–video
Bulls 2OT win !!!
Cubbies snapping the Cards’ 9 game home win streak
Futurama Season 2 (yeah, pretty much the whole thing)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyhhFzE5O5U]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O23EzxT-Ug]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TZ79Vcl8Y]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxQnuMGyPJs]
Star Trek episodes:
“The Cage”
“The Man Trap”
“The Corbomite Maneuver”
“The Balance of Terror”
“Amok Time”
“Mirror, Mirror”
“The Gamesters of Triskelion”
“The Omega Glory”
“Bread and Circuses”

–audio
… pretty much what is listed above

–knitting
Not much, busy with Star Trek

–spinning
Again, not much, busy with Star Trek

–other stuff
Did I mention that I’m working on an article about Star Trek?

Okay, so. As I alluded to in a previous post, I’m writing up a paper this semester on musical topics in Star Trek. I’d like to compare musical treatment of topics and tropes in episodes that are dramatically focused on irony or ironic situations. I’m writing here to see what recommendations I get about episodes to look into, and to share my background thoughts on my research.

Before digging into Star Trek it’s important to define what I mean by irony. Here are a few dictionary definitions:
Socratic Irony: a pose of ignorance assumed in order to entice others into making statements that can then be challenged.
Verbal Irony: the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Dramatic/Tragic Irony: a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
Situational/Cosmic Irony: the disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. Likewise, cosmic irony is disparity between human desires and the harsh realities of the outside world (or the whims of the gods). By some older definitions, situational irony and cosmic irony are not irony at all.
Historical Irony: a subset of cosmic irony, in which the element of time plays a role; irony through retrospection.

Alright, with that out of the way … I’m thinking about looking into these episodes:
- “The Corbomite Maneuver” – Balok being this mysterious, powerful being … but in the end turning out to be a somewhat mischievous, child-like creature. Both sides are using Socratic irony, while the music is hyperbolic in its melodramatic affirmation of a later discovered untruth.
- “Amok Time” – Spock and Vulcan culture are explored in a ritual that seems quite barbaric for a logic-oriented, emotionless race. The ritual of pon farr is one of situational irony, where a part of the Vulcan culture appears to be in direct contradiction to the edict of the race: logic. In the vein of cosmic irony, pon farr and the koon-ut-kal-if-fee show disparity between the Vulcan ideals of logic and suppression of emotion and the barbarism associated with the biological changes and rituals Vulcans go through during pon farr.
- “Mirror, Mirror” – This episode has a clear instance of music acting in a way similar to verbal irony, where it communicates information to the audience that is unclear to the characters. I’ll address this in more detail below.

Before moving on, here are a few more important definitions to know:
Musical topic: short melodic figures, harmonic or rhythmic formulae carrying literal or lexical meaning; meaning can come from literature, social history, and the fine arts.
Musical trope: the combining of two or more topics to create a new meaning, or comment on the meaning of the topics being combined.

To illustrate, think of Marlena’s theme from “Mirror, Mirror.” This is considered a musical trope, a combination of two musical topics: the barbaric/evil/enemy “threat” theme, and the singing/romantic/string “love” theme. The troping of these musical ideas tells us something that Kirk may or may not know about her: she is evil and a threat (if only because of her existence in the Mirror Universe), yet has the capability of being a heroine (which we find is true towards the end of the episode). This musical trope is then considered “ironic,” as we the audience are given a cue that she is a heroine while Kirk does not, nor does he anticipate that she could be.

Musical topics and troping can go across episodes as well. Consider the famous music played during the fight scene in “Amok Time.” It does transform during the course of the episode, starting off as a low, lyrical song while Spock relates his people’s customs, and is transformed into a booming march-like battle song during the episode’s climax. But the theme comes back in later episodes in different contexts, particularly as underscoring for enemies and in other battle situations. The meaning has changed again; rather than being about Spock/Vulcans, it is about anything barbaric or threatening. The element of time does not necessarily make the changes in musical use “cosmic irony,” though it can be argued that the element of time becomes important in the reception of musical topics over the course of the show. Through retrospection, however, the audience member can recall the music from “Amok Time” and wonder if it carried meanings not apparent at the time. (Though, to be honest, the reuse of music was simply an issue of using available resources and saving money. But at the same time, there must have been musical qualities of the theme that carried connotations appropriate for the later reuse, and this in itself brings a new and different meaning to the theme in retrospect.)

This is definitely a complicated subject, but I think you can see (if you read through all of that) that irony is a big part of Star Trek. In fact, irony is a large part of science fiction as a genre. And I admit, I am a bit obsessed with genre studies. So if you read through this and have any other ideas for episodes, or musical uses, or both, that deal with any form of irony let me know. And to be clear, I am focusing specifically on the original series, which ran from 1966–69. Any and all comments and suggestions are welcome!

I’ll just get right to it. Here is the best episode of Star Trek. Ever.

1. The City on the Edge of Forever
S1E28, Originally aired April 6th, 1967
Written by Harlan Ellison; Directed by Joseph Pevney

Captain’s log, supplemental entry. Two drops of cordrazine can save a man’s life, a hundred times that amount has just accidentally been pumped into Dr. McCoy’s body. In a strange, wild frenzy, he has fled the ship’s bridge. All connecting decks have been placed on alert. We have no way of knowing if the madness is permanent or temporary, or in what direction it will drive McCoy.

Star Trek, "The City on the Edge of Forever"

Who didn’t see this coming? This is an absolutely incredible episode, and it deserves all of the praise it has received over the years since it’s first airing. The script is incredible, the acting is terrific (particularly Shatner, this is quite possibly his best acting ever), and the story has a great mix of comedy and tragedy.

