Truth OR Myth – Error, Error, Mistakes TOS Season 2 (Pt 2)

Hello and welcome to Truth or Myth?  In today’s episode, we’re taking a fun and fast look at the mistakes made in episodes 6-10 of Season 2 of Star Trek: The Original Series. 

Just a reminder, if you want to explain away any of the mistakes then it has to be with in-universe canon explanations only.  So Novels, Video games, tech Manuals and your Great Grandma Irma’s first crush are NOT valid sources to explain away the mistakes.  And so, with all that out of the way, let’s begin!

(CBS) “The Doomsday Machine” – TOS S2X06

The Doomsday Machine

This is one of my favourite TOS episodes, but there are some mistakes here…

At the beginning of the episode, after beaming over to the USS Constellation, Scotty suggests that Kirk and Company head to Auxiliary Control so they can playback the duplicate Captains log.  However, watch Kirk, he starts to walk past Auxiliary Control, only to stop when he sees Decker.  So where was he going?  We know this is, in fact, Auxiliary Control because Scotty ends up playing the duplicate Captains log from here…

A Big point of Plot Convenience happens in this episode, and that, of course, is McCoy being unable to certify Commodore Decker as unfit for command.  I mean come on, the guy was in shock, rambling like a mad man, shouldn’t that be enough for Starfleet to say, yeah maybe he shouldn’t be in command at the moment and have McCoy relieved him of duty on that basis and THEN conduct his medical tests?  Also, bear in mind in the episode Court Martial we find out McCoy has a degree is Space Psychology, shouldn’t all this be enough for Starfleet?

So here we have one of Starfleet most Decorated Captains, commodore Decker, and yet when he sees the Doomsday Machine Carving up planets he decides to beam his entire crew down to a planet next in line on the planet Killers Breakfast Menu?  Does seem right?

The planet Killer itself is an odd invention.  I mean who constructs a Doomsday Weapon with such an obvious flaw like someone being able to stick a bomb down its throat…  Sure it has that powerful cutting beam weapon that it seems to only use when a ship is attacking its Neutronium Hull, but take a starship right down its throat and suddenly it forgets to use it? 

The security for the Shuttlebay is also a bit wonky on the Enterprise.  Commodore Decker decides he’s going to steal a shuttle to fight his lone battle with the Planet Killer.  On the Bridge Sulu’s security board lights up and he informs Spock who immediately tells him to shut the doors.  Sulu says he cant.  But the question here is why can’t he?  I mean shouldn’t his board have lit up as soon as the Shuttle disembarkation procedure started?  And those doors don’t open THAT quickly, and there is no evidence that Decker overrode or jammed up against anything.  it just doesn’t seem likely all this could happen while at the same time Sulu’s hands being tied.  What would be the point of the security warning in the first place then?

Watch the size of the shuttle as it approaches the Planet Killer, it’s much large then it should be, appearing almost as large as the Enterprise herself…

In the scene where Scotty is explaining the detonation device to Kirk on the Constellation listen closely to Scotsman, during one line, suddenly he loses his Scottish Accent…

(CBS) “Catspaw” – TOS S2X07

Catspaw

So here we have an episode which features DeSalle in command.  In this episode, he is an assistant Chief Engineer…  DeSalle must have had a career change then because in the episode This side of Paradise he is Gold shirted Biologist, a VERY different field…

Also, what’s with Chekov’s hair in this episode?  It’s a really bad wig…

In this episode, Spock seems to be struggling with his human and Vulcan halves.  Shortly after beaming down Spock lets kirk know about a life form he’s detected on his tricorder giving the distance to the life form as 137.16 meters, a short time later he gives another measurement to life form but this time says it’s just over 100 meters.  Just over 100 meters? What happened to the 2 decimal points of precision the Vulcan exclaimed in the first place… The second measurement is way out of character for the Vulcan.

