Yet another reference to money in Star Trek: Kirk tells Chekov he earned his pay for the week. This contradicts Picard in “First Contact” who says the Federation does not use money.
I wonder if the original plan (get Apollo tired, punch him out, and run away) would have worked, and if so whether that means that Palomas is responsible for Apollos "death" because she forced them into destroying Apollos temple by interceding on the landing partys behalf.
I just wish that Apollo could have been satisfied with followers rather than worshippers, that way thousands of people would probably have come to his planet to learn from him.
This may only be a rumor, mind you. I saw it in a Star Trek book, and also with James Blish's short story based on the episode (and I think he wrote them from original scripts). Anyway, the original ending of this episode apparently called for Dr. McCoy to report that Carolyn Palamas was pregnant. He had a great line in Blish's story, something like, "My medical training did not include obstetrics for infant gods." Too bad they didn't go ahead and put it in the episode. I suppose the NBC censors would have freaked out.
I just saw this episode. I though it was OK.
Spock called the hand a "human appendage". Couldn't that be a hand from a Vulcan, or a Romulan, or a Andorian...
Additionaly, the hand is green, which makes it seem unlikely that it is human.
Later on, Apollo refers to Hercules. That was the name the Romans used. The Greeks called him something like "Heracles".
In the scene where they revives Scotty, in the background a tree sways. Only a singal tree. The rest are more or less still. Does this seem right?
to Jack B.--Apollo was called that name by both the Greeks and the Romans. Heracles was the Greek name for Hercules.
Sometimes the Apollo would have a "qualifier" after it; that is, another name that would describe a specific attribute of Apollo, like "Light bringer."
GUEST STAR PATROL (Starting to get annoying yet?)
Leslie Parrish (Palamas) has guested in lots of stuff, including "Batman" as a movie starlet, and "The Wild, Wild West".
What's the reference to Adonais?
It's a quote from Shelley.
It's from the poem "Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats." Here's the quote:
Who mourns for Adonais? Oh, come forth,
Fond wretch! and know thyself and him aright.
Clasp with thy panting soul the pendulous Earth;
As from a centre, dart thy spirit's light
Beyond all worlds, until its spacious might
Satiate the void circumference: then shrink
Even to a point within our day and night;
And keep thy heart light lest it make thee sink
When hope has kindled hope, and lur'd thee to the brink.
Adonais was a beautiful young man in Greek myths, who died at an early age. Apollo was often identified with him.
Thanks Mike K. I love this website.
Leslie Parrish also had a key role in "The Manchurian Candidate", and looked great!
This is supposedly the first time anyone has visited this planet, and since no life was detected, there was no reason to contact the planet previously. Except that this is a Class M planet, 35 light years from Earth, so why hasn't anyone colonized it yet?
Since tricorders have no problem reading Apollo, then why did the ship's sensors miss him and not detect any life? Also there seemed to be quite a bit of plant life on this planet, so why wasn't it detected? (Or did I mishear the statement about no life detected?)
The Enterprise is held fast by Apollo's hand, but if that's true, then why do we see moving lights through the hand? Moving lights usually mean the ship is moving.
Apollo says that Spock reminds him of Pan, however, Pan was also a god. Does this mean that an alien resembling both Pan and a Vulcan was an ancient Greek god? Hmmm.
Kirk says, "We might never get help this far out." Beta Geminorum, or Pollux, is 35 light years from Earth. Considering some of the distances traveled by Kirk and company, Pollux is practically next door. (In Wolf In The Fold I believe one of the early Earth colonies that Redjac traveled to was Alpha Eridanus, 87 light years away.)
Apollo expresses wistful nostalgia for the "blue skies and green fields" of Earth. Why? The planet he's on also has blue skies and green fields.
Adonai is also the Hebrew word for God. So an alternate reading of the episode's title might be "who mourns for gods?" I think that makes it a lot more philosophical and in keeping with the content of the episode.
ChrisC,
I think they were using the "Adonais" as a variant on the mythological name "Adonis", for the Greek connection. To be honest, though, I don't see why they used that in the title, unless it's a quote (Is it from Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis")?
Scroll up and observe that it is a quote!
Thanks, Murray!
Jack B.:
Later on, Apollo refers to Hercules. That was the name the Romans used. The Greeks called him something like "Heracles".
