#mad men endng

[calliecat93]

Star Trek 13-16. Let’s do this!

The Counciousnes of the King: It was fine. Not too much to keep me invested compared to others, but stil worth a watch. Learning some more Kirk backstory was nice and performed well by William Shatner. The climax and ending are very much tragic. A tyrant caused genocide, then tried ot hide and keep that legacy out of his daughter’s touch. But it failed, and that daughter killed the survivors to keep her father from facing retrobution. It’s just... sad. They’re both murderers, but cealry loved each other and the endng where the girl accidentaly kills her father i jsut heartbreaking (even if her reaciton dragged a bit too long). Finding out that Kirk survived a freakin’ genocide was also a pretty big reveal. Not the most interesitng watch, but still a good one. 3/5.

Balance of Terror: Huh, didn’t realize that the Romulans were introduced this soon, nor did I know that they looked like Vulcans (I had heard of them, but never saw). Anyways, this one was good. The situation felt tense and the Romulans like a genuine threat. I also like how we Kirk told off Stilles for being discrimatory towards Spock due to his bigotry of Romulans and outright told him that there’s no place for it. James T Kirk, destroyer of bigots! Though there is also something about Stills racism/bigotry being due to a century old war that cost his family and Spock pointing out that Earth hasn’t been much better in being barbaric. Boy that’s one thing that hasn’t aged! I alsomlike that they gave the Romulans actual purpose, they don’t feel like just some evil alien force messing with the crew or men gone mad like in other episodes. They feel like a legit threat with reasons why, which I guess helped the, endure for longer. It was a tense situation for the Eterpirse with Kirk visibly growing frustrated, and it was nice to see. The ending was also good with Hansen choosing death, which again helped give more to the Romulans and kinda made his demise sad. Overall good episode and the title is certainly fitting. 4/5.

Shore Leave: ... okay I knew from fandom osmosis that ST got weird at times, especially in Season 3... but WHAT DID I JUST WATCH?! That was... weird. Not necessarily bad, but weeeeird. I guess it was an attempt to be more comedic and considering that they look like they filmed in a park, save budget. I really can’t give an opinion on this one because I honestly cannot figute put what my opinion is for this one. It’s bizzare, but harmless and I’m having a hard time deciding if I liked it or not. Spock more or less tricking Kirk into shore leave was funny though and the idea of a planet that essentially creates your daydreams is interesting, haha. The fist-fight at the end was also fun, so there’s some enjoyable aspects if the bizareness turms you off. For a rating... ummm... 2.5/5.

The Galelio Seven: Okay, this is an interesting setup. Stranding Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and some extras on a planet with Kirk back on the Enterprise, which means we can let some other characters shine. I read that apparently this got made due to Spock’s popularity, so they gave him an episode where he’s leading a mission. Which isn’t a bad thing, we’ve mostly seen him so far serve as Kirk’s right hand man and this allows him both interactions with others and see him in a different position without Kirk for him to bounce off of. It’s very much a contrast with Kirk being a serious, respected leader who can adjust his demeanor depending on the situation, which aspock is more logical but comes off as more cold and uncaring which clesrly puts off the ones he’s in charge of. IDK how much of that is also Vulcan bigotry, but Spock’s logical approach that may dictate say... leaving people behind to a potemtial demise and not reacting whem people die isn’t going to win him any points from the human cast. For example, being more concerned about retrieving a dead man’s phaser, while it’s to let Scotty get the ship running, seems pretty damg callous when SOMEONE JUST DIED (though he does get the body tbf). McCoy also pointing out how Spock failed to take into account the creatures reacting emotionally due to his focus on a logical approach also shows flaws in his leadership and general mindset that make him a great second to Kirk, but not always quite fit for command. He’s doing his job and I get where he’s coming from especially due to what I kmow about Vulcans, but I can get the others as well. It’s a nice exploration of the two minsets which that and the general episode really kept my attention. 4/5.