that McCoy had a larger part in this episode, but I wish he had one that was maybe more medical and less lady drama, like baby mama. If that makes any sense. I mean, and like you said earlier, this this episode's kind of chaotic.

SPEAKER_01 50:15

Yeah, and that's kind of my final thoughts, too, is the episode's just more than chaotic. Again, I don't like plot lines that involve a female character from a species of people that has to conform to their societal norms, and that's the turning point. These kind of episodes just aren't my cup of tea. I would I I again it I'd there's several examples of this type of plot, but the female character is unhappy with her lot in society, in their culture, and so forth. And they get to the Enterprise or Starfleet or whoever get to encourage that thought process and get them to get there on their own. I don't know that there's a redeeming arc for Elaine or whatever her pronoun. We're gonna continue our tradition of mispronouncing names on the show.

SPEAKER_02 51:10

I like it.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

But I don't know if there is a redeeming arc for her because a, the acting's so bad, it makes her character, her dialogue delivery makes her character two-dimensional to me. So I don't know if there is a redeeming fact, except at the end, the kid lives, she signs over the mining rights to Starfleet, and that's the end of it. But there's so many unanswered questions as well that drag this episode down for me at the end. How does McCoy get out of being a dad? How did the confrontation go between the Enterprise and the Klingon ship in space before Scotty shows up to the rescue? So many unanswered questions. It's just gonna kinda drag the episode down for me.

SPEAKER_03 51:53

I mean, do Klingon ships have the ability to be like bats and like make their sound bounce off stuff? I don't know.

unknown 52:01

Shh.

SPEAKER_03 52:02

I'm just thinking out loud, you know.

SPEAKER_01 52:05

I guess we also that is another unanswered question is how do they fake the distress signal while also remaining well, so Klingons, Klingons have uh cloaking technology, so they can go invisible and and so forth, and that's how they can kind of sneak around and hide and so forth. Ironic for a culture that prides themselves on honorable warfare and so forth. Topic for another day. But yeah, just too many unanswered questions. But but before we give our final quotes to the episode, uh as a reminder, we post over on our Patreon, patreon.com slash trucks and tangents, our bonus episode, our bonus star note episode, where we'll dive into one or two topics a little bit deeper into Star Trek, the episode itself, and so forth. And I think this week's question is going to be should the Federation tolerate cruel traditions to avoid imposing its own values? So join us over on our Patreon, patreon.com slash tricks and tangents when you're done listening to the episode, and check out our bonus episode this week. Wrap up our final thoughts. Jackie, what's your favorite quote?

SPEAKER_03 53:13

I loved it with Spock and Kirk and McCoy all together, but McCoy is going oochy coochie goochie, and then you know, just talking, baby talk, and then Spock doesn't understand what it is, and Kirk has to explain as an obscure Earth dialect, Mr. Spock. Oochie coochie goochie coo. If you're curious, consult linguistics. Because I presume they don't have baby talk on Vulcan.

SPEAKER_01 53:42

I would imagine that they don't. So not a quotable episode for me, but it's gonna kind of be the moment in the cave that I mentioned. McCoy says, answer me, do you want my help? And McCoy says, Alright, say to yourself, the child is mine, the child is mine, it is mine, and she goes, Yes, yes, it's yours. And McCoy says, No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. Again, kind of the best of the best moment for the episode for me when it comes to dialogue. Not a quotable episode for me, the dialogue delivery, whether it was because they were dubbing for outdoor scenes or because they were trying to portray the Capellans in a specific light, it just makes everything feel like everything's two-dimensional in this episode for me. Everything feels like the actors are just cardboard cutouts for the whole episode, the way they deliver their dialogue. So, but that's gonna wrap up our final thoughts. We'll

Tribble Tidbits

SPEAKER_01 54:39

jump into our tribble tidbits for the episode or interesting facts. And Jackie, why do we call them triple tidbits? Because they are the best. His tribbles are fun, cute, destructive, terrible, all things wrapped up into one. Much like facts can be interesting and a whole bunch of other things. So first airing December 1st, 1967. I mentioned the Capellans, all the extras. They all wore elevated shoes to give them the appearance of being taller. They're supposed to be seven foot, they don't achieve that, but they're all wearing elevated shoes to give them just a little bit of extra height. The costumes were also rented from Universal Studios to be worn. They originally were worn in the Flash Gordon series from the 1930s.

SPEAKER_02 55:27

Oh, that's neat.

SPEAKER_01 55:28

The character Leonard James Acar, the baby, makes many appearances in the Star Trek novels in the non-canon episodes, joins Starfleet, becomes a Starfleet officer, and spoiler, eventually becomes Admiral Leonard James Acar.

SPEAKER_03 55:47

Does he find his daddy?

SPEAKER_01 55:49

I don't know if there's ever a reunion between him and Daddy McCoy.

SPEAKER_03 55:53

Oh my gosh, that's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 55:55

The Klingon name, and the reason why I asked at the top of the episode if Jackie knew the name of the Klingon, which is Crass. Do you know where you got it from?

