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UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek The Original Series - Spectre of the Gun S3E6 (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-15 19:23:57
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

The crew become cowboys! 

Here is our full uncut reaction to Spectre of the Gun

Thank you for being a Patron & enjoy!

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Patreon UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek The Original Series - Spectre of the Gun S3E6

Comments

Joe Concepts

Fun fact: Deforest Kelley played one of the Earps in a Gunfight at the OK Corral movie from the '50s.

deconstructionist66

Tombstone is great, if bloody. With probably a career-best performance by Val Kilmer.

Steven Johnson

Seeing or knowing your history of Tombstone wouldn't really help you too much, because the depictions are actually quite reversed. The Clanton gang were not exactly... Eh, if you watch Tombstone with Kurt Russell you'll see what i'm saying. Ike Clanton is in that, and it is so funny to watch that movie and then see this episode and try to imagine William Shatner being such a cowardly character. That seriously is a great movie. Val Kilmer gives probably his best performance of his entire career. Little bit of backstory on this episode. Walter Koenig actually talks about this in the behind the scenes extras for Season 3, but they were planning to do a lot more with Chekov this season. They had him on horseback as a promotional for this episode and it was in a bunch of magazines. A lot of the episodes were going to feature him more. Then they had their timeslot changed, and Walter Koenig says he knew the moment that timeslot change was announced that any hope for Chekov to get to do more stuff was kaputz. He still does get quite a few moments to shine in episodes to come, but sadly this was one of those signal bells that the end was nigh. At this point in the series Leonard Nimoy was developing a really bad drinking and smoking addiction. I thought you guys would enjoy this one, and yeah, you're now into a really solid four episode stretch. Up next is one of my personal favorites "Day of the Dove" and, not to put any spoilers out there, with everything going on in the world the message it has is actually just a relevant 60 years later.

Steven Johnson
>>101985165

Also, as an aside, the original pitch for Star Trek read "Wagon Train To The Stars." Meaning, it's a western series, but in space. That's how Gene tried to sell it to the execs, and a couple of the very early episodes actually allude to that a little. Such as Mudd's Women with, essentially, women in servitude to old miners on the frontier. If you were ever to do some western stuff, my personal suggestions would be: Outlaw Josey Wales Tombstone Unforgiven And whatever westerns, if you ever did any, I would put Unforgiven at the end of that, because it is, essentially, a deconstructionist western... and one of Eastwood's best movies, imho.

deconstructionist66

A classic telling of the OK Corral fight is John Ford's 1946 My Darling Clementine, starring Henry Fonda. 97 minutes.

James H
>>101984143

He also played Ike Clanton in an episode of the historical series "You Are There." (Unusual premise for a show, with Walter Cronkite doing anachronistic pseudo-interviews of actors playing various historical figures.)

Collin Freeman

Enjoyed your commentaries once again. I used to dislike this episode, mainly due to the cheap set. I now feel kind of like Josh about it: it serves its purpose but may still be too bare. You may want to check out Tombstone with Kurt Russell or Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner. Costner's version is probably more accurate, but it's longer and Russell's film is more fun to watch. I recommend checking out Open Range or 3:10 to Yuma (either the more recent version or the original). My favorite western is The Wild Bunch.

Mark Chrisco

The last act of this episode may be my favorite in the canon. Expert analysis from Spock, a memorable showdown and a demonstration of the ideals of the Federation. If you are looking for an interesting western, I would suggest "Gunfight at the OK Coral (1957). It features DeForest Kelley in the small role of none other than Morgan Earp.

