Which is the most typical episode?

[Falconer]

What episode best encapsulates Star Trek for you? I’m not asking about the best episode, or your favorite episode, though it could be. I’m asking about which episode is the most normal. It’s not a question of quality. I’m looking for an episode which, if it were to be used as a test case and model for a RPG playtest, would feel the most Trekkie, would capture all the clichés but in a good way, would encompass what Star Trek is all about. I have one in mind—not a particularly standout episode, but a good one—but I want to hear what you say.

[Grendelwulf]

If I was to choose a typical episode, it would be:

"The Empath"

This episode is a classic example of a beautifully written, mezmerizingly performed morality play in classic Trek fashion that could translate into an interesting role-playing exercise.

Yes, a shirtless Captain does get tortured in this episode (so does McCoy, but with his shirt on). But, it's all in the name of saving a planet from extinction. And instead of goodies and gadgets, emotion and character assume the center of the stage.

The story examines the complex Kirk-Spock-McCoy triad in fine detail, with McCoy being the focal point, and it is his actions which prove the greatest test of his character in any of the episodes. The sparse, all-black sets work *very* well and are reminiscent of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits feel. "Gem", the empath is silent but deeply insightful and talented. The Vians themselves are a most interesting species, and a parable for modern science, which can in its clinical detachment become unwittingly cold--the episode doesn't celebrate their torturous actions, far from it.

There is no magic "reset button". The Genesis Planet doesn't bring anyone back to life. The Transporter doesn't make anyone young again. None of Dr. McCoy's special nostrums cure every ill, instead inner-character is revealed.

What saves the day is Kirk's appeal to the Alien' sense of morality and right and wrong. Their only motive, to learn if the equally alien "Gem" is capable of self sacrifice and learning the noble virtues which in their view make civilizations worthy to survive. Kirk turns this around on the aliens, convincing them to demonstrate the very virtues which they prize by letting themselves and Gem go.

With a few extra tweaks and pinches, say by making the aliens abit more alien so as to give the players the challenge of communicating and reasoning with the Vians or throwing in some other "lab rat" experiments (deadly or not) to challenge them, this could be an interesting scenario to play.

Ciao!
Grendelwulf

[finarvyn]

I think that "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is a fantasitc representation of a "typical" episode. Far away from the safety of the civillized part of the Federation, the crew encounters some unknown entity or power, has to confront it and deal with human issues motivating it, and then somehow come to a resolution (hopefully without destroying the entity).

The scope of the episode is typically more cerebral and less physical, in that you can't just beat up the enemy but have to out-think or otherwise maneuver around it.

Kirk even gets his shirt torn along the way during a scuffle. Typical.

[Falconer]

Those are good answers! I’ll tell you what my answer is: Friday’s Child. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and young “Lieutenant Grant” beam down to a planet that looks a lot like Vasquez Rocks in southern California (Arena, Shore Leave...). The hapless redshirt bites the dust before the opening credits! In this episode, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy have to deal not only with the “noble savages” who are the native inhabitants, but also an unscrupulous klingon who engineers a coup. The main characters find themselves under armed guard (it’s not the jail cell they usually find themselves in, but it will do) along with a beautiful girl. (An initial hint of a Kirk romance turns out to be a fake-out.) The overcome the guard and spend most of the rest of the episode trying to escape. There is plenty of fighting in this episode, not to mention arguing ideals, of which human ideals are the best and win out in the end. Both methods of engaging with the native culture (battle of ideas and straight up fighting) happen on a larger scale with the entire population (the planet is populated by a village of approximately sixteen individuals), and in microcosm with the girl Eleen. McCoy rasps out one of his more hilarious lines, “Look, I'm a doctor, not an escalator.”

Meanwhile, our role-playing trio can not count on aid from the Enterprise because Scott is busy in a tactical wargame against a klingon ship! Chekov slips in his “it was invented in Russia” gag.

Finally, after a few twists, and thanks to the heroes’ cleverness and willingness to make sacrifices for what is right, the klingon is defeated and the savages ally with the Federation. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy engage in their usual end-of-episode Human-vs-Vulcan verbal sparring just to let you know that all is well and you are at home with family!

[aramis]

Is There in Truth No Beauty?

A mysterious alien, a bad choice, bad consequences, followed by a noble self-sacrifice, and it's rewarded by non-permanence to that sacrifice, to right the wrongs.

[chgowiz]

It would have to include ground combat, space combat, interaction with the locals, focus on the Triad and some of the cliches.

Yea, I'd have to go with "Friday's Child" as well, although "Day of the Dove" intrigues me as having some elements there as well, including combat.

[vulcanridr]

Feb 4, 2010 10:29:55 GMT -5 @chgowiz said:

It would have to include ground combat, space combat, interaction with the locals, focus on the Triad and some of the cliches.

Yea, I'd have to go with "Friday's Child" as well, although "Day of the Dove" intrigues me as having some elements there as well, including combat.

Based on those criteria, um, Galaxy Quest?