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According to Memory Alpha's original in Universe Timeline, the story sequence is: Obsession : Journey to Babel : Bread and Circuses.
In the Remastered Episodes Chronology, the release sequence is
For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky : Journey to Babel : The Doomsday Machine.

Summary[]

The Enterprise ferries delegates from several planets to a conference on the planetoid Babel, where they intend to decide about Coridan's admission to the Federation. The delegates include Spock's parents Amanda and Ambassador Sarek. Spock had a falling out with his father when he joined Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy. The Tellarite Gav is found murdered just after he has had an argument with Sarek. But Sarek himself suffers a heart attack, and only a complicated operation can save his life. To make things worse, Kirk is stabbed by the aide to the Andorian ambassador, and Spock must choose between donating blood for Sarek or taking command of the Enterprise in the emergency. Kirk, hardly able to command again, has just sent Spock down to sickbay to save his father's life, when an alien ship attacks the Enterprise. It turns out that this ship, as well as the assassin, who is a Orion in Andorian disguise,[N 1] were sent on a suicide mission to make the conference a failure, which would benefit the Orions. After the successful surgery Spock and Sarek talk to one another for the first time in years.

Errors and Explanations[]

The Nitpickers Guide for Classic Trekkers[]

Plot Oversights[]

  1. Apparent lack of crewmembers on Deck 5, during Kirk's fight with the assassin. They are either at their duty stations, attending the other delegates, or on their rest cycle.

Equipment Oddities[]

  1. Kirk having to squat down in front of his mirror. It's probably a standard non adjustable design.
  2. McCoy appearing to have a Tantulas Field Device in Sick Bay. It's most likely something that just resembles the Tantulas unit.
  3. The 'old portable stimulator' being so close to hand when Chapel goes to fetch it. McCoy must have insisted on someone getting it out of storage, before starting the operation on Sarek, just in case it was needed.

Nit Central[]

  1. Benjamin Knoll on Sunday, October 25, 1998 - 4:44 pm: One wonders how McCoy got to be Chief Medical Officer of the flagship of the Federation anyway. Throughout the whole ordeal with Sarek's illness, we learn that McCoy's and the computer databases' combined knowledge of Vulcan physiology is "sketchy, at best." I thought that to even graduate from Starfleet Medical School one would need to have a knowledge of a wide range of species, not just human. He says that he knows the basics, and that he had never actually operated on a Vulcan before. That sounds more like an undergraduate student than a Ph.D. to me. Then again, Starfleet Medical maybe doesn't have all that much information on Vulcans in the first place. That's hard to believe, though. The Vulcans were one of the founding species of the Federation. Humans have known about them since 2063, roughly two entire centuries had elapsed. I would think that they would have more information by then. Mf on Tuesday, November 24, 1998 - 12:12 pm: On the other hand, Vulcans (as conceived by Roddenberry, Coon and Nimoy) were a very private people. Despite the illogic of it, they might consider it bad form to discuss their biology with outworlders.
  2. Chris Diehl on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 8:35 pm: Why did the Federation need to have this conference at all? The members of the Federation can reasonably be expected to have subspace communication, and it would be safest for their diplomats to discuss things from home, on some equivalent of a conference call. ScottN on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 - 10:39 pm: Communications security - these discussion are supposed to be private. Also, sometimes, diplomacy can be done better face-to-face. Consider the Camp David Accords. Sure, they could have done it via phone, but often it's informal chance encounters at the diplomatic conference that lead to breakthroughs.
  3. Will on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 10:49 am: Spock tells Kirk that the intruder ship was travelling at 'approximately warp 10'. Should he be more precise, considering his preference for being extremely specific. Shouldn't he have said warp 9.97 or warp 10.04 or whatever, instead of 'approximately'? Either the sensors were having trouble getting a precise figure, or the ship's speed was prone to fluctuations.

Notes[]

  1. The issue is unproven by the end of the episode, though it is suggested that an autopsy of Thelev will confirm it.


The Original Series Season 2
Catspaw I Metamorphosis I Friday's Child I Who Mourns for Adonais?I Amok Time I The Doomsday Machine I Wolf in the Fold I The Changeling I The Apple I Mirror, Mirror I The Deadly Years I I, Mudd I The Trouble with Tribbles I Bread and Circuses I Journey to Babel I A Private Little War I The Gamesters of Triskelion I Obsession I The Immunity Syndrome I A Piece of the Action I By Any Other Name I Return to Tomorrow I Patterns of Force I The Ultimate Computer I The Omega Glory I Assignment: Earth
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