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S1E10: "A Quality of Mercy"
posted by wonder2wonderSTAFFMOD on June 30, 2022 at 5:13 PM
"What if..."
"Captain Pike replaces Captain Kirk in (S)TOS "Balance of Terror?"
"Captain Pike meets one of the cadets who will die in a tragic accident on a cadet vessel in 2266. While he succeeded in saving most of the cadets, he was heavily injured and disfigured by delta radiation. "
"Can he prevent this future from happening?"
"A visit from himself - Admiral Pike - from an alternate time line reveals the consequences of what will happen if the accident does not occur."
"War with the Romulans!"
"Captain Kirk to the rescue!"
"Una is arrested. She is an Illyrian and her people are prohibited from joining the Federation because they practice genetic engineering, which has been banned since the Eugenics Wars. Pike vows to save her."
Captain Batel: "Under Starfleet code of conduct 587.63, I'm arresting Commander Una Chin-Riley for violations of our anti-genetic modification directive. She's an Illyrian, Chris."
Captain Pike: "I don't care what she is. She's my..."
Captain Batel: "I don't like it either, but I have orders. I didn't ask for this job. I really am sorry."
Captain Pike: "So am I. Because this isn't over."
Photos
Captain Pike and his 'sometimes' girlfriend Captain Batel cooking osso bucco.
Videoclips
• Outpost destroyed near Neutral Zone.
• Captain Kirk offers assistance.
• Scotty: "I'm an engineer, not a miracle worker."
• Confrontation with the Romulans. Captain Kirk arrives with 'armada'.
• Final scene season one: Una arrested.
To be continued in season two: return of the augments. Will Khan be there?
Reply by Steve
on July 7, 2022 at 8:20 PM
SPOILERS BELOW:
Was that red-shirted miracle-worker engineer assigned to the Enterprise or Kirk's ship? I guess it doesn't matter because it's an alternate timeline. Thoughts?
Reply by Knixon
on July 8, 2022 at 3:21 PM
So the implication is that if "Balance Of Terror" were a Pike episode rather than a Kirk episode, the result is war? That doesn't reflect well on Pike.
Reply by Steve
on July 8, 2022 at 7:37 PM
oh I don't know. I think Pike did the right thing but it didn't work. I really like that now he has a mission in life: Keeping his friends safe. It's been a while. I was getting more than a bit annoyed at Star Trek captains just dealing with their family issues. I went back and re-watched Balance of Terror. What a great TOS episode. Shakespearean. I love that they grabbed so much of the dialog and situations straight from the TOS episode (not to mention music cues). You have to admire SNW's swinging for the fences and remaking one of the best TOS episodes and able to make it their own.
Reply by Knixon
on July 8, 2022 at 7:49 PM
If something doesn't work, isn't that pretty much proof that it wasn't the right thing?
In the TOS episode, Spock advised Kirk that showing weakness to the Romulans would be a disaster. If Spock didn't give the same advice to Pike, then it was arguably Spock's failure. If Spock did give the same advice to Pike, but Pike ignored it, then it was still Pike's failure.
And somehow, remaking something never seems like "swinging for the fences" to me. Plus of course, these days, they could have done the exact same episode, scene by scene, line by line, but at the start of the episode instead of Tomlinson and Martine getting married it's Tomlinson and Stiles getting married, and it would be praised as "inventive" and "deep" and "visionary" and such. Balderdash.
Reply by Steve
on July 8, 2022 at 8:09 PM
It's a great episode. Sorry you can't enjoy it. They are doing some great things on this show.
Reply by Knixon
on July 8, 2022 at 8:31 PM
Some people just don't have sufficient appreciation for TOS, but I already knew that.
Reply by Knixon
on July 8, 2022 at 11:22 PM
I think it was shown in a few DS9 episodes that only Earth bans genetic engineering.
Reply by Steve
on July 9, 2022 at 2:48 PM
ohhh. So me watching since 1976 doesn't qualify? FFS. Also, complaining about a gay marriage that (checks) didn't actually happen is just weird. OK. I'm off to find more respect for TOS. Fact of the matter is some would rather we don't have any new star trek, but then go and watch and the new ones and whine about how bad they are. Lol. Good luck to you.
Reply by Nexus71
on August 23, 2022 at 4:55 PM
A quality of mercy would be if they stopped writing this drivel
Reply by Steve
on August 23, 2022 at 5:42 PM
You should write for them. No one uses drivel much now a days.
Reply by Nexus71
on November 7, 2022 at 12:00 AM
That would be pearls before swines. These folks wouldn't recognize a good creative idea even if someone were to hit them over the head with it with a hammer the size of Thor's Mhjölnir