{"id":4023,"date":"2013-07-08T06:24:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T06:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/18-Miri"},"modified":"2013-07-08T06:24:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-08T06:24:31","slug":"18-miri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/08\/18-miri\/","title":{"rendered":"1.8 — \u201cMiri\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.8 — \u201cMiri\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mind got blown in the first 5 minutes–a duplicate Earth? Massively weird! Yet, this is never explained.\u00a0Thematically, having a second Earth kind of works to support the cautionary tale of science gone bad. The 1960s were contemporary when the episode aired, so the writers are saying “be careful with your hubristic experiments, or when we are visited by spacemen 300 years from now, this may be what they\u2019ll find!” The more cynical (and probably correct) view is that they knew they were going to skimp on production costs using existing studio back lot sets and costume pieces, and didn’t have any other convenient explanation why the Enterprise<\/em> is suddenly in America. I understand the duplicate Earth was retconned out of James Blish’s novelisation and one of the extended universe Trek<\/em> novels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s cool the way the episodes tend to start in the middle of the action, such as this one, where the episode starts moments after<\/em> the Enterprise<\/em> receives a mysterious distress signal, not before. Besides heightening the drama, this device underlines that the show is primarily about the Enterprise<\/em> and its missions, not individual members of the crew. This idea gets lost to various degrees in later versions of Trek<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the planet–is that a friggin\u2019 Zombie? Technically, it\u2019s a person rapidly aging and infected by disease, but it sure looks like a zombie. Spock can estimate the age of pianos on sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Miri ages one month every 100 years, but puberty is death. \u00a0This raises some questions about what is<\/em> maturity–physical development, or experience? \u00a0Can 300 years of life not change a person, even if the glands and hormones refuse to develop? \u00a0The scenes with the kids as a group get pretty Lord of the Flies<\/em>. \u00a0I get the idea from the script that Spock doesn\u2019t like children. \u00a0\u201cThey\u2019re like animals.\u201d \u00a0\u201cLike mice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love all the wide shots. The back lot was the same used for The Andy Griffith Show<\/em>, so Kirk & co. visited Mayberry! Lazy as this is, there are still some touches of strong design in this episode, such as the red web that they shoot part of Kirk\u2019s confrontation scene with the children through. I also like the composition of the scene where Kirk first \u201cbefriends\u201d Miri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This episode uses a couple of recurring themes: First, Kirk being willing to exploit\/manipulate native women by playing the seducer–this time of a child!–for the greater good of the ship. \u00a0And second, Kirk making a big speech and talking his way to resolution of the conflict. I don’t know about the seducing, but the talking trope is a good thing–it jives with the show’s emphasis on reason overcoming ignorance and the possibility of antagonists coming together to achieve the greater good without violence. \u00a0More or less the opposite of what is emphasized in J.J. Abrams\u2019 Trek<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Episodes like this, stuck on the planet for seven days, always make me think of practical questions. What are they eating? \u00a0Where are they sleeping? Is there laundry? Toilets? Who maintains the plumbing on this planet? Without functional plumbing, the children would probably die from disease, aging or not. Such questions aside, I thought the episode was interesting and tense, with great lines and performances throughout. I can’t say I’d want to watch it again, however–like Spock, I guess I don\u2019t care too much for children. No crew deaths. What did you think?<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Miri_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)<\/a>