The Mark of Gideon?
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To quote Spock, "An exact duplicate of the Enterprise, but completely inoperative."
Still, I'd love to have a full scale duplicate of the Enterprise in my back yard!
Still, I'd love to have a full scale duplicate of the Enterprise in my back yard!
I liked it as a kid, because, well, being on the Enterprise by yourself! An introvert Treknerd's dream.
But yeah, this was one of those need-to-make-26-episodes episodes. The set was there. The guy-suddenly-by-himself-and-can't-figure-it-out trope hadn't been done yet. Bingo.
But yeah, this was one of those need-to-make-26-episodes episodes. The set was there. The guy-suddenly-by-himself-and-can't-figure-it-out trope hadn't been done yet. Bingo.
I always believed that by joining the Federation, the chairman had access to Starfleets military bluprints as well as other sensitive information! Not a good idea but necessary if one is to believe the shows premise!
JB
JB
One of the worst episodes.
If only for the 'final solution' and stupid duplicate Enterprise.
Can anyone duplicate the Enterprise? Why don't the Gideons give the blueprints to the Klingons in exchange for a planet to unload their extra population?
Does Kirk not know his ship well enough to know whether its in space or not or where McCoy spilled the acid on his desk?
terrible. Although if you ignore the final message and as people say don't think about it too much it might be OK. Actually No. I dislike this episode way worse than the 'Alternative Factor'. Its about as blatantly stupid as "Spock's Brain".
Still I would watch it on TV if it was on now.
If only for the 'final solution' and stupid duplicate Enterprise.
Can anyone duplicate the Enterprise? Why don't the Gideons give the blueprints to the Klingons in exchange for a planet to unload their extra population?
Does Kirk not know his ship well enough to know whether its in space or not or where McCoy spilled the acid on his desk?
terrible. Although if you ignore the final message and as people say don't think about it too much it might be OK. Actually No. I dislike this episode way worse than the 'Alternative Factor'. Its about as blatantly stupid as "Spock's Brain".
Still I would watch it on TV if it was on now.
Well, that strikes a little closer to home than I'd like to admit. As a teenager wanting to escape his circumstances, I would pore over the Franz Joseph blueprints and dream of having the ship all to myself, out in space somewhere with nobody bugging me.
I thought Kirk and Odona made a cute couple.
I find nothing wrong with the premise.
I did, just five years ago. Now I don't. It sounds silly that somebody would actually have trouble obtaining complete and detailed visual information on a target, any target - it's a technology we in the real world will be hard pressed to fight in the upcoming years.
Total, detailed visual information isn't something the Klingons would pay top darsek for, though. It's just skin deep, and tells next to nothing about how a starship is put together and what makes her tick. The Gideonite starship looks pretty, and hums and beeps the right way (recording of sounds ought to be as easy as recording of images), but it doesn't work, at least not beyond doing tricks a visual recording would allow the Gideonites to duplicate (that is, responding to "Viewer on!" type commands).
As for the woes of Gideon, it was made clear that they were languishing in a pit of their own digging. They had religious hangups about pretty much every reasonable solution to overpopulation. It wasn't explicitly mentioned whether emigration would be allowed, but I trust it would be out of the question, too.
All that said, I do think there might be UFP involvement in the events, too. Spock does get stonewalled by his superiors; there is reference to extensive negotiations; and something still has made the place of great interest to the leaders of the UFP (whether it's the set of completely misleading "physio-cultural reports" or something more factual revealed in the negotiations, we can't tell).
Timo Saloniemi
I did, just five years ago. Now I don't. It sounds silly that somebody would actually have trouble obtaining complete and detailed visual information on a target, any target - it's a technology we in the real world will be hard pressed to fight in the upcoming years.
Total, detailed visual information isn't something the Klingons would pay top darsek for, though. It's just skin deep, and tells next to nothing about how a starship is put together and what makes her tick. The Gideonite starship looks pretty, and hums and beeps the right way (recording of sounds ought to be as easy as recording of images), but it doesn't work, at least not beyond doing tricks a visual recording would allow the Gideonites to duplicate (that is, responding to "Viewer on!" type commands).
As for the woes of Gideon, it was made clear that they were languishing in a pit of their own digging. They had religious hangups about pretty much every reasonable solution to overpopulation. It wasn't explicitly mentioned whether emigration would be allowed, but I trust it would be out of the question, too.
All that said, I do think there might be UFP involvement in the events, too. Spock does get stonewalled by his superiors; there is reference to extensive negotiations; and something still has made the place of great interest to the leaders of the UFP (whether it's the set of completely misleading "physio-cultural reports" or something more factual revealed in the negotiations, we can't tell).
