"Patterns of Force" Full Reaction! - Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2
Added 2024-06-21 18:14:19 +0000 UTC
Comments
With the prevalence of WW2 movies at the time, finding Nazi uniforms in the wardrobe department made for an easy, cheap episode.
Chas Summers
2024-06-26 22:15:39 +0000 UTCThanks for the info!
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:16:18 +0000 UTCThanks much!
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:10:53 +0000 UTCOh, thanks!
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:10:12 +0000 UTCGene... hmmm
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:09:53 +0000 UTCYep, I'll be watching The Animated series for sure
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:09:30 +0000 UTCNope, it will never get old! It's a good reminder :D
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:08:51 +0000 UTCGood question!
bunnytails
2024-06-25 05:08:32 +0000 UTCOkay episode. The scene between Spock, Kirk, and the resistance fighter while they worked on their plan of action in jail is the highlight. But the main question is why these populations seem so willing to copy the federation.
William Terry
2024-06-25 01:40:20 +0000 UTCYep, A good solid episode. I hope it doesn't get old or diminutive, but watching these episodes with somebody who has not seen them before is a learning experience as well as fun for me. LOL. It's all good "Unless your Kirk". Good one,Bunny, Most excellent
timothy w moyer
2024-06-22 18:13:41 +0000 UTCImmunity Syndrome is a great ST episode. I consider it peak Trek.
SuicuneSol
2024-06-22 17:50:14 +0000 UTCAlas Bunny... Kirk does indeed know better...Yes... Yes he does. And yes...Shatner does a naturally hairless chest. Chest shaving was not a thing back in the mid '60s. I say this as someone who also has a naturally hairless chest. It is a thing.
Carlos Stevens
2024-06-22 07:09:41 +0000 UTCFirst Space Amoebas... now space Nazis... this is not the best of Star Trek. But it's ok... '60s TV series. is an appropriate excuse.
Carlos Stevens
2024-06-22 06:48:38 +0000 UTCWAIT A MINUTE! After TOS Season 3, you better be watching the cartoon series... the the movies... then TNG... then DS9... Then Voyager...Then....Enterprise... After that..there is no star trek.
Carlos Stevens
2024-06-22 06:16:04 +0000 UTCPatters Of Force... O Dear God! Space Nazis.
Carlos Stevens
2024-06-22 06:14:20 +0000 UTCThe chairman who was part of the underground was named Eneg. Spell that backwards and you get...
Mark Chrisco
2024-06-22 00:11:21 +0000 UTCAbout Shatner's chest: Gene Roddenberry apparently did not want Kirk to have chest hair. So Shatner was waxed. Maybe Gene thought men of the future did not have body hair. Maybe Kirk's chest hair was too sexy for TV. (Nimoy apparently refused to have his chest hair removed.)
SuicuneSol
2024-06-21 23:14:10 +0000 UTCBoth Shatner and Nimoy were of Jewish ancestry. They did not want to wear the uniforms lol. I have a lot to say on the relevancy of this episode to the world of today, but I think Greg's wall of text is enough for now.
SuicuneSol
2024-06-21 22:51:14 +0000 UTCYour welcome! As I said, I could go on and on about this. LOL I like how Spock pointed out also at the start of the episode that one reason he studied Earth History from Gill was that Gill talked about 'causes and effects' and not names and dates. That's the current model most teachers use these days to teach history -- we are finally getting away from the old (ironically German) method of teaching history which focused so much on names and dates and thus made it boring to so many people.
