If you can get past the bad animation that hurt the entire series, this is a really good episode.
Exactly, Kail. The animation was done by Filmation, one of (if not the) worst animation houses ever. They were responsbile for the host of "limited animation series", like "Fat Albert" and "The Real Ghostbusters", that plauged 1970's Saturday mornings.
It would be very interesting to see a new animated ST done by, say, Peter Chung ("Aeon Flux"), or Warner Brothers (they do a wonderful job on "Batman Beyond").
On that subject, I've seen a preview for an Interplay program that is a completely computer animated episode of Star Trek as in the original series. It's called 'The Secret of Vulcan Fury', and what I saw was breathtaking. It should be out soon, and I can hardly wait for it's release.
I don't know, the ol' "humans in an alien zoo" has been done to death for me. I kept thinking of The Cage the whole time I was watching this.
When Kirk and Spock dig McCoy out from under the alien dinosaur, the long shot shows no evidence of any dirt being moved.
When the alien child is accidentally beamed to the Enterprise, the parents scream in Kirk's mind "What happened to the child?" - if this species is so intelligent, wouldn't they have some idea of transporters? Isn't it mentioned the've been to ther planets?
Spock's line: "They are about as far in advance of us as we are of a colony of ants" was reminiscent of a line he said in the original series, although it an amoeba was the lower life form he referred to.
I liked the upside down shot of Kirk, Spock and McCoy which was their reflection in the water.
Was Markell a Captain? Kirk makes reference to his decision to go after the away team as against every rule in the captain's book. But Markell addresses Kirk as sir, not captain, and later Spock calls him Mr Markell, not Captain Markell.
The Eye of the Beholder is currently the featured episode on my animated Star Trek website.
There are lots of pictures, 3 avi's, RealVideo, a link to buy the video,
and the entire episode in RealAudio format.
http://mainengineering.simplenet.com/tas_main.html
Please stop by, and comments are always welcome in my guestbook,
disscussion area, and here. Thank you.
Re: "...the ol' "humans in an alien zoo" has been done to death..."
This theme also showed up in the original "Twilight Zone" episode "People Are Alike All Over" with Roddy McDowell and Susan Oliver ("Vina" of "The Cage")
Wow, Susan Oliver just likes being in a zoo, then, doesn't she?
If so, wouldn't mind being in her "Cage"!
Just a note, Susan Oliver was a guest star on The Andy Griffith Show. She spent the entire show behind bars there too, and not as a bartender! Truely the first Trek babe!!
In his novelization for Log Eight, Foster makes a reference to one of the comic stories he wrote for the Power record series. He says something about the Enterprise having transported all sorts of creatures in the past, "from Tribbles to Wauls." The Waul was the cat-like alien pet the Enterprise ferried in "Passage TO Moauv."
The stardate given for "The Eye of the Beholder" falls smack in the middle of the stardate sequence previously given for "The Ambergris Element".
Was Markell a Captain? Kirk makes reference to his decision to go after the away team as against every rule in the captain's book. But Markell addresses Kirk as sir, not captain, and later Spock calls him Mr Markell, not Captain Markell. - Chris Thomas
In his log entry, heard at the start of the ep, Markel identifies himself as "Lt. Commander Markel". Keep in mind, Kirk said, "The Captain of the ship - no matter his rank (emphasis mine) must follow the book." It didn't matter that Markel was a Lt. Commander. What matters is that he was in command of his ship at the time.
I'm amazed Bones was alive after that dinosaur creature fell on him. I mean, that sucka was huge. McCoy should have been crushed to death by it.
In talking about getting McCoy's medikit and their other euqipment, there's a two shot of Kirk and Spock (in extreme close-up). At least, I assume it's Spock. That's because of the skin color. The eyebrow shape, however, is that of Dr. McCoy's.
When Markel says, "How? We can't get through to them", you can tell the cell was flopped. Markel's and Brice's insignias are on their right sides.
As Spock orders everyone to concentrate on the communicator, Markel is in the background. His delta insignia may be on the correct side of his body, but it's aimed wrong. The top part points to the left and not the right.
In one shot, all of the Starfleet crew's equipment is on a table in front of one of the young Lactrans. In another shot, the table is empty.
Couldn't Scotty or Kyle or whoever was operating the transporter tell the difference between a human and a Lactran? Or did he think that huge lump he was beaming aboard was the entire landing party?
Some of the circles on the transporter platform are missing beneath the baby Lactran.
"Live long and prosper."
One thing I forgot to note: Markel, Brice and Lt. Randolph all have the Enterprise delta insignia on their uniforms. At the time of this series, every ship in Starfleet had their own insignia. The Ariel, Markel's ship, may be the first to have adopted Enterprise's as its own.
"Live long and prosper."
The circle of trees scene was seen before in "Once Upon A Planet"...I think it was in another episode too, I just can't remember which one right now.
If it's the one I'm thinking of, it was first used in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" ep.
"Live long and prosper."
THAT'S THE ONE! Thanx!
The animation was done by Filmation, one of (if not the) worst animation houses ever. They were responsbile for the host of "limited animation series", like "Fat Albert" and "The Real Ghostbusters", that plauged 1970's Saturday mornings.
The Real Ghost Busters ran 1986--1991 and was produced by DiC. Ghostbusters, by Filmation, ran 1986--1987 and was a sequel to the live-action '70s show.
Did Markell ever explain what happened to the original three-man away team or why he broke protocol to follow them to the planet?
Did anyone ever wonder how that huge alien child fit in the turbolift?
Okuda's text commentary suggests that the phasers have some kind of sensor to determine how much energy to use to stun different creatures.
1. I've never gotten that sense from all the various Star Trek episodes.
2. If it were true in this episode, then why did the lone phaser fail & they need to use all three phasers on stun?
How the heck did McCoy get covered by the creature's tail? They were all running from the creature.
Why have Kirk pretend to get sick when they have an actual sick person in the group?
Why was Markel on the Enterprise bridge instead of the bridge of his own ship?
I guess they were attempting to save costs on this episode as we never do see the Federation scientific starship Ariel in orbit around Lactra VII.How come the Enterprise sensors did not reveal all the different ecological systems & aliens within them on the planet,the city or the Lactrans? McCoy mentions to Spock something about the next time Spock visits McCoy at the Medical Lab,shouldn't it be Sickbay? The crew compliment for the Ariel is quite small,6 total I believe they state in this episode. It always seemed dangerous to me to have such small crews exploring so far out in space.If the medical officer dies or becomes ill on such a vessel,who can replace them? Same goes for any of the crew members with a highly specialized skill.
Scotty reports that the city is to the northeast, but when the Lactrans kidnap Kirk and the others, Kirk says that they're going northwest to the city.
Also, Markel has a sciences insignia on a gold shirt.
Markel's completely abandoning his ship makes no sense. How did he expect to get back aboard?
After they capture Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the Lactrans carry them to their city, which according to Scotty is about 98.5 kilometers away. That's a LONG distance to traverse on foot (or whatever the Lactrans use to move around). Don't these creatures have ground or air vehicules?
Maybe not a nit, but specimens in the zoo are contained with forcefields. Wouldn't the transporter have problems beaming people through those?