Apollo IS the Roman name. The Greeks called him "Phaeton", but I believe they may also have used "Apollo".
No, Phaeton was his son (or of the other son god, Helios, depending on your source). The name you're thinking of is Phoebus - which is actually a variant Roman name. Apollo, unique among the Pantheon, was the same in Greek and Roman. Observe:
Greek/Roman
Zeus/Jupiter
Hera/Juno
Poseidon/Neptune
Hades/Pluto (or Dis)
Hestia/Vesta
Demeter/Ceres
Artemis/Diana
Aphrodite/Venus
Hephaestus/Vulcan
Dionysus/Bacchus
Hermes/Mercury
Ares/Mars
But for some uncertain reason, the Romans used the same name as the Greeks in this case. Perhaps it's because they had no rough equivalent deity in their pantheon. Similarly, Romans gods such as Janus, Pomona, Flora and Fauna have no Greek equivalents whatsoever.
AFAIK the Greeks called him (Phoibos) Apollon.
And IIRC Phaeton was the son of the sun-god Helios. He took his father's chariot, showed very bad driving skills in the sky and was hit by Zeus' lightning - the ultimate traffic control.
Indeed, Electron. Phoibos (or Phoebus) was often his qualifier, meaning "Bright", or even "Bright One".(Though the Butler translation seems to think it means "King"!) See Homer, Book 1, Line 42 (I think): "Bright Apollo", "Phoebus Apollo" or "Phoibos Apollon" (depending on the translation.)
As for why they selected that title: the answer might lie in the fact that Keats, the "Adonais" whose death is mourned for in the poem, died, slowly, of tuberculosis. Much as Apollo claims the other "gods" did - wasting away.
This passage also seems appropriate to the episode:
"Mourn not for Adonais. Thou young Dawn,
Turn all thy dew to splendour, for from thee
The spirit thou lamentest is not gone;
Ye caverns and ye forests, cease to moan!
Cease, ye faint flowers and fountains, and thou Air,
Which like a mourning veil thy scarf hadst thrown
O'er the abandon'd Earth..."
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
I just love the notion that the Greek gods (and by extension, perhaps all gods) are, infact, alien beings with more powerful techology! Watching this episode was the first time I came into contact with this theory, and it quite reconciled me to TOS.
Also, Silvanus (Roman god of trees) has no Greek equivalent either.
Sorry, my memory slipped. It was in fact Phoebus Apollo.
I keep remembering how Roddenberry wanted to be so daring and shocking. So how come they couldn't tell Apollo about all the other religions and how they're truer than the Greek myths, and why couldn't they ask Apollo about those myths which portrayed the gods as being childish and irresponsible...? That would be a lot of talk, and we wouldn't get to see things blow up and so on...
It would have been interesting, though.
Okay, a somewhat more workable solution to the problem is to tell Apollo about other planets with primitive natives, and he could go bother them if he's that lonely. This could get into a philosophical discussion of what Apollo needs/wants/deserves out of life. Also, the episode could bring up this idea: Kirk isn't supposed to violate the Prime Directive on
Drago IV but is it okay for him to encourage Apollo to do it? Apollo's not a Federation citizen after all.
Would it be right of him to subject another planet to the whims of a petty "God?" Saying "we out grew you so now go find someone else to bully" doesn't sound like a good idea, it doesn't solve the real problem. He told Apollo to (as JMS put it) "get the Hell out of our galaxy" and that is exactly what he should have done.
I suppose he could have asked Apollo if he wanted to join the Federation. He would be assured employment by scholars and historians. Or he could just live on the planet and make others come to him. Or he could just stay there as he has been doing and nobody would mess with him. But letting him continue to use his powers to bully primitive races is NOT an option. A very Humanist story here.
Very picky production problem. After the teaser, a crewmember in a gold shirt can be seen with a padd standing next to Uhura`s console. Kirk walks up and stops, resting against the console. We cut to a close-up and Kirk is both moved to (his) right and ahead from his previous location, in front of the goldshirt.
I wonder what people of Greek descent think of American tv producers dismissing their ancient gods as nothing more than aliens from another planet? Wouldn't we, as Americans, be insulted if a tv show in Greece had an episode dismissing our religion, ie, Jesus, Moses, John the Baptist, as simply aliens from another planet?
BEST COSTUME.....
