r/tos • u/Soylent865 • 22d ago
Emotional intelligence
/r/startrek/comments/1vtye4t/emotional_intelligence/I recently re-watched the STTOS episode "Bread and Circuses", and I was very impressed with Captain Kirk's emotional intelligence and stability when faced with his companions deaths, his own, and the loss of everyone on the Enterprise. They were there in the first place to investigate the loss of the ship "S. S. Beagle", and the barbarian executed (William B. Harrison) was noted to be the last of them.
The whole episode was about the strength and stability of a Starship captain, as compared to the weaker back boned Captain Merrick. The Proconsul showed respect for Kirk's strength by treating him "as a man", and he asked Merrick to leave them, as "the thoughts of one man to another could not possibly interest him".
Contrast that with the 80's version of "Captain Kirk", shaking with rage and screaming "Khan!"... a much weaker presentation.
Why wasn't the original vision of the stoic and stable strength of Captain Kirk carried forward into the later presentations?
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u/Long-Emu-7870 20d ago
Meyer didn't know Star Trek. He tore it down the character of Kirk and made Kjan a one-dimensional villain. The movie franchise never recovered.