The witches in this episode are supposed to be disembodied floating heads, but unfortunately, the effects teams didn’t get it exactly right as there’s just enough light to be able to tell they are wearing turtle necks…

Watch Korab as he waves his wand and sets the massive dining table for his guests.  Suddenly the candles are lit and there is a great centrepiece to welcome us all.  Yet in a close up of the Magic Man, the Candles are once again unlit and the Centerpiece is missing…

In fact, there are another one of these issues with Korab…  After the Enterprise Pendent trick, Korab begins to tell Kirk about their power and Silvia snaps at him.  In the wide shot, we have Korab and the table and chairs in front of the Wizard, but in the close-up, suddenly the table and chairs are behind him…

When Cat Silvia is attacking Kirk and company in the Dungeon, Korab gets the Dungeon Door smacked into him.  The problem here is that in one shot the door is on top of him but he sticks out the side of the door.  In the next shot, suddenly he sticks out the top of the door…

Is that black strings I see operating the supposed Silvia and Korab life forms?  I know they’re marionettes, but even in the ’60s, they knew how to do this effect much better…

(CBS) “I, Mudd” – TOS S2X08

I, Mudd

One of the biggest questions I’ve always had in regards to this episode is how exactly did Norman get assigned to the Enterprise?  I mean did he go through the academy?  Did he steal someone identity?  The episode offers very little to answer this important question…

Auxiliary control is missing its door plate in this episode.  There is no identification at all for what this room is…

For some reason, Kirk uses the top button on his command chair panel for communications in this episode.  Yet in most other episodes he uses the bottom button…

Watch the Alices when they offer an invitation to Kirk to see their facilities.  They speak their sentence in unison, well mostly except for one word.  One Alice says You are free to visit them, while the other Alice says you are free to use them…

There’s another problem with the Alices…  When Kirk and Crew begin to take them out by reenacting their regular Monday nights, the overloaded Alices number badges stay on…  That is all except Alices 3 and 11, who badge suddenly go dark…

In this episode, the Crew eventually deduce that Norman is the director of all the androids, and so they direct their cooky behaviour towards him…  if this is true though, what the heck was all those androids doing when Norman was hijacking the Enterprise?

(CBS) “Metamorphosis” – TOS S2X09

Metamorphosis

The universal translator in this episode looks a LOT like the device the Metrons gave Kirk in the first season episode, “Arena.”

After joining with Headford, the Companion states that shuttlecraft will operate as before…  Wait a minute in the scene where it attacks Spock it short circuits all the electronics in the back panel of the tiny vessel…  So did the companion instantly repair this damage?  how would it even know how to do that?

How exactly is Kirk going to explain Nancy Headfords disappearance or Death to Starfleet?  This would require a huge lie to Starfleet at best.  And what?  Starfleet isn’t going to ask where the body is?  Or why he didn’t return it?  After all, she’s only an Assistant Federation Commissioner, right?

(CBS) “Journey to Babel” – TOS S2X10

Journey To Babel

This is another favourite episode of mine but again has a few problems…

When Sarek enters the party room to take his pills watch the Tellarite sitting against the wall.  his drink is in his left hand.  then the next shot, a close-up, shows the drink in his right hand…

So the fight between Kirk and the Andorian takes place on Deck 5 of the saucer section…  When have we EVER seen Deck 5 so empty?  Seems like a huge plot convenience to me…

So Kirk is stabbed in the right side by the Andorian, however, when McCoy is reporting Kirks injuries he says the captain has a puncture to his Left lung…

When Amanda is pleading with her son to turn over command of the Enterprise and give the blood that Sarek so desperately needs to survive she gets angry and storms out when Spock refuses, the door obediently opening for her…  Yet moments later when Spock heads up to the door, it stays closed…  In fact, he even touches it and it STILL remains closed…

When the power fails during the operation, McCoy asks Nurse Chapel to retrieve an old device.  The problem for me here is that this OLD device is only a few feet away easily accessible, does this seem right?

When Uhura discovers there’s a transmission being sent from the Brig, Kirk hits his comm button and calls Security to the Brig.  What?  Shouldn’t security already be in the Brig?

Thank you for watching today’s episode of Truth OR Myth.  Have an explanation for any of the mistakes I’ve listed here?  Or did you see one I’ve missed?  Leave a comment in the section below.  Don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to channel hitting that little bell icon so you don’t miss a single video we release.

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Thanks again for watching…  Live Long and Prosper…

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