Palamas.....She DOES look like a goddess in this
episode!
God bless Bill Theiss.
I believe it's commented on in "The Making of Star Trek", that it was partly the "strategic engineering" of the actress who played Palamas that made that dress stay up!
That and double-sided tape! Theiss said the secret to sexy clothing was to have nudity in unexpected places - a hint of back or side, etc....
Considering how much Scotty was attracted to her in a Starfleet uniform, you can just imagine his feelings when he sees her in that sexy dress!
Mike C, Leslie Parrish is also the wife of Richard Bach, author of "Johnathan Livingston Seagull", among other books.
The dress she wore in WMFA was the coolest seen anywhere ever, except perhaps for the dresses in the movie, "Logan's Run".
Re the comment: "Apollo expresses wistful nostalgia for the 'blue skies and green fields' of Earth. Why? The planet he's on also has blue skies and green fields."
Well, you know how it is in middle age: the grass of your youth was greener (unless you smoked it).
I believe the episode was supposed to end with Lt. Palamas pregnant with Apollo's child, but that was cut, for reasons not known to me. Check out the blooper reel for a great intentional blooper involving Michael Forest.
IIRC, it *DID* end that way.
The episode ended with Kirk (getting the last word, natch) bemoaning what he had done, and saying thet maybe he could have picked a few laurel leaves. The pregnancy was mentioned in James Blish's short story version, as a tag, but was not in the show; maybe the concept of an out of wedlock child was taboo to the almighty NBC censors.
The ship's phasors are nothing short of amazing in this episode...they can turn a perfectly intact temple and mutate it into a ruined temple without any type of explosion. "The Mighty Morphin Phasors", maybe?
"The episode ended with Kirk (getting the last word, natch) bemoaning what he had done, and saying thet maybe he could have picked a few laurel leaves."
How would Kirk reacted if Apollo suddenly came back and said, "I heard that." :)
"What I am doing down here, Doctor?"
"Well...we need a woman on the Away Team to fall in love with Apollo and complicate the plot further."
GREAT LINE:
"Spock is contaminating that boy!"
McCoy to Kirk about Chekov's thorough report.
BEST LINE:
I can think of no one better equipped who can handle it."
Spock to Uhura on the communications bypass she was rigging up.
NIT: The Enterprise loses contact with Kirk and have no idea what's going on...so how come Spcok mentions Apollo by name when talking to someone on the Bridge? (I can't remember who)
Scotty disobeys a direct order from Kirk not to attack Apollo again but does anyway and goes unpunished.
Phil mentioned the great hit Scott takes in this episode...actually he takes 2 great hits...the other one was when he was sent flying over the marble table.
GREAT LINE:
"Spock is contaminating that boy!"
McCoy to Kirk about Chekov's thorough report.
BEST LINE:
I can think of no one better equipped who can handle it."
Spock to Uhura on the communications bypass she was rigging up.
ACADEMY AWARD WINNING LINE:
"Mankind has no need of gods. We find the ONE
quite adequate." Kirk to Apollo.
Say "Amen" someone!
I found that line kinda annoying - it shows religious bias. That way, someone could come along, looking like all the conventional images, say "I am God/Jehova" and Kirk would say "Then let's start worshipping you" and he would and the ship would blow up and Spock would say I told you so I told you so!
Oh, wait, I just remembered STV. Funny how easy to forget it is. OK, maybe he wouldn't be to impressed.
When Apollo yells "Stop!" the 2nd time, he points his finger and.....nothing....yet the Enterprise is hit. The creators forgot to add the animated lightning bolt in this shot like they did the other times
Just before Palamas delivers Apollo's message to Kirk & Co., she fades into the area out of nowhere....Did Apollo give her the power to do that on her own or did he make her appear out of nowhere?
Scotty takes two hits from Apollo and lives through both.
Scotty takes one hit from Nomad-killed instantly.
I guess his resistance was lowered. (Resistance IS futile.)
Weighing in on the Great Ending Debate: Yes, according to official Trek sources, the ep was supposed to end with Palamas pregnant with Apollo's child. The Blish novelization, based as it was on an early draft of the script, includes that ending...hence the wonderful McCoy line mentioned earlier - "My training does NOT cover infant gods!"
