"City on the Edge of Forever", Take 2
The fiver (by IJD GAF)
Transcript
Memory Alpha
Preface:
* In the name of civility I'm going to avoid the idiotic mistakes made by Ellison and Roddenberry. Go watch SF Debris if you want that stuff.
The episode:
* Many nits here, so I'm just going to list them as briefly as possible.
* If cordrazine is so dangerous, keep it in a safe in sickbay, not in a medkit.
* "Ten thousand centuries?" Is that easier to say than "over a million years?"
* So what is the Guardian, machine or being? I don't like riddles any more than Spock does. Just say "an artificial intelligence" or "a being's intelligence imprinted onto a machine" or whatever.
* So the Guardian can pluck people from the past, but can't control the playback speed or send people to specific points? I'm glad the animated series chucked that stupid limitation.
* I do love the ricepicker story. Borderline un-PC at the time, completely so today. I wonder how China dubs that line.
* I don't know of Kirk presenting the computer problem as a veiled insult is clever or just mean. I lean toward the latter. How about "I know Spock, but please do your best"?
* Fifteen cents an hour in 1930 is two dollars an hour today. Still pretty bad, but I daresay the mission didn't have the budget for two more part-time workers anyway. And the food is free.
* Edith's speech is inspiring, but I question it's effectiveness for people in the Great Depression who are struggling just to stay alive. More than one person should've been grumbling about that.
* Spock thinks they can get platinum in this setting? What an idiot.
* I also love "stone knives and bearskins."
* Kirk and Edith's relationship is certainly one of the more believable ones. I do like the "let me help"/"I love you" thing.
* The wording of "I believe I'm in love with Edith Keeler" deserves a little discussion. First, Kirk really doesn't know what real love feels like. Second, how can Kirk really know how he feels when so little time has passed in this unusual situation. I'm reminded of Picard and Miranda Vigo; they both knew it couldn't last so the relationship was more intense with fewer inhibitions.
* I also like the lack of post-episode Captain's Log, or even a last scene between Kirk and McCoy on board the ship.
The fiver:
Captain's Log: There's no Enterprise, and we're stuck here. Wait a minute, what am I making this log entry on?
Spock's tricorder, obviously.
Kirk: Well, the only problem I see is that GIANT DIVERSION OVER THERE!
Policeman: Wha--? ...Aww.
Classic gag.
Edith: You two are wierd.
Kirk: Who cares? You're female. Let's go for a walk or something.
Edith: Ooh, giggle....
Even Edith Keeler can't escape the juvenilization of the fiving process. The use of "female" instead of "a woman" confuses me. Given the time period and Kirk's personality, even "a chick" wouldn't be out of place.
McCoy: Wow, I'm feeling conscious and sane!
Edith: You're on 1930s Earth.
McCoy: Hey, stop bursting my bubble like that!
Imagine the hangover jokes we could've made if this had been Scotty.
Scotty: So, did you set time right?
Guardian: They chose -- wisely.
Kirk: Just get us the hell out of here.
Guardian: But...but....
Kirk: Quiet, you. Maybe if you're lucky we can give you a cameo in a TAS episode -- with James Doohan doing your voice.
Guardian: Nooooooooooooooooooo!
Lots of good gags here. The Indiana Jones bit was certainly unexpected.
Memory Alpha:
* Lots of material here about the original, UNFILMABLE, Ellison script.
* Gene's being against the drug thing seems odd in light of Mudd's Women, considering that Gene wrote the initial outline for that episode. For me, having some rescued miners on board to deal the drugs could've worked, but it would've been several more guest stars and a lot more screentime. Even as is the episode seems too cramped.
* So Ellison backs off from having his "Cordwainer Bird" pseudonym attached because he's afraid Gene will blackball him in the industry. Since when did Gene ever have that kind of power?
* Clark Gable was not a leading man in 1930. If a leading man in 1930 who would've been known in 1967 was desired, I wonder why Maurice Chevalier, John Wayne, Buster Keaton, John Barrymore, Gary Gooper, or William Powell couldn't have been used.
YouTube:
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The cordrazine overdose.
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Edith predicts the future.
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Kirk and Spock discover how Edith changes history.
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The ending, including Edith's death.