City On The Edge Of Forever - Star Trek (1966) Discussion

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

Nobody knows, nobody cares, and it doesn't matter.

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[–] timmytony80 8 years ago

JXH 13 cares. I think.

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[–] chris109 8 years ago

And they all had to change back into their original clothing or they wouldn't have been able to come back?

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[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

And they all had to change back into their original clothing or they wouldn't have been able to come back?

So now you're saying it was really an episode of The Time Tunnel? 

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[–] jxh13 8 years ago

I don't recall the context, but it's possible I made reference to this.

For the record, I don't especially care. I think there may be room for calling attention to this point in a discussion of some of the odd bits in the story, but by no means is it important to the episode in general.

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[–] Rudd-12 8 years ago

Because he's third billed?

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[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

... does there really have to be a reason?

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[–] McCartney42 8 years ago

I'm pretty sure it's because McCoy went through the guardian alone, so when he came back, he had to go through alone. Just like Kirk and Spock going through and coming back together. That's what I always thought.

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[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

Well yeah, I mean the director and producers gave it a little logic, but it's like ever since the first fan fiction way back in the 70s there's been a lot of over-think of why so-and-so did such-and-such.

At some point you have to have say that's just the way it is. I mean, why did Spock's console mounted scanner go from grey to black? What's up with Kirk's casual uniforms? How come NOMAD has orange red and green lights instead of other colors ... how come the phesarus is shaped the way it is ... what's up with the molten creature ... is he related to the horta on Janus 5...

It's like people nitpick and extract and extrapolate stuff that was just put there. I guess sometimes it's creative, but it's like nowadays it comes across as ... hammy.

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[–] jxh13 8 years ago

That's what I always thought.

A very reasonable observation, bud.

In practical terms, the Giant Time Bagel isn't big enough for all three to leap through simultaneously, and staggering their leaps this way makes more sense than otherwise.

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[–] narnia4 8 years ago

That could be it, along with the practical concern of getting everybody through a hole that was only so big.

You could also take it as a small dramatic moment. The crew that was left behind doesn't know whether Kirk and Spock succeeded or failed, so there's a short beat before they realize that the mission was indeed successful.

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[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

I thought of that too, but the Guardian seemed to be saying that they would only be returned if they succeeded. At least that's how I took it. So they should have known right away.

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[–] Sunshine62 8 years ago

by kerryedavis
I thought of that too, but the Guardian seemed to be saying that they would only be returned if they succeeded. At least that's how I took it. So they should have known right away.

Not necessarily...
Kirk and Spock's mission was to undo what Bones had changed : that is save Edith .

Kirk was able to stop Bones because he was close by and he forcefully held Bones back.. Had Bones been able to free himself , He may have still tried to save Edith and both could have ended up being killed.

In this case history would have been restored but Bones would have been dead.

even on a rainy day he brings sunshine to my life

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[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

Okay as far as bringing McCoy back too. But the fact that Kirk and Spock returned, as indicated by the Guardian, meant they had succeeded in the overall mission. And frankly if McCoy had had to be sacrificed to achieve that goal, they would have had to do it.

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[–] Sunshine62 8 years ago

by narnia:
You could also take it as a small dramatic moment. The crew that was left behind doesn't know whether Kirk and Spock succeeded or failed, so there's a short beat before they realize that the mission was indeed successful.

by kerryedavis:

I thought of that too, but the Guardian seemed to be saying that they would only be returned if they succeeded......

Exactly ...seeing Kirk and Spock return meant that they had succeeded in undoing what Bones had screwed up but it didn't necessarily mean that they had been able to save Bones in the process...

.....so , as Narnia pointed out , having Bones jump a hand full of seconds after created a brief moment of suspence( at least for the crew left on the planet waiting.)

even on a rainy day he brings sunshine to my life

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[–] Nexus71 8 years ago

Because the opening wasn't big enough for three persons to go through. 

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[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] doug65oh 8 years ago

Actually that's quite possible although there's no way to say for certain. The smallest, most insignificant events, after all, can result in often drastic changes - and that's here and now.

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[–] Jennie_Portrait 8 years ago

Doug
Thank you! The problem is that it is not clear at the time of an event's occurrence what the impact will be.

Put it this way, you trying to draw a right angle. But instead of 90 degrees, you draw a 92 degree angle. Up close, the difference is imperceptible. But if you extend the line out very far, the results are dramatic.

It is the same way with time. I often wonder when I watch a time travel story, how can time travelers even eat anything? Think of it. If a time traveler eats or drinks something, then it takes away from what is available for the other people who are supposed to be there at that time. Let's say a time traveler eats the last piece of bread for his sandwich. This forces someone to get more bread, perhaps engaging in a commercial transaction at a different time than would have taken place. And that sets in motions a completely different sequence of events.

___________________________________
Never say never...

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[–] movieghoul 8 years ago

Yes, that's the butterfly effect as vividly demonstrated by Ray Bradbury in SOund of Thunder. Or Isaac Asimov's classic novel THe End of Eternity where professional time travelers deivse absolutely trivial time changing events, like someone missing a phone call, that produce desirable huge impacts on the timeline, possibly many years later.

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[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

They're interesting stories, but I would like to point out that writing a story where something happens, doesn't really "demonstrate" anything in real life. Especially when it comes to time travel which may end up not even being possible.

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[–] gerryhanson 8 years ago

I think it was because McCoy actually arrived later in the past time than Kirk and Spock, even though he jumped through first. But I guess he should have jumped back first and arrived back later than Kirk and Spock. Somewhat like All Our Yesterdays (1969) they retun the same way they left.
I will say in all these years I've watched over and over since I watched the original run of TOS as a teen I have never thought about it.

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