Unfortunately, the bit was never filmed (grumblegrumble CENSORS grumblegrumblegrumble) and thus the final version ends rather abruptly with William Shatner babbling about laurel leaves, attempting to be profound and instead looking like he's reenacting the moment for Saturday Night Live.
Actually, the scene quite well may have been filmed - and ended up on the cutting room floor. And although it's possible there was censorship involved, more likely it was cut due to running time considerations.
I will concede that it could have been filmed, but not that it wasn't censored. According to Allan Asherman's highly canonical Star Trek Compendium:
"One [censorship] casualty of the episode...was the first-draft script's ending, in which Dr. McCoy proclaims that Carolyn is pregnant."
Asherman (and, if I recall, correctly, the Chief) also express amazement that the scenes of Carolyn caught in the storm passed muster. I agree; those scenes are really, unexpectedly racy.
I presume the omited scene has never turned up.
In those days, television shows rarely saved their deleted scenes before the final print - they were swept out with the trash.
Why would the giant hand approach so slowly? Why not just suddenly appear and grab the ship? (unless the "god" wanted to be overly dramatic in all things ...)
When Apollo says "I am pleased" when looking upon Lt. Palamas, the shot changes to a ravishing full-frame shot of her. They use the "frosted glass" look to photograph the shot to add beauty. (the old "center-spot" filter ... cheap, but effective) Or else, it was the camera set on a large aperture to make the background blur.
Did anyone else GAG when they saw the freakishly HIP hairstyle Chekov is sporting in this episode? It almost looks like a wig!
It *IS* a wig. Nimoy tells the tale that TPTB wanted a "Beatles/Monkees" look for Chekov, so Walter Koenig had to wear a wig. Later, TPTB chilled out, so he was allowed to use his own hair.
"Beatles/Monkees" is right, except I think they spelled "Monkey" wrong ...
The Beatles & the Monkees vere inwented in Russia.
The Fab Four vs. The Prefab Four. We need a board here to rate our favorite bands.
Koenig wore the wig in this ep and "Amok Time." I think he currently wears a toupee. In his book "Chekov's Enterprise" he spends some time on how much he hated haircuts.
Apparently, that was the real reason Chekov was added to the cast - to provide a young, hip, Davy Jones-esque presence. The 'Russians-were-upset-that-they-weren't-represented' thing was a P.R. fiction.
The irony of it all is that as soon as they got a look at That Wig, the youth of America most likely went "Ewwwwww! A bad Davy Jones impersonator!" and switched back to Laugh-In.
When was the last time you heard the phrase "Davy Jones impersonator"? These boards truly span the generations!
FUNNY THOUGHT: What if Apollo said, "I give you a laurel...and hearty handshake."? (Ala "Blazing Saddles")
After the opening title is shown, Chekov is on the floor working with an object of some kind...yet when Apollo appears on the screen, he doesn't stand up to see the picture better..in fact, when Apollo orders Kirk & party to beam down, Chekov (who is supposed to be on the Bridge) does not leave the Bridge with Kirk & McCoy, yet he materializes with the landing party.
When the phasors come out of their banks, they come straight down, yet, when they strike the temple, the beams appear one on top of the other.
Is the Enterprise flying sideways?
I just love the notion that the Greek gods (and by extension, perhaps all gods) are, infact, alien beings with more powerful techology! Watching this episode was the first time I came into contact with this theory, and it quite reconciled me to TOS. -- rachgd back in 1999.
Remember Clarke's First Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Once again Mr. Leslie shows up in a Star Trek episode but is not mentioned by name nor is mentioned in the end credits.
If I were Eddie Paskey, I'd be pretty honked off right now.
Was Leslie Parrish related to Julie Parrish, who played the yeoman at Starbase 11 in "The Menagerie"? (Julie Parrish was also in the one-season sitcom "Good Morning World", which also featured Goldie Hawn.)
I could be wrong on this, but it appears that Palamas' gown is made from the same material as Rand's nightgown in "Charlie X"..in fact, it may be Rand's nightgown with a lot more cut out from it!
I think it's worth pointing out again that the top of Palamas' 'classical' gown was basically a length of silky fabric pinned to her waist and thrown back over her shoulder.
This would be the gown she's wearing when she gets buffeted by Apollo's windstorm...she's writhing around on the ground for several onscreen minutes...and somehow, that length of fabric stays over her shoulder, covering all the important spots.