I immediately knew I loved this episode when Kirk and Spock have their encounter with a 1930s police officer. It’s absolutely hilarious. When you watch a show like Star Trek it’s so easy to feel comfortable with the characters and their surroundings. Seeming them as powerless, as fishes out of water, makes them that much easier to relate to and somehow seem more “real.” Once you see them here, and see that they are infallible in a way yet to be explored by TOS, you really just love Kirk and Spock.

Edith Keeler and Jim Kirk

Time travel is always a tricky issue. I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who (as you’ll note if you know me and/or my research) so I deal with time travel and canon in tv quite regularly. What happens when you travel into the past? What changes? The implications and ramifications of time travel are mind boggling and so so cool to think about. The fact that this one person, Edith Keeler, is so instrumental seems totally far-fetched. But the ramifications of her life, or death, makes the story so compelling. Throw in Kirk, a lonely and love-starved star ship captain (a character trait little explored in TOS during the first season, but something famously exploited in the remainder of the show), and you know you’re in for a ride. A tragic, angsty, ride.

Please, please go watch this episode. Right now.

Not gonna lie; I had to decide on my #1 episode before I could commit to which one would be #2. It really is hard. I legitimately love so many episodes of this show. So here it is, the second best Star Trek episode.

2. Journey to Babel
S2E15, Originally aired November 17th, 1967
Written by D.C. Fontana; Directed by Joseph Pevney

Captain’s log, stardate 3842.3. We have departed Vulcan for the neutral planetoid code-named Babel. Since it is in our sector, the Enterprise has been assigned to transport ambassadors of Federation planets to this vitally important council. The issues of the council are politically complex, the passengers… explosive.

Star Trek, "Journey to Babel"

This is an entirely ship-based story, where the Enterprise is transporting a group of agitated diplomats to a conference regarding the inclusion of a planet into the Federation. Here we get our first glimpse of Spock’s family and a taste of the conflict between his human and Vulcan halves. This episode is also a predessor to the narratives of TNG, with all of the Federation politics, dignitaries, etc. that Picard often dealt with. This is their first go-around, though, and we get a taste of intergalactic peace-keeping Kirk-style.

Spock's Mother, Amanda

I admit a certain fascination with Spock’s parents, particularly his father, Sarek. How does a Vulcan decide that a human is the most logical mate? Perhaps that line towards the end was one of those “married couple jokes,” but I really do wonder how a Vulcan would come to that conclusion. Or how Vulcans decide on mates in general. But there really are more important things I should spend my time pondering.

Shras Endilev

I also really enjoy how Kirk has to trick Spock into giving up command. Spock’s loyalty to his duty as 1st Officer were so strong that he was going to let his dad die. Not cool, Spock, not cool. He’s an ambassador! Although they were in a tricky situation. Such a toss up. Good thing Kirk is so strong willed and able to pretend he’s not in excruciating pain while suffering from a punctured lung. Way to go, captain! Also, did I mention that Spock essentially blamed his father for killing Gav? Sometimes the logical, Vulcan way isn’t the right way. Oh well!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the best Star Trek episode of all time!

If you remember from my previous entry, I have decided to dedicate my final three days of Ten Days of Trek to my three favorite, and arguably the three best, Star Trek episodes. I am talking strictly TOS, not any of the spinoffs. This has proven quite difficult, as I love so many episodes from TOS. So after hours of toil and internal debate, here is the third best episode of Star Trek.

3. Mirror, Mirror

S2E10, originally aired October 6th, 1967
Written by Jerome Bixby; Directed by Marc Daniels

“Captain’s log, stardate… unknown. We are trapped in a savage parallel universe from which we must escape within four hours, or I will face a death sentence at Mr. Spock’s hands.”

Uhura, Kirk, McCoy, and Scotty in the Mirror Universe

Evil Spock & Kirk in the Mirror Universe

Perfect story, and well executed. A landing party consisting of Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura is zapped into a parallel “Mirror” universe when being transported back to the ship during an ion storm. The USS Enterprise is now the ISS Enterprise, the entire ship is filled with henchmen and mercenaries, and Spock is evil because of his stylish beard. Spock’s logic prevails across both universes, however, as he’s the one that figures out that the returned landing party are fishes out of water.

The SF community can thank this episode for the establishment of bearded doubles being evil, and that baddies in general have beards. Two obvious examples are The Master from Doctor Who and Flexo, Bender’s identical brobot, in Futurama S2E11, “The Lesser of Two Evils.” Check out the commentary on that Futurama episode to hear the writers and producers support this claim.

Sulu & Uhura in the Mirror Universe

It’s really fun to see the actors play bastardized versions of themselves, especially Sulu and Chekov. As you may know, besides his role as Chekov in Star Trek, Walter Koenig is most well known for playing baddies. This may have been the logical starting point.

“Jim, I think I liked him with a beard better. Gave him character. Of course, almost any change would be a distinct improvement.”
“What worries me is the easy way his counterpart fitted into that other universe. I always thought Spock was a bit of a pirate at heart.”
“Indeed, gentlemen? May I point out that I had an opportunity to observe your counterparts here quite closely. They were brutal, savage, unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous — in every way, splendid examples of homosapiens. The very flower of humanity. I found them quite refreshing.”
“I’m not sure, but I think we’ve been insulted.”
“I’m sure.”
- McCoy, Kirk and Spock

Stay tuned for #2.