Post #3889654

In the midst of a long wrestle with persistent sickness, I've retreated into comfort TV. My viewing of original Star Trek was mostly with my father or uncle, as a kid, on TV, where the Australian syndicator had no respect whatever for the intended order of episodes. Watching them as broadcast has been a bit surprising. The first few have been mostly set aboard ship, with only short scenes on the planet of the week. They also all share a similar plot. Some alien influence makes humans behave weirdly, and the crew have to work out how to restore normality, in a hurry because some additional problem is going to destroy the ship or kill crew members. There are few visible aliens to speak of, which is not at all how we think of the show. One of the main ways they show alien influence, unfortunately, is through men behaving disrespectfully toward women. Yeoman Rand has a particularly terrible time, making it super credible that she'd disappear not far into the first season, hopefully for some well-deserved rest and recovery. I look forward to the series maturing past this trend. A lot of Spock's backstory comes out quicker than I expected. His emotionless facade is broken a few episodes in by an alien virus that leaves him sobbing with guilt about how he treated his Mum. He is also a love interest for multiple characters. Really helps me see how Trek inspired fanfic culture. I'm ccurious to see how else my memories of Trek differ from reality, and how it grows into the show I think I know.