Trust me, guys: from a feminine perspective, that's the rough movie-stunt equivalent of Tom Cruise driving a helicopter through the Chunnel. Leslie Parrish shoulda won an Emmy at least.
I know some folks who do worship the Greek gods, they're Pagans, like me.
I've never asked them about this episode.
There's lots of talk in this episode about herding sheep and sacrificing deer. But the sensor scan at the beginning of the show revealed no life forms (which means no animal life) and we don't see any evidence of it on the planet either.
Until now there hasn't been anyone to sacrific them. So Apollo has needed them. I'm sure he would have cooked them up if need be.
NANJAO: When Sulu indicates that there's an energy pulse emitting from the planet, Spock says, "If you cannot locate where it is, then you should try & locate it from where it is not..."(or something like that) Then Sulu asks, "The Whole planet?" which provokes Spock to raise an eyebrow and give Sulu "the look"...The concept of Spock's "look" at someone would be visited again in STVI when Chekov asks, "ALL uniforms?" Once again, Nick Meyer did his "Star Trek Homework" KUDOS!
Chekov mentions that Apollo looked tired when he disappeared, and Kirk says that could be important. However: earlier in the episode, when Apollo grows to giant size, he looks tired when he disappears as well; they were all looking at him, yet no one comments on it.
Leslie Parrish was also in the 'classic' B-movie "The Giant Spider Invasion," which I think has been done on Mystery Science Theater. It also starred Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper). Take a look at her legs in that movie - a lot more impressive than the special effects were...
When the Enterprise fires its phasers on Apollo's temple, why were the marble tables destroyed too?
That'd only make sense if they used photon torpedoes.
What is wrong with the Tricorders in this episode? They know there's a power source that Apollo is tapping into, yet they can't find it...even though they're standing right in front of it! Yet Sulu finds it in a matter of minutes with the ship's scanners.
he had 3 extra min. to kill before the show ended...
Maybe too much power was overloading the tricorder's sensor's and the ship was far enough away to see it clear enough. Sorta like trying to read a neon sign. get right on top of it and you see a bright blur while far enough back and you can see the details.
The very first images in this episode is a usual shot of the Enterprise flying through space, as seen from just above and behind the ship. However, the scene appears completely devoid of color, as if the creators filmed the scene in black-and-white ... another cost-cutting attempt, maybe?
Kirk's plan to 'jump' Apollo is nothing short of reckless. Here's a super-powerful alien who can simply fade away when he wants to, and fire powerful electrical bolts from his fingers. Kirk must have been supremely confident that he could knock out Apollo with one punch, or McCoy would be fast enough to tranquilize Apollo like he did to Gary Mitchell, but I just don't see it.
Chekov's phaser is on the wrong side of his body. Chekov (and Walter Koenig) is left-handed, which is most clearly seen when he aims his phaser at Kirk in Star Trek II. It doesn't make sense to attach his phaser to the opposite hip of his left hand, and even backwards, if he was to quickly reach around to his right hip and grab his weapon.
In fact, many scenes, such as the "hand" holding and squeezing the Enterprise, seem devoid of color.
Speaking of the hand squeezing the Enterprise ...
Kirk: Nevermind the history lesson, release the ship!
Apollo: You will obey me ... lest I close my hand thus.
Scotty: External pressure building up, Captain ... 800 GSE and climbing!
GSE? ... Galactic Standard Energy?
My favorite line in this ep ...
Spock: (after the bridge crew listens to warnings and invitations to meet Apollo WITHOUT the accompaniment of Spock) ... "Verbose, isn't he?"
something per Square something?
Are you sure it's GSE? Could it be PSI?
800 PSI is over 55 atmospheres.
Scotty definitely says "GSE" ... he's facing the camera when he says it, and his lip movements match with the letters GSE. He also says it a moment later when the external hull pressure exceeds 1000 GSE.
I've just checked James Blish's adaptation of this ep in STAR TREK 7. According to Blish, what Scotty says is "GSC." Whatever that means.
Ah!!!! Grams per Square Centimeter.
However 800GSC = 11.354psi which is LESS than 1 atmosphere.
1000GSC = 14.2psi, which is about 0.5psi less than one atmosphere.
The Enterprise should be able to handle those kinds of pressures easily!
