Savage Curtain, Gallifrey Gals Get Warped! Original Series 3ep22

Troy Convers

WHAT IS BRAIN

Joe Concepts

Really, I think they do so little with Kahless that other than his appearance, he barely contradicts the TNG version. But also that "from Kirk's mind" explanation does make some sense. And maybe he did so little because they barely knew anything beyond "Klingon leader." I would really like some explanation for the silly voice mimicking he did. That needed a bit more explaining. Would've been fun though if TNG included that somehow!

Matthew Zeidman

The Excaliban said he promised the evil team power. I guess that means that, for as long as they existed, they were sentient beings who needed motivation to fight.

Red Claw

They did not retcon Kahless. As pointed out Lincoln and Surak were created by using the thoughts and images Kirk and Spock had about them. The same goes for the evil team. Since at this time period the Federation does not know much about Kahless, therer are many asumptions made about him by our heroes based on the Klingons they came into contact with. So that wasn't really Kahless, but more so what our heroes thought Kahless to be.

Sal Sanchez

Ladies, please, do NOT go out on a limb on ur own, again. LOL!!! There are ONLY about 10 good episodes out there. Interesting facts, Col. Green's red uniform was reused again many years later n 'Mork & Mindy". It was Mork's uniform. Also, u might not have caught this but when Kirk was allowed to make contact with the ship, he told Scotty to "jettison the nacelles". The nacelles are part of the secondary hull. What Kirk was saying was for Scotty to separate the saucer section. I believe this was the first mention of the Enterprise's ability to separate the saucer from the secoday hull. In the Star Trek ships manual from the 70's the saucer separation was ALWAYS a function of the ship even way back in the original series.

Joe Concepts

I haven’t watched this one in a long time, but to me it always feels like the point of this episode is to drag things out as long as possible before anything happens.

Nolan

Interesting counter-point to our somewhat more offense sensitive culture today, where we are QUICK to point out when something is wrong. Here they're like, "Oh, you said something offensive? Kay, Well, that's not great, but whatever." In a way, seeming to say that "offense" is a give and take response, where someone can be offensive, but those around them can choose to act on that feeling of being offended. (That said, we have a LONG way to go when it comes to racial divides and I can't believe we are still dealing with that shit in 20-effing-23 and how people go out of their way to be utter assholes, on purpose, with BS justifications and everything to other people. No, looking different or disagreeing with someone does NOT give the right to be a jerk to someone, just stop) I dunno, maybe it's cause I grew up being called "Four-eyes" so I just learned to choose not to give those words the power to affect my emotions? I was just like, "Yeah, I wear glasses, and?" Jokes on them, after my retinal detachment and cataract surgery in my right eye I'm now living with a singluar lens implant, contacts AND glasses. I am now a SEVEN EYES! Mwahahaha! Also, I'm pretty sure by this point in the show, that was Walter Keonig's (Chekov's) real hair that he had grown out. Furthermore, this episode is actually quite the history lesson of Star Trek lore. Surak AND Kahless. Both prominant reoccuring historical figures. Heck, even Colonel Green gets a mention in the last Pre-new era show. In a way, the fact that Kahless is different than in TNG does make sense. You see, the series "Enterprise" had a two part story to explain the change in appearance and demenor of Klingons between the original show and their depictions in the '90s and 2000's, how their appearance in this show was caused by a genetic virus that spread throughout their Empire and altered their look. (That later produced shows ignored this was one annoyance of mine with the latest production era) Now, as for Kahless, given that the virus happened a hundred years ago by the time of the Original Series, and hostilities between Earth and the Klingon Empire would mean that the Klingons would have a maintained status of a "mysterious other" where knowledge of them and their history would be a bit of a blank spot except for some perhaps big names (like how "Ivan the Terrible" was a known figure during the Cold War, while Soviet society was a mystery) so, much like Lincoln and Surak were drawn for the Enterprise's computers and the crew's minds and perception of those figures, so to would Kahles be, not as the fierce Klingon warrior who forged a Bat'leth (which in reality didn't exist yet) and became a prophet for his people, he's instead a duplicitous, conniving figure with strength equal to a human, based on how Kirk and Company would think of him in and in the appearance of other Klingons they interacted with.

MrEvers

As the figures were drawn from their memories, we can assume that was just Kirk and/or Spock's knowledge/preconceptions of Kahless and the others.

Keith Goodnight

TNG didn't really retcon Kahless— because it was never Kahless who was here in this episode. Just like Lincoln and Surak, the bad guys of the episode were drawn from the Enterprise's records and Kirk and Spock's expectations. In the case of Kahless, expectations based on the then absolute conflict between Klingons and the Federation. Side note: when Kirk mentioned seeing Lincoln die again, I don't think he was speaking as if he'd seen it before; the "again" referred to the dying, not the seeing.

Mike

I don't think it came off as strange at all, it was a perfect encapsulation of the human progress that Star Trek should be all about without breaking the fourth wall and preaching to us.

Martyn Hill

Fun fact, Lincoln is the only character to appear in both TOS and Classic Who as he appears in a brief scene reading the Gettysburg address in "The Chase"

Redjac

I think the reason behind the fact, that for TOS klingons wasn't cast people of color are, that they try to use a skin color that is little different that exists on earth. for example that spock and other vulcans get green makeup, because of there green blood.

Alexander Caldwell

Interesting episode choice; I think the Gals would have enjoyed "Devil in the Dark" better (the second highest pick from the last poll), but I guess it can wait for another time. If they thought seeing Abe Lincoln in space was a mind-f**k, imagine how they'd react to "The Omega Glory", should they ever watch it. Oh, the myopic joy of 20th Century American television...

Bruce Bromley

Lincoln is not the oddest entity to show up on Trek. Of course I'm thinking of the very tall white rabbit of "Shore Leave". This is a silly episode, yet it's still not as crazy as "Spock's Brain".

Mark Ten

There is a sign, 2 in fact. This episode was voted twice in a poll of the worst 15 Star Trek episodes.

Pranav Gulukota

Henchman Twenty1

That Excalbian used to scare the crap out if me as a kid! Especially how it could take form out of a solid boulder. In my opinion, for a non CGI, non humanoid alien it has held up pretty well over the years, and it's body language and hand gestures add to its menacing effect. Well done all around! My whole take on the portrayal of Khaless here vs. him in TNG is that the Excalbians got their source material from reading Kirk and Spock's minds. It has since been established that during this point in history the Klingon Empire had become corrupt, so this was probably how Kirk thought Khaless must be like, and why this recreation has no ridges on his head. (The discrepancy in Klingon appearance finally gets addressed in Star Trek: Enterprise season 4) PS: Abraham Lincoln totally kicked Genghis Kahn's and Khaless' 4sses!