Talk:Patterns of Force (episode)

German Broadcast

Kobi, you're not 100 % right with pay-tv. In Austria, ORF aired this Episode some years ago. But also late at night. - DerTeufel 21:29, 18 Jun 2004 (CEST)

In that case you should add the info under "Austrian TV", but only Premiere has broadcasted the episode so far in Germany -- Kobi 12:17, 19 Jun 2004 (CEST)

Opinionated info

The historical premise underlying this episode is shaky at best. When Kirk asks John Gill why he picked Nazi Germany as the model, the dying professor croaks out, "Most efficient. . .state that earth ever knew," and Spock briefly recapitulates Nazi Germany's rise to power. However, contrary to the popular stereotype, the Nazis' government and administration were anything but efficient. Rather, it was the pre-Nazi Prussian military and bureaucracy that had such a reputation, and the Nazis, who had a welter of overlapping jurisdictions and turf battles, actually impeded the otherwise legendary German efficiency to a surprising extent. Furthermore, the whole idea behind the episode is implausible anyway, because the basis of Nazism wasn't "efficiency," as Gill suggests to Kirk, but rather racism, xenophobia and aggression. You could not introduce the "good" elements of Nazism because there were none, and whatever benefits did come out of it were purely transitory and accidental. So unless Gill was a real maverick, it's not likely that he would introduce such a system in the first place.

The following was removed from the article's background information as it presents an individual's opinion as to the credibility of the episode. --From Andoria with Love 05:46, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Its interesting that someone would write such a long-winded statement, then invalidate it with the last statement -- obviously Gill was a 'real' maverick -- he walked away from the federation and started handing aliens swastikas. Therefore, it was likely he would introduce it, and the entire paragraph is a circular argument restating, trying to disprove, and then eventualy un-disproving things that probably could be better placed in the ep summary. -- Captain M.K. Bartel^talk 13:09, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Image caption change

I added a brief update to the caption for the image showing Kirk in an SS uniform. This uniform was listed originally as a senior SS officer uniform. In reality, it is more likely a Waffen-SS uniform. These styles of uniforms were prominent in the Waffen SS. It could be an Allemeigne SS uniform but the Allemeigne SS did not adapt the grey uniforms until later in the war. Since the Nazi takeover of Ekos happened a relatively short time ago before Kirk and Spock's visit, it is more likely that it is a Waffen SS uniform. Minutae, I know...but more complete. --71.211.128.76 01:27, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Stardate

I removed the stardate because Dagger of the Mind is supposed to be the first episode where Spock uses the mind meld so it wouldn't make sense if this came first. 24.158.198.135 07:34, 7 November 2006 (UTC)