WARNING: This thread WILL contain unhidden spoilers for this entry. Because this re-watch is in a slightly-subjective chronological order and not in production order, please refrain from talking about the content of other episodes or movies in this thread. If you do, please put that content inside spoiler tags. Some people here may be watching Star Trek for the first time.
#15: Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 16 “The Galileo Seven”
Written by Oliver Crawford & S. Bar-David, directed by Robert Gist.
Stardates 2821.5 through 2823.8 (August 2267)
“Mr. Spock, that was a good gamble.” - Lieutenant Montgomery Scott
In an effort to catalog a quasar while delivering critical medical supplies to New Paris, the shuttlecraft Galileo crashes on an unexplored world. Commander Spock, one of the shuttle’s occupants, takes command for the first time and attempts to balance his rational, logical understanding with the frayed emotions of the other stranded crewmembers who must now follow his orders. Meanwhile, Captain Kirk fights a ticking clock to locate and rescue the lost shuttle occupants while High Commissioner Ferris (John Crawford) breathes down his neck to reach the life or death rendezvous on time.
Originally released: 5 January 1967
“The Galileo Seven” on Memory Alpha
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What did you think?
This episode reaches Ben Stiller levels of uncomfortable at times with regards to Spock being called out for his strict use of logic. And then there’s the giant Neanderthal-like aliens.
If it helps, Boma was court-martialed and expelled from Starfleet over his behavior towards Spock. Can’t get much more consequential than that…
I gotta say, as much of an improvement on this episode’s effects the Remastered version is, they really failed when it came to reimagining the quasar anomaly.
Murasaki is the Japanese word for PURPLE!!!
Maybe named after the discoverer, not the color.
Also, space phenomena can appear as completely different colors depending on the tech used to view them.
Classic, classic ep. I don’t really have much to add, except that it was one of the finest examples of a prolonged pressure-cooker situation in TOS, and the series had several other good ones, like the one about flying in to the giant cell in space.
Guess I’ll also add that TOS sure had some beautiful women as guest actors, such as Yeoman Mears.
Per Memory-Alpha:
Mears would come back later as one of the space hippies.
And she’s only on this episode because the part was written for Grace Whitney, but Rand had just been written off the show during this point in production.
Yes, Mears (Phyllis Douglas) is really cute. But even cuter is the face Uhura was making at Spock at the end of the episode:
99% off topic, as I’m not doing the rewatch party, nor is my dad.
However, my dad has been binging TOS, and I remember hearing parts of this episode, which made the mental connection when I saw this post.
What makes something this off topic vaguely interesting is that his binge session is his first viewing of most of the show.
My mom was a trekkie (not a trekker), but my dad had no use for it and would find other things to do when it was on.
What’s even more interesting to me is that yesterday, he started in on TNG. That was another show he didn’t have time or interest for back when it was being aired originally the same as TOS (dude is 80, so it isn’t like he didn’t have plenty of chances after the original airings as well).
I haven’t asked him what spurred his decision, partly because I don’t want to interrupt his enjoyment, but I’m curious how far he’ll go. If he finishes TNG, is he going to do ds9, voyager, or enterprise? I know he’s a Bakula fanz so enterprise wouldn’t surprise me.
Anyway, sorry for off topic intrusion, but I figured if anyone would appreciate it, it would be the folks doing the rewatch
Visual effects comparison of the original broadcast & the Remastered versions.