Firekrys FWO

As a kid, I didn't know anything about Tombstone until the movie came out. I still thought this was a fun one to watch. As an Adult that knows about Tombstone, not so much, but it's in the category of Meh, Still kinda Fun. And still in the upper half of Season Three

Prof Moff

I always liked this one too. Not the best but a fun one that I never skip. It is a decent rewatch

Prof Moff
>>101985165

I'd like to throw one there too. It is a end of the wild west tell. The Shootist. Last John Wayne movie that turned out very movie=art. I think it one of John W best performances IMO

Dan Krantz

The writer Lee Cronin is actually Gene L. Coon who was the producer for the last half of the first season and most of the second. By the time the third season of Star Trek was in production, he was under contract to another studio and could not write for Star Trek under his real name, hence his pen name. It's the point where the tranquilizer doesn't work that Spock realizes that what is going on around them is not reality, but an illusion. The whole episode is reminiscent of what you might see in an episode of Twilight Zone, minus an introduction from Rod Serling. At the time this was made the events of the shootout between the Earps and the Clanton gang in Tombstone was very well known. It was an event that was taught in every history class in grade school and American history in High School. I guess it's not taught anymore.

Shane Davis

To explain why the gas grenade didn't work, it wasn't a contradiction in terms of things happening that shouldn't have happened, or why things were able to be changed from 'history', as the story put it. The fact that it did not work was actually proof to Spock of the situation's illusion.... it had to work, but didn't. As a result, he came to the logical conclusion the rules weren't "fair"....the grenade didn't work because the Melkotians prevented it from working to prevent them from getting out of the gunfight at the end, but they *did* allow the change of Chekov's 'Billy Claiborne" getting killed in order to show them that they didn't have to just stand around, be shot & die. In other words, they gave Kirk & Co a hint to see if they were sophisticated enough to devise a means of escape without winning by killing. Also, remember that this was filmed in the late '60s' when Westerns absolutely DOMINATED television, viewers would've totally related to the eerie sense the incomplete sets created (an otherworldly Western) and would very much understand the deadly situation our Trek heroes faced, fighting in the OK Corral gunbattle. There had been many films made about it, including Tombstone: The Town Too Tough To Die' (1942), `My Darling Clementine' (1946), `Gunfight At the OK Corral' (1957) and the very contemporary-to-Trek 'Hour of the Gun' (1967). Viewers had this story very fresh on their minds. Additionally interesting is that all those films portray the Earps as the heroes and the Clantons as the evil villains....by Kirk & Co being labelled as the Clanton Gang early on in the episode, viewers would have instantly known our Trek heroes were the .bad guys' in the piecemeal 'Tombstone' & subsequently would have to die. I think this episode of Star Trek is the only portrayal of the Gunfight at the OK Corral that actually made the Earps the villains. Also, if you're interested in the OK Corral story, check out the newer films `Tombstone' (1993), and `Wyatt Earp' (1994). The former is a bit more loose with history and the latter is more serious, but Kurt Russell's 'Tombstone' is far more enjoyable and quotable, IMHO. If you want to check out two of the very best Westerns ever made, try 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' (1962) and 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' (1976). "Valance" is probably one of John Wayne's Top 5 films ever (Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin & Lee Van Cleet round out a fantastic cast and it has almost a noir-like ending) and "Josey Wales" is probably Clint Eastwood's finest Westerns, as it's a pure revenge story.

Gary Leyh

First off, you MUST watch Tombstone. I've always loved this episode for two reasons; 1. Chekov got so much screen time! 2. The Earps were so menacing - I love a good western villain in black! This was my first exposure to the Tombstone AZ history (I was a kid) and it made me believe that the Earps were the bad guys. Anyway, thanks for a great reaction. I enjoyed it!

Gary Leyh
>>101986833

I love that film but haven't seen it in years. I may just have gotten my Friday night movie. Thanks!

Nerd's Gold
>>102016262

There's a connection with 'Gunfight at the OK Corral' - DeForest Kelley plays Morgan Earp.

Nerd's Gold

Many great westerns are over two hours long (sometimes well over). 'High Noon' clocks in at under 90 minutes, but might not be a good one to start with. 'Rooster Cogburn' hits at 108 minutes, and even if you don't like westerns, John Wayne's and Katherine Hepburn's performances, especially in their scenes together (there are a good number), make this an good choice for any fan of movies.

Ken R

Enjoyable episode. Westerns have some classics in the genre, truly great films worth checking out. My favorite of all is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, just a 10 out of 10 and in my top 10 films of all time, but the one considered the best western of all time is The Searchers. Most connected to this would be My Darling Clementine, but if I have to choose one I go with Liberty Valence to sell the genre.

