157: Star Trek TOS Season 1, "Shore Leave"

[@mark_loveless]

Plot of Squire of Gothos: A very attractive girl named Amethyst comes on board the Enterprise. Dressed in black and constantly bored and unimpressed with everything and everyone around her, she opens a Hot Topic on one of the lower decks. Younger males compete for her affections, to become her squire, and all fall spectacularly. Amethyst is actually in love with Scotty, but he is not into goths and not interested, and when she finds this out she closes her Hot Topic and leaves at their next stop. The bridge crew all laugh when Chekov comes onto the bridge after she leaves because he forgot to remove his black eyeliner.

[@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp]

The character development was how Kirk said he enjoyed fighting Finny. And it's because he was bullied at the academy. He needed to learn how to defend himself and deal with that circumstance in his life. And it's ironic because in the future we think of using violence only when it's justified and we're in a post-scarcity, optimistic future and you wouldn't think that Kirk would enjoy his revenge. As to the fantasy of the woman, I don't think they actually meant to do that - It's just a trope in films. They probably didn't know how else to create dramatic conflict so they just had Don Juan assault her. I don't think we're supposed to think that she wanted that to happen. As to TAS, the premise of that story is fantastic but the actual story itself is just action. I think in order to get drama from these ideas you'd have to write the story from the perspective of an enslaved sentient being.

[@PaleGhost69]

Shore Leave is so crazy that describing the events sounds like a wrong answer only. It's like a mind reading holodeck filled with people with adhd. Random things everywhere. Nothing makes sense. You'd think the creators could have at least designated battle zones for safety. Also, wtf is up with Kirk's self-control issues. Running off alone multiple times and getting super distracted when you know the things you're seeing aren't real. A woman pulled from his memory is more important than the life of his crewman.

[@DanQcaT]

Shore Leave is my fav episode, so funny, so entertaining, glad to see sillier face of trek ^_^.

[@HappyFlappyFarm]

I think the writers were imagining that random thoughts come into reality not necessarily fantasies. That explains the birds, Finnegan, the Tiger, and the Samurai. If you can relax and not look for real meaning this is a fun episode. Not one to watch again but it was ok. See you on the next one!

[@dahawk8574]

Shore Leave is the most profound episode in all of Star Trek. It took me several decades to come to this realization. As a child, I hated it. For all the reasons mentioned here. How and why did I come around to seeing this as an absolute gem? Consider what our world is. Look all around you. Absolutely everything that is not from nature started as an idea in someone's mind. Planet Earth is a thought factory. And that is essentially what the shore leave planet is, albeit at a much faster realization. We live in the world that we all have created through our collective thoughts. Aspects that make it a blissful paradise, with other aspects which make it a living nightmare. The Hindu concept is Maya, all is an illusion. The South Park take on this understanding is Imaginationland, where effort to delineate between fantasy versus reality is ultimately irrelevant. "Fiction" has just as much, if not more power than Non-Fiction. When Shore Leave is understood in this way, then it can be seen that Finnegan being a leprechaun is perfectly fitting. And the nightmares of sexual assault, murder and war are also perfectly fitting. All of the horrors we see in the news, along with all of the amazing joys of life are fully explained by this understanding that Planet Earth is a thought factory. The Enterprise crew hates the experience, until they understand it. I hated the episode, until I understood it.

[@mark_loveless]

Shore Leave was a tough watch. Good god, just get the crew out of there via shuttlecraft, get out the old star map and mark this planet with a skull and crossbones and the disclaimer "headhunters", and be done with it. Instead they keep poking around, and McCoy dies. SECONDLY, McCoy comes back being escorted by hot chicks, and they are still wearing clothes. Makes no sense. Plus the stereo-types of Finnigan, a Samurai attacking Sulu, and sexual assault. When Sean brought up the plot issues, completely no surprise. The plot was a mess. It can be summed up with Spock touching the young woman's chin and leaving.

[@bettyleeist]

I never thought the episode Shore leave was a mess?But,you know what?The Star ⭐️ Trek series was made over fifty years ago….so…..why bother with this,now?I still think 🤔 there was a lot of humanity in the serie’s!Eventually,they do leave the planet,🌎 and well…work thing’s out,there!There’s a lot of show’s that I don’t watch,today!Except,for Mystery on channel eleven.That’s it!Oh wait,excuse me!I also watch Masterpiece Theater 🎭!But,that’s it!That’s as far as I go,now!😊

[@lindaschulman1789]

1960s was a very different time than it is now. Nobody thought about sex crimes or anything like that. And I disagree with you. I think if I was walking through that meadow, I might say it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland or it reminds me of a Monet painting.