Talk: Spectre of the Gun (episode)

Background Cleanup

I cleaned up the background to make it more encyclopedic. I removed the following for being nitpicks:

• In different views of Scotty inhaling the concoction at the bar, the gas escaping from the cannister varies quite a bit in its volume.
• The positions of the Earps constantly shift as they're walking to the OK Corral.
• A minor continuity error occurs in the teaser. As a "redshirt" enters the bridge from the turbo-lift, he walks by the Engineering station three times in the same pass.
• Kirk has to flip his communicator a second time, as it didn't stay open on the first flip.

I removed the following for being commentary:

• Another interesting thing is that the distribution of Clanton gang's roles made Kirk and Scotty siblings (Ike and Billy, rispectively) and, even more interesting, Spock and McCoy too (Frank and Tom McLaury).

I also added incites to a few notes; hopefully someone could add references. – Cleanse 06:55, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

1981?

I was just watching the episode when something caught my ear. During a conversation shortly after the away team is sent to Tombstone, Bones clearly says "What's the matter with us? We're talking like we really are in Tombstone, Arizona 1981." I've played the scene over and over again and every time, he clearly says "1981."

Is my mind playing tricks? Is this the sort of apocrypha that belongs in the article if I heard correctly?--Megs 17:55, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

No, they said "We're here in Tombstone, Arizona, October 26, 1881...the day of the gunfight at O.K. Corral..." --Alan 17:59, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

He says "We're talking like we really are in Tombstone, Arizona IN 1881.". It sounds a little like nineteen because of the "n" in "in", preceding the "eighteen", but he definitely says "in 1881". --Jörg 18:02, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Ok, thanks, I figured it'd be good to ask.--Megs 19:09, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Call the Grocery Store

Boy, I saw this episode on the local network last night and call the grocery store because it was BUTCHERED! Want some steak? The syndication efforts are understandable, but in this case it was unbelievable. Virtually the entire Chekov death scene was cut, the McCoy-Holiday exchange was trimmed to just under a minute, the Kirk-Ed bar exchange was less than 10 seconds, and the mind meld at the end consisted of Spock saying a few words and then the Earps walking into the Corral ready for action. I did enjoy the remastered Melkot planet and buoy but at such a price no thanks. When the DVD set comes out, hopefully the full episode will be featured. -FC 15:06, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, it's just cuts for modern syndication. From what I've gathered, the full remastered versions are indeed given on the DVDs.– Cleanse 00:31, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

I guess it's a good sign that people suddenly notice the syndication edits, because they watch TOS again, to see the remastered effects, but: nothing will be cut on the DVD releases, absolutely nothing. Maybe we should post that somewhere on the TOS-R pages