Friday, May 27, 2016

17 to 01: The Empath


Derek really likes this one and I only think it's okay! Sound the alarm and alert the villagers! I like an episode less than Derek! Still, it's strange that we tend to like episodes more when they don't have a romance. Funny, that.

Also, I got to mention The Prisoner and Secret Wars, so you know I'm happy anyway.

17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursday mornings at 2:00 AM ET / 1:00 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.

3 comments:

SkilTao said...

The crew (sometimes) want to coax the empath into self-sacrifice, while the Vians want her to volunteer it; the script hinges on that distinction being important, and I wish they'd actually gotten around to exploring it. It seems like they might be mistaking loneliness for virtue.

There's a lot to like about this episode, but Kirk's speech at the end bugs me. Is Jem a mere test animal, or is her virtue being honed into a necessary tool? The Vians' plans aren't developed enough to support Kirk's accusations.

VanVelding said...

Yeah, that's a pretty good question. I would've liked knowing more about the Vians too. That said, TOS episodes tend to feel a bit bloated; not much seems to happen in them for their run time, but this one felt a bit more packed and I'm not sure what we would've cut to get more on the Vians whole...deal.

SkilTao said...

Not so much that I'm interested in the Vians as I think their dialogue could be tweaked to support the theme better--their early dialogue is deliberately empty, and some later dialogue ("this is significant") seems like last-minute filler. Failing that, and assuming the writers had time, Kirk's speech could've been tweaked to negate the issue.