Greg Polander
2024-06-21 21:51:14 +0000 UTCGregory - thanks for the detailed historical notes - I think I just learned a thing or two : )
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-21 21:46:44 +0000 UTCAgree totally with Skyman's comments. I'm glad you liked this episode Bunny as it's always been a favorite of mine -- I guess in large part due to the fact I have two history degrees (BA and MA) and also have studied, written about, and enjoy playing games set in World War 2. It's a fascinating period to study, filled with both the worst horrors and evil Earth has ever seen contrasted with some of the most amazing and brave actions and the will of the people to overcome evil. Some would argue war is never 'good' -- I'd argue that WW 2 was a rare case of a 'just' war, in which an evil cancer had to be cut out less it destroy the entire body. It was fun seeing you recognize the major plot points (such as Gill being a figurehead) before the episode actually said it, so kudos to your observation skills. One of the things I really like about this was all the twists and turns and the detailed and well thought out plot as you also mentioned. Great acting in this one, again a number of wonderful and well known guest stars that Star Trek was always getting, and some creative solutions such as using the emergency transponders to escape their prison cell. Once again this had to have been another cheap episode to make, since they would have had access both to Nazi uniforms from past movies and shows and also a good city set to use. Your right also about this being 'yet another episode to drive home the importance of the Prime Directive'. (Although I don't think it was called that yet, Spock referred to it as the 'non interference' directive.) Although you could argue that Zeon also broke that -- they tried to uplift the warlike and primitive Ekosian society only to have it not work out at all. I do admire the fact that the writers of Star Trek were not afraid to get their hands dirty and tackle complicated and controversial subjects such as the Nazi's. In the late 60's when this episode was made the war had only been over for about 25 years, and the generation that fought in it was still very much alive. It wasn't the first time Nazi Germany was used as a plot device (the great episode "City On The Edge Of Forever") but Star Trek established early on that they were willing to 'go there' to help get their point across, which is still done in the modern shows. I can imagine the wrangling that had to happen with NBC to even get this episode produced and aired. Yes, Kirk was always breaking the Prime Directive -- there's a joke in a later Star Trek show that Kirk was known for 'having set the record for a Captain breaking the Prime Directive, some sixty four times' or some other high number like that. LOL He was not afraid to break the rules though when he felt he had to, and on a more personal level, steeling a hypo from McCoy to use on Gill despite the terrible risk that it carried. As a trained historian, I do love and totally agree with what Gill said as he was dying -- that historians study history and yet still argue about what really happened, and that the wrong lessons were learned. Gill thought he could use what he had learned and apply it, only to find out there's a reason it didn't work. And your right Bunny, that 'those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it' and that we have to learn the same lessons again and again due to collective human memory. A professor when I was in grad school taking an advanced American Civil War course said that 'historians who study the civil war employ more violence and bloodshed in arguing about the war then even the generals who fought in the war did' which I totally agree with. However, ALSO as a trained historian, I take offense at the idea that 'Nazi Germany was one of the most efficient governments' in Earth's History, as both Gill and Spock said. It's a common and popular belief, but it's just NOT true at all. Germany under Hitler was not as efficient as people think it was. I could go into a very long explanation as to why (and indeed did in the past for my papers, but in summary, Germany did none of these things during the war (or introduced them very late) that the United States did that helped give us a edge: 1) 24/7 wartime production and footing 2) Restrictions and rationing on civilian products 3) Welcoming new idea and new people which led to such things as the Manhattan Project 4) Utilizing women in the war effort, in almost every way short of actual combat 5) Modern and efficient factories and infrastructure, along with good manager leadership. Hitler got a lot of credit for bringing Germany out of the terrible inflation that the post WW1 government was experiencing in the 1920's, but the truth was the seeds for that were laid down by the pre-Nazi governments before Hitler took over in 1933. They just came to fruit during the 30's, and the Nazi's were happy to claim credit. The allegories here also quite strong -- the Zeon's filled the role of the Jews, Melakon the role of the heads of the Nazi party who wielded terrible power, Isak as the German resistance (there was a active German movement to oppose Hitler all during the 30's and 40's, not talked much about, but very present), etc. The footage used was also from the war. Finally, as you might expect, this episode was banned in Germany for a long time. From the Wikipedia article on this episode: Because the episode contains Nazi uniforms and insignia, and features a character who makes the statement that Nazi Germany was the "most efficient society" ever created, it was considered unfit for entertainment in Germany. Consequently, this episode is the only one which was not aired during either of the two original runs in Germany (on the public ZDF network in the mid-1970s and on the private Sat.1 network in the late 1980s/early 1990s). It was only dubbed into German in 1995, and was presented in the original English with subtitles in all earlier German releases. It was finally shown on German pay TV in 1996 and included on all DVD/Blu-ray season sets. On November 4, 2011 it was finally shown on the public network channel ZDFneo as well.
Greg Polander
2024-06-21 20:49:34 +0000 UTCI hadn't seen this episode in forever, kind of remember being bored by it as a kid. But now watching again, I like it. It's a taut, well-written episode and I especially like the direction - it felt very cinematic to me. I know, it's another in what seems like a long string of "Prime Directive" episodes in order to get use out of Parmount's backlot and period costumes, but I do think it's, as Bunny says, a solid episode. Happy to see the return of the "end of episode" plot summary by the trio. Thanks for the reaction, Bunny - agree with you that it seems no matter how hard we try, history does, unfortunately, seem to repeat itself. But we gotta keep up the good fight...
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-21 19:17:32 +0000 UTC
