{"id":4523,"date":"2013-08-22T06:19:13","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T06:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/118-Arena"},"modified":"2013-08-22T06:19:13","modified_gmt":"2013-08-22T06:19:13","slug":"118-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/22\/118-arena\/","title":{"rendered":"1.18 — \u201cArena\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.18 — \u201cArena\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are given to understand that warp speed is multiples of light speed. I don’t think, as a practical matter, that you can have a chase at that velocity. How far ahead exactly does the quarry have to get before you say it’s escaped? From here to Proxima Centauri? Can you imagine the energy it must have taken for the Gorn ship to decelerate from Warp 8 to a dead stop in a matter of seconds? After that, it takes the Enterprise<\/em> another couple minutes of travel at Warp 8 to pull abreast. How good are the ship’s scanners to be able to track an object with a diameter of perhaps 100 meters at such a distance? Come on. I don’t know what they taught in school in the 1960s, but we who came of age in the 1980s know that when the Millenium Falcon<\/em> goes into hyperdrive, it’s gotten away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are the thoughts I have left about “Arena”–an episode that tries so hard!–six days after watching it. It’s an episode that doesn’t quite work, however indelible is the image of the Gorn captain in the desert, locked in hand-to-hand combat with Kirk. Never mind<\/em> how this is contrived (Metrons? Could this be the origin of the term metrosexual?), the still pictures of Kirk locked in that combat are priceless. I can imagine an essay contest in which unindoctrinated schoolchildren are asked to write short stories to accompany them. Actually playing the episode kind of ruins it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I had other thoughts immediately after the viewing which I recorded. So it’s yards in the future, is it? I liked the focus in the teaser on Scotty’s technique as he operates the sliders on the transporter console. Slow at first, hold in the middle, then a burst of speed at the end. I liked the twist when the base is discovered to be destroyed, although the ship’s sensors should have detected it first. The red shirt, of course, buys it immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We have the series’ first mention of photon torpedoes, Starfleet Command, and the Federation. The repetition of Spock’s concern for all sentient life from “The Galileo Seven” sets this up as a defining characteristic for him, although it is odd that his advice to let the Gorn ship go is the reverse of his view about the Romulans in “Balance of Terror.” \u00a0My favorite line comes after Kirk is transported with the Gorn captain to the planet: \u201cAn incredible fortune in stones, yet I would trade them all for a hand phaser, or a good solid club.\u201d \u00a0Reminiscent of Richard III<\/em>, \u201cA horse! \u00a0A horse! \u00a0My kindgom for a horse!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why do the Metrons do any of this? Wouldn’t it be easier to lay low, or just destroy both ships summarily? They must have thought the fight would be cool, like the show’s producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What bothers me the most, other than the use of Warp 8 for hot pursuit, is the way they dumb down Kirk, making him savage and obtuse in the first half hour, just to make room for a big change of heart at the end. It pisses me off when they do this in Star Trek VI<\/em>, as well. I get the point they are going for–Kirk has to overcome his natural repulsion for reptilians and experience a paradigm shift in order to see matters from the Gorn point of view and achieve forgiveness. It doesn’t work for me because the audience is two steps ahead of Kirk, so he just comes off as a dummy. Maybe with a higher budget and a feature-length script they could have fixed these problems, and figured out a resolution that doesn’t depend on a deus ex machina<\/em> from the Metrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I didn’t hate the episode–I just felt disappointed, in a way that grows the more you think about it. Did you like it better?<\/p>\n\n\n

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