But grams is not a measurement of a force, where pounds is (and a pressure is a force divided by an area). "Converting" between grams (a mass) and pounds (a force) works here on earth by using the infamous 981 cm/s² to make the mass a force (and this is usually restricted to dealing with weights of objects). I suppose it is possible that the entire federation adopted the system where a "pressure" is measured in "g"'s but it seems odd for a galactic body to do so (which planet's g do you use?)
Scotty should be measuring the pressure in Pascals (Newtons/m²), dyne/cm², atms (wouldn't that be interesting...), bars, psi, mmHg, inHg
Good point.
I almost challenged the statement that "grams is not a measurement of a force, where pounds is", since both appear to be measures of mass.
However, I see that some Maths software I use actually distinguishes between pounds-mass (lb) and pounds-force (lbf).
I'd never realised that before, because my Physics education was in SI units.
Actually, in the imperial system, mass is measured in "slugs". A mass of 1 slug weighs 32 pounds in a 1g gravitational field.
You have a good point, Nick. What do you think the "G" stood for?
JUST A GUESS: Perhaps GSC means Gravimetric Systems Control.
A system that regulates the hull integrity of the ship.
I could be & possible am wrong. But It's the best I can think up right now.
Here's something I found on the internet that might be interesting:
The CGS system was introduced formally by the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874. It found almost immediate favor with working scientists, and it was the system most commonly used in scientific work for many years. Meanwhile, the further development of the metric system was based on meter and kilogram standards created and distributed in 1889 by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). During the 20th century, metric units based on the meter and kilogram--the MKS units--were used more and more in commercial transactions, engineering, and other practical areas. By 1950 there was some discomfort among users of metric units, because the need to translate between CGS and MKS units went against the metric ideal of a universal measuring system. In other words, a choice needed to be made.
In 1954, the Tenth General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) adopted the meter, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, and candela as the basic units for all international weights and measures, and in 1960 the Eleventh General Conference adopted the name International System of Units (SI) for this collection of units. In effect, these decisions gave the central core of the MKS system preference over the CGS system. Although some of the CGS units remain in use for a variety of purposes, they are being replaced gradually by the SI units selected from the MKS system.
Following is a table of CGS units with their SI equivalents. Note that in some cases there is more than one name for the same unit. The CGS electromagnetic and electrostatic units are not included in this table, except for those which have special names.
CGS unit measuring SI equivalent
barye (ba) pressure 0.1 pascal (Pa)
biot (Bi) electric current 10 amperes (A)
calorie (cal) heat energy 4.1868 joule (J)
darcy permeability 0.98692 x 10-12 square meter (m2)
debye (D) electric dipole moment 3.33564 x 10-30 coulomb meter (C¡¤m)
dyne (dyn) force 10-5 newton (N)
emu magnetic dipole moment 0.001 ampere square meter (A¡¤m2)
erg work, energy 10-7 joule (J)
franklin (Fr) electric charge 3.3356 x 10-10 coulomb (C)
galileo (Gal) acceleration 0.01 meter per second squared (m¡¤s-2)
gauss (G) magnetic flux density 10-4 tesla (T)
gilbert (Gi) magnetomotive force 0.795 775 ampere-turns (A)
kayser (K) wave number 100 per meter (m-1)
lambert (Lb) illumination 104 lux (lx)
langley heat transmission 41.84 kilojoules per square meter (kJ¡¤m-2)
line (li) magnetic flux 10-8 weber (Wb)
maxwell (Mx) magnetic flux 10-8 weber (Wb)
oersted (Oe) magnetic field strength 79.577 472 ampere-turns per meter (A¡¤m-1)
phot (ph) illumination 104 lux (lx)
poise (P) dynamic viscosity 0.1 pascal second (Pa¡¤s)
stilb (sb) luminance 104 lux (lx)
stokes (St) kinematic viscosity 10-4 square meters per second (m2¡¤s-1)
unit pole magnetic flux 1.256 637 x 10-7 Weber (Wb)
Therefore...my NEW theory is that the GSC system is a variation of the CGS system.
ScottN, off the topic of my head the only units I could think of that start with "G" are grams and gauss. John A Lang has posted a list with a few others; I suppose one could hunt for names of units and hope one found a combination that produced the correct mass, length, and time combination to yield a pressure [the correct combination is M/(T²L)]
GSC - Gross Sink Capacity?
