TOS: The Alternative Factor

[Andrew Joshua Talon]

It's not like there's just one kind of stupidity. The Alternative Factor is one kind while Star Trek Discovery is composed of several kinds of stupidity. We'd probably need a mass spectrometer the size of the Death Star powered by hundreds of garbage trucks full of flaming grant money to find them all.

[Nealithi]

I recall fond memories of this episode when I was a kid. It reminded me of the high concept or rather what we would now call high concept science fiction of the past. The idea that only precise opposites can actually annihilate each other. That you can't simply destroy one door as long as the other exists. Because you can't target the far one. Unless both are in the tunnel between and lock them in. What sacrifice two men. One mad and another simply a good man. Both damned to eternity of torment always at each other's throats. Balanced against the cosmos. The needs of the many.

In hindsight does it fail a bit in the science and some of the story craft? Certainly. But it is not like 'The Cold Equations' hold up well now either. Or the idea of dinosaurs thriving on Venus.

[Yukaphile]

THANK YOU.

[cdrood]

The resolution has so much wrong with it. As pointed out, there's nothing requiring the two to be trapped in between. In fact, it's probably more dangerous since there's the possibility someone else in one universe or the other will come up with the same technology and release them.

Not only does Kirk fight nutty Lazarus on his own with Spock and two guards watching, but it never occurs to anyone to stun him and give the other Lazarus some breathing room. Then there's the fact that while there's a struggle going on, Kirk takes the time to beam back up, go to the bridge, sit in his chair, and THEN order the phaser fire on the ship.

[cdrood]

This is my least favorite episode of TOS. I re-watched it a couple months back and, while I never really enjoyed it that much, I think I looked at it with a more critical eye this time. I don't hate it, I just enjoy it very, very little.

Spock's Brain had a ridiculous premise and some of the acting was... less than stellar. But for me it ends up in a so-bad-it's-good area,and it had a genuinely funny moment (of the kind meant to be funny). This one had better acting (IMHO), but this one had so many holes in it it's less ship than net. The anti-matter blows up the universe thing I could accept from Lost In Space, but at some point someone should have remembered that this ship's engines run on the stuff. Sane!Lazarus should have explained to the crew what was happening. What was Lazarus doing switching back and forth without going through the flying saucer? If one Lazarus going in automatically pulls the other one in, why did Sane!Lazarus keep going in, since we saw crazy Lazarus being pulled in?

The destroy-the-universe thing bothers me for a different reason. How many galaxies are out there? How many planets? How many opportunities to destroy the universe? Any Federation citizen who can do the math wouldn't bother saving up for retirement. My favorite TOS novel, The Wounded Sky, suffers from this flaw (though that might have just threatened a large number of galaxies and not the whole universe), so it's one of those it-just-bugs-me things and doesn't ruin the work for me. But here it was just the paste frosting on the cardboard cake.

I have a similar problem with all the "temporal anomalies" TNG era shows encountered at random. It would stand to reason that people who aren't Starfleet's best would also be encountering these things as well and messing up the space/time continuum. Worf literally drove through one on the way back from vacation.

[cdrood]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a distractingly bad fake beard like that anywhere else. You’d think the producers would have had the sense to NOT use it. Wouldn’t have helped the guest actor, it would have just had us even more focused on his disjointed performance.

I doubt anyone envisioned 4K resolution back in the 60s. The horrible beard probably wasn't that big a deal on a 60's era tube television.

As someone who watched reruns in the 70's, it looked bad on tube TV's as well.

[Veggietrekker]

Wow I requested this back in 2015 or so and I’m glad it wasn’t just tossed aside like I eventually came to thought. Thanks Chuck! Sorry you hated it. A somewhat promising premise just done half assed