PFCoffey

"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts." William Shakespear. This has always been one of my favorite episodes, since it introduced me to the concept of reality being subjective. Our main characters are thrust into a surreal stage to play their roles, but vulcan logic exposes the counterfeit nature of this reality. This episode was decades before the movie "The Matrix" was realeased and entered popular culture. I'm satisfied that you both were drawn in by the third act.

Brad Barter

The actor who shot Chekov returns in another role but as follower of the religious cult in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The way he holds his weapon and backs out of the Enterprise-A's Bow observation room and turns with the weapon is his signature move to remind audience members of his role in Spectre of the Gun.

Mark Chrisco

As a minor note, Joe D'Agosta, the casting director noted a very young Liza Minnelli read for and was almost cast in the role of Sylvia instead of Bonnie Beecher. A casting decision he looked on with regret as Liza became a rather famous Oscar winning celebrity.

Jonathan

The True Grit remake with Jeff Bridges is a good western for people who are not as into the genre. If you want to go classic and under 90 minutes High Noon is good it created a lot of the tropes reused many times, including in this episode.

StealthMomo

I always thought the set was brilliant. The floating clock and signs, the stairs to nowhere. Bits and pieces of a town like a stage set were plucked from Kirk's brain. Kirk wouldn't really know what Tombstone looked like. Just the picture in his imagination when he learned and read about it in his 10th-grade history class (or whatever). In your commentary, you sometimes react like the people in the town are people. They are obviously NPCs. Programmed to react in specific or limited ways. Hmmm... Star Trek invented NPCs 40 years before video games were created. Cool. The fact that you cats are unaware of The Gunfight at the OK Corral drives home to me how young you are. Or how old I am. LOL Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the gunfight itself was still pretty widely known about in my youth (the 70s). Watch Tombstone (1993) Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot.

StealthMomo

Spock saying nothing for his final line, just that mildly skeptical look, is so choice.

Carl Peterson

This one is okay. I like how it uses Chekov. But it is a little cheesy. If this was the only one like this then it would be fine. But it is not a great version of this type of TOS episode. There are better ones that are simillar.

Scarpad’s Domain

I don''t know what is sadder but certainly the fact that you guys don't know what tombstone was, did you guys take history?

Scarpad’s Domain

Eastwood Played Rowdy Yates in Rawhide, don't you guys have MeTV

Timothy Nikiforovs

Definitely a surreal episode, but I do enjoy the uniqueness of it. The ideas used in the episode are pretty cool, but I do find the pacing rather slow. There are a few cases of leap of faith/mind over matter scenarios in Trek, but I'd say this is the first real case of that. I have to say though, they really should have listened to Spock at the beginning. It worked out in the end, but the whole "contact the Melkotians at any cost" order really rubs me the wrong way. The sent a buoy, said "hey we're not interested, leave us alone", and Kirk basically said screw that and invaded their space. Granted it was all an illusion, but he thought he was doing that. Like, the response should have been "hey, we're here representing the United Federation of Planets, we come in peace, but if you just want to be left alone, we'll respect your wishes and be on our way. This is how you can contact us if you change your mind". Trying to FORCE them to interact with you isn't very diplomatic. And yeah, Scotty certainly knows about guns. Back in Private Little War when the bridge crew was asking why the klingons gave them flintlocks instead of more advanced guns, I think Scotty suggested breech loaders and Chekov said machine guns, so he definitely knew he was holding a 6 shooter, he was just calling attention to it. Also got to love that in the scenario the melkotians created, they made Spock and McCoy brothers.

Prof Moff

TOS Sex Scoreboard Chekov getting’ friendly with the locals. Kirk 9 Chekov 3 new +1 Spock 2 Bones 1 Extras: We are assuming a sneak away 6 shooting by Chekov during the ep. She was talking marriage and that was what was required in the old days. First the bangin’ next the shotgun wedding. Chekov did lowered the boom. Give her credit. Her abilities in the way of riding the bucking bronco consumed Chekov’s mind so much he didn’t realize he was shot. SAVED HIS LIFE.