That's 'sink' as in 'heatsink', not 'kitchen sink', or course. 
This could be a measure of a overall capacity of the structural integrity field to dissipate strain, with 1000GSC being the design limit for any given ship. Which would explain why the ship is in trouble at 1000GSC pressure.
I concur with Benn's assertion that Scotty said "GSC" instead of "GSE" ... after viewing the above mentioned segment of the episode several times, there is no way to discern from Scotty's mouth movements whether he said "Gee-Ess-Eee" or "Gee-Ess-See" ... and so I defer to James Blish's interpretation.
To answer an old question: "Julie Parrish" was a stage name for the late actress, thus she would not be related to Leslie Parrish.
I don't even know if "Leslie Parrish" is a given or assumed name, for that matter. I do recall that Leslie Parrish is a fellow native Kentuckian. Kentucky is well known for fast horses and beautiful women... you know the inverse.
Sir Rhosis
Allegra previously noted that Parrish was the wife of schlock drivel author Richard Bach. They've since divorced. Bach chronicles the couple's romance in the odious {A Bridge Across Forever}.
Richard Bach?! As in Johnathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach? I had to read that book back in the seventh grade. (Thank you, Mrs. Stockstill.) Then a few years back, I re-read it to see if my attitude towards it would be different. Nope. It's a horribly smaltzy, saccharrine peaon to the Hippie movement disguised as deep and spiritual. I can't believe that people had such poor tastes that this "novel" could ever had made it to the New York Times Bestsellers List. Ugh. (Apologies to anyone who actually likes the book. If you did, please, what was it that I didn't get out of it, that you did? What makes it good/great?)
Live long and prosper.
Paramount even produced a movie based on Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1973. It was a major bomb. It never ceases to amaze me that Paramount produced this type of drivel, while dragging their feet on a Trek revival throughout most of the '70's.
Richard Bach was hired to write a story treatment for the never produced mid-'70's Star Trek - Phase II revival. Check out the 1996 book, by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, on this attempted revival. Very detailed.
Y'know, I've read that book when it first came out, but I've forgotten that Bach had written a story treatment for STAR TREK II (as it was then called). It was called "Practice In Waking". In it, the crew of the Enterprise encounter an antique ship that was part of an Earth space project called "Project Long Chance". The ship was launched on October 17, 2004. Mark your calendar for this soon to be historic event.
Live long and prosper.
Wow, cool, I'm going to have to look for that book. Project Long Chance sounds like it would be perfect for my Alter-NASA timeline...less wars, more resources, more astronauts, more programs, more launches...crossing over various NASA-era projects and pilots...
GSC stands for "GOD's Starship Crush"
At the end of the episode, why didn't Apollo crush the Enterprise like he threatened to do at the beginning, rather than shooting lightning at it? The Enterpise only put holes in the force field, they were still captive in it. (Although as the Chief pointed out, the hand vanished when they fired the phasers.)
As for the pressure on the ship, there was a joke in Futurama along these lines. As the ship is being dragged under the ocean, "How many atmospheres of pressure can the ship stand?" "Well, it's a spaceship, so between zero and one."
Of course, the basic idea of this episode would be reused as the main plot of Stargate SG-1.
Sort of Spoiler for New Frontier books:
Peter David has picked up on the Palamas-carrying-Apollo's-child thing by saying that her child was a daughter, and that child also had a daughter, and both were 'normal' so Starfleet stopped watching her...but when that granddaughter had a son, the Y-chromosome reactivated the 'godhead' and he developed some of Apollo's powers.
The son then went on to serve as the USS Excalibur's helm officer...
As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Leslie is in this episode...he is helping Mr. Sulu find the source of energy down on the planet surface. Does this mean he's some kind of science technician now?
If so, chalk up another item on "Things Mr. Leslie can do"
A question about the word 'Adonais'.
Is it pronounced the same as Adonis or is it something like ah-doe-nay-us?
It's prounounced: Add-own-nighs...a Hebrew word for "god"...Jehovah was / is referred to as Adonai in Jewish cultures.
Read Keats (I think). The title is directly from one of his poems.
Pardon me. It's Shelley. Read the footnotes at the bottom for the derivation of Adonais in this context.
Thanks John.
On to Part 2 everyone.