SPEAKER_03 56:04

The closed captioning.

SPEAKER_01 56:05

The closed captioning where it says cross and then gives the dialogue.

SPEAKER_03 56:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

So if you're not watching with closed captioning, you would have no way of knowing that that is the character's name because it is never mentioned at any point in the episode. They never speak his name aloud.

SPEAKER_03 56:20

It says the Klingon.

SPEAKER_01 56:22

That is how he was referred to. So doesn't actually get a name. Disrespectful. The earth phrase fool me once, and so on and so forth, actually originates in Italy and not Russia. And then finally, the cave scene, the cave set that they use where the baby is born is the reused cave from the episode Devil in the Dark, that little pancake lava monster. I love them. Those are gonna be your triple tidbits for this week.

Episode Ranking

SPEAKER_01 56:53

We'll jump into our episode ranking. This is where we share what we thought uh the episode should get a Starfleet rank, pretending the episode would become a member of our fictitious starship. Once a season we get a new starship and we fill it up crew it with the episodes. A higher rank means we not only found the episode more entertaining when we watched it, but we think the episode is a more valuable member of our crew. And the opposite, of course, is true. A lower rank we means we found the episode less entertaining, and it's a more disposable member of our crew. Our ranks start at the bottom with ensign, lieutenant junior grade, and lieutenant. We can have an unlimited number of episodes at those ranks, and then the above average lieutenant commander, we can have seven commanders, we can have five, we can have one captain and one admiral. If none of that makes sense, we absolutely will post a visual representation of the rankings so far over at our Patreon, free for everyone to check out, patreon.com slash treks and tangents. Jackie, what is going to be your rank for this episode for your starship, the USS Luminara?

SPEAKER_03 58:06

I'm gonna have to put it on the bottom as an ensign. Just just like you had mentioned, there are lots of holes in it. And it would have been good to know more things with the Enterprise, I think.

SPEAKER_01 58:19

Even though in your initial thoughts to the episode you said you liked the episode?

SPEAKER_03 58:23

Well, I l I can still like it and still put it in my ensign. I gotta have something to go in the bottom. Oh, but Sir Kyle does all kinds of things and he's an ensign.

SPEAKER_01 58:33

Okay. Well then for my Starship the USS Comet, I also am going to rank it as an ensign because again, it's not a very entertaining episode. It's an episode that I think could be disposed of. I think we could have replaced it with a different script, a different episode. I don't even know that I would try to repair or fix this episode. I can't really think of any direct way to tweak one or two things to make this episode more enjoyable. It's not going to be the worst episode that I've seen. It's not going to be very good. Just for reference, as of this recording, over on IMDB, Jackie, what do you think this episode ranks?

SPEAKER_03 59:16

I'm going to guess a solid seven.

SPEAKER_01 59:19

So over on IMDB, it is a 6.7 out of 10. Not very highly ranked.

SPEAKER_03 59:26

See, yeah, whenever I go low, I it's high and backwards.

Turbolift Tease

SPEAKER_01 59:31

So we'll be back next week to trek through another episode, but before we go, we'll give our turbo lift tease or elevator pitch to the next episode's plot. I'll give Jackie the title of next week's episode, and Jackie, without any other information, will try to guess the plot of next week's episode. Jackie, next week's episode is entitled The Deadly Years.

SPEAKER_03 59:54

So we are going to another planet, giving aid to them because they have a horrific past that has been full of bloodshed, but now they are working together finally and growing as as a whole, like both groups that were dueling are no longer dueling. So now we're going to keep going forward, and the enterprise is helping to give you know aid, food, clothing, all that great jazz.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

So tune in next week to see if Jackie's prediction is close to being correct. If you want more show information, you can find and directly support our podcast over on Patreon, patreon.com slash trucks and tangents. Again, every week we post our bonus Star Note episode where we take a deeper dive into the episode, Star Trek in general, and so forth. And those are free for everyone that follow our Patreon. We also post the graphical representation that I mentioned of our rankings. Again, free for everyone to check out. And for those that support our podcast as Patreon members, crew members, we post our monthly dive into the animated series for Star Trek. We've got all of our test episodes that we recorded to prepare for the episode that not full podcast episodes, but still fun listening to us work the bugs out. We can also be found at x.com at treks underscore tangents. We're on Instagram and Blue Sky at Trex and Tangents, but Jackie, where can people find you? And what are you up to?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:30

I am mostly on Instagram at Jaboom, J I B B O O M. I am posting my physical therapy journey from my hip surgery, hip replacement, and getting ready for my next one. So lots of work to be done in PT.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:48

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 random content on my main channel, Pirate Poundtown. Coin collecting and other hobby content can be found on my secondary YouTube channel, Pirate Treasure Hunting. I'm socially on Blue Sky, and I can be found on Instagram under Pineapple Cannibal. Links to all 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. End transmission.