Timo Saloniemi
Damn, Kirk has all the fun.
Excellent point!
With no beach, mountain or anywhere else that didn't have people, the Gideons managed to find a space large enough to build this exact Enterprise replica. And yes, you have to build practically the entire ship to maintain the illusion because you never know where our dear Captain Kirk might want to go on the ship. "What, no hangar bay? That doesn't make sense."
Of course, for the premise to work, the Gideons also needed to include personal details that Kirk would or should notice - such as the acid spill (unless that was replaced by the third season), personal affects, trinkets, clothes, etc. If I built a replica of your house in order to fool you, what details would I need to include? That spot in the floor that squeaks? That closet door that never did shut right? Your secret stash of junk food?
But it needs to be more than visual. Again, if I were to duplicate your house, I'd need to have the computer working right, have all your video games and business files, emails and that word document letter to your mom included. Plus whatever foods you have or don't have, however many AA batteries you have, where you left the DVD of Superman I, etc...
If only the 60s mindset could have seen where their moral revolution was about to lead. Here we are, 50 years later and women have burnt all the bras they ever wanted to burn, almost passed the ERA amendment, homosexuals are not only out of the closet but are talking about their weddings on TV and nobody seems to be going to church much anymore, especially in Europe.
The Gideons would have rebelled against their religion long before it got that dire. Even if it was secret, they would have found ways to either slow the birth rate or increase the death rate. Suicide cults and extreme sports would take on a whole new meaning.
Now, having said all this, I like the episode. But it doesn't make much rational sense.
The replica would probably be built underground even if there weren't any other limitations - it's a complex 3D shape, after all, no sense in trussing it up aboveground. And it could be put to various uses right after the project was completed.
But the idea that Gideon would be shoulder-to-shoulder-full of people everywhere isn't really expressed in the episode. Yes, it's crowded in the cities, especially in important buildings. But "beaches" being full of people is no different from how things are on Earth - beaches are popular, and especially crowded if they are next to crowded cities. Mountains, too. Doesn't mean there would be people actually living on each cliff.
You mean the man in the grip of the exotic fever they injected into him while he apparently was unconscious after the beam-down? Between his illness, whatever extra drugs he was given, and Odona, Kirk wouldn't be particularly attentive.
But as said, getting the acid stain and other visual detail picture-perfect ought to be trivial. Indeed, had the stain not been there, the episode would be less plausible, as this would imply the ship was indeed recreated from some sort of "specs" rather than simply from complete visual records.
But Kirk's computer doesn't work. He accepts that in the stride, as part of the "mystery". His ship is an illusion, but her being broken doesn't immediately lead to the conclusion that she's a faaaaaaake. There are other conclusions available.
...Rebellions against religion tend to get very nasty. Particularly if the torture victim will stay alive indefinitely no matter what is done to him.
"Today, we will remove your brainstem - again!"Timo Saloniemi
In the movie Soylent Green, it was mentioned that farms were like fortresses.
So the entire surface of Gideon wouldn't be packed with people, the people would be packed into those areas that they were allowed to be. Vast areas of the planet would be off limits.
As for the mock Enterprise, someone here a few years back (Can't recall their name) suggested that it basically was a holodeck. While Kirk and Spock were roaming about, they were actually only twenty odd feet from each other.
Fake-Enterprise being a holodeck makes much more sense.
The answer is obvious. The leaders of Gideon emailed Kirk and asked him for them. After all, Kirk so graciously gave Khan access to the ship's technical library so why not Gideon too?
My only problem with it as a child was: if this planet is so filled with people, how do they have space for a completely empty ship?!
Digging a ship-shaped corridor network into the bedrock would be a relatively minor feat of engineering. Building cities accommodating a spare billion or two would represent a wholly different level of investment...
That could probably be done, though, and in all likelihood has been done. Food for the billions needs to come from somewhere, so much of the topside could still be dedicated to farming (explaining how orbital observations would not reveal anything much amiss). But while the cities could in theory extend ten kilometers down if need be, in practice there would be problems, especially if Gideon is tectonically still active. I mean, it does have mountains.
Timo Saloniemi
That could probably be done, though, and in all likelihood has been done. Food for the billions needs to come from somewhere, so much of the topside could still be dedicated to farming (explaining how orbital observations would not reveal anything much amiss). But while the cities could in theory extend ten kilometers down if need be, in practice there would be problems, especially if Gideon is tectonically still active. I mean, it does have mountains.
Timo Saloniemi
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