What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"?

[The Squire of Gothos]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Kegek said:A cosmic struggle between doppelgangers on which the fate of two realities rests... yep, nice episode.

That's the vibe I get off it, I always liked the bit where the two Lazaruses (Lazarii?) fight between realities for all eternity.

Its a plot of significance beyond Apollo or Khan, despite not being as well written perhaps.

 

[22 Stars]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Ok, in all fairness, this premise might have been better either with a better guest actor or, making one of our own characters the subject, ala Mirror Mirror. Maybe a nice Sulu or even Uhura story.

I don't honestly remember what Lazarus B's problem was that made him 'bad'.

 

[Kegek]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

^
He went insane when he realised there was another Lazarus just like him. He's actually Lazarus A - the Lazarus from our universe was the bad guy. I enjoyed his inchohate ramblings about his need to wage his crusade to destroy an inhuman monster.

 

[Stag]

Hopefully they can rotoscope alternate universe Lazarus a shirt, but at least his beard can still remain...

 

[cooleddie74]

The episode might have been better had John Barrymore(Drew's dad)actually shown up to play the role instead of bailing out at the last second.

 

[Hofner]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Network Exec: What do you MEAN we have to go black for an hour tonight! The number one rule is we never, NEVER go black! There is no remotely possible reason for our network to go black! It. Just. Isn't. Done.
Flunky: Due to peculiar circumstances the only show we can broadcast in that time slot is Star Trek's "The Alternative Factor".
Network Exec: Ok, let it go black.
Flunky: Our viewers thank you sir.

Robert

 

[xortex]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

I would have felt better if there was a scene that explained how and why Lazerus B ? switched places with Kirk in the corridor. A scene where they outwit the bad Lazerus.

 

[cooleddie74]

"Y'see, Captain...In our universe the beer and women, they powered by ANTIMATTER!"

 

[Jack Bauer]

Stag said:
Hopefully they can rotoscope alternate universe Lazarus a shirt, but at least his beard can still remain...

Wasn't that dude in Deliverence?

 

[cooleddie74]

"I wuz in a Ford F-150 pickup when all dat shit happened...inspectin' magnetic communication hookers."

 

[Ronald Held]

Are we SOT, or is it the episode that is inducing these kinds of posts?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

I have two questions about this episode:

- Where does Kirk learn Lazarus' name? The first time we ever hear it, it's Kirk who's saying it. Lazarus never gives his own name. Or is that just a nickname Kirk gives him?

- Early in this episode, there's a scene down on the planet where Kirk says something about "I want answers. The TRUTH this time." But his lip movements clearly don't match what he's saying. What's up with that? I can't read lips, so I couldn't tell what he was really saying, but it was nothing like what we heard.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

I don't know this ep by heart, but here is the scene in the final shooting script wherein Kirk learns Lazarus' name. It may have been cut. Earlier McCoy had said Lazarus would be flat on his back for a month:

INT. SICK BAY - CLOSE ANGLE LAZARUS #1

Doing deep knee bends, gulping great hearty gulps of air. CAMERA PULLS BACK to show McCoy standing there, incredulous, staring at him. . . and Kirk enters, stops in shock.

KIRK
What. . . I thought you said. . .

McCOY
I know what I said and I was going
to call you back. . . but Lazarus. . .

LAZARUS #1
Aye! Lazarus! Up from the dead!
Hail and hearty and drunk with the
wine of victory!

The scene then cuts to Lazarus explaining how he came to be down on the planet, etc.

The "truth this time" line you mentioned is in the script.

I'm not sure how the alien Lazarus would come to know of human Biblical characters, though.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Sir Rhosis said:
The "truth this time" line you mentioned is in the script.

Perhaps, but Kirk is clearly not actually *speaking* that line when they filmed it. It was obviously an overdub. Whatever he was really saying during filming, it was nothing like that line.

I'm not sure how the alien Lazarus would come to know of human Biblical characters, though.

Well, he did once describe his planet as "my Earth". Maybe it was literally that - a duplicate Earth? We've certainly seen a lot of those. The planet as we see it in this episode is obviously dead, but the two Lazaruses (Lazari?) have been travelling through time as well as space - this is the far, far distant future of their world. So it could conceivably be another Earth.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

I think a "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" treatment is called for, where all the dialogue is redubbed. Relevance to what's going in the actual scene is completely optional. Think of it as going the next step up from MST3K.

 

[Hambone]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Kegek Kringle said:
I enjoyed his inchohate ramblings about his need to wage his crusade to destroy an inhuman monster.

That's ironic.

 

[Basil]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

The episode isn't that bad, and its minimalist approach to a galaxy-wide event coupled with annoying but solemn tehnobabble seems a template for "Star Trek" incarnations from The Next Generation forward. What I wonder is why they didn't either blast the ships or Lazarus himself to stop the problem.

 

[cooleddie74]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Finally saw it. My FOX affiliate moved it to after midnight but I caught it and wasn't impressed. Sorry. Not by a longshot. Nothing was done to improve the shitty "corridor" effects or make the similary cheesy transition opticals look any better than they always have. Sure, the space and Enterprise shots were predictably sharp and awesome looking...but since when are they not?

 

[Kegek]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

Hambone said:

Kegek Kringle said:
I enjoyed his inchohate ramblings about his need to wage his crusade to destroy an inhuman monster.

That's ironic.

It's not just ironic... it's a neologism!

Inchohate: Incoherence and hatred. That's our mad Lazarus to a tee.

 

[cooleddie74]

Re: What Changes Would You Have For "The Alternative Factor"

^
Also, shiwhitspy. A shitty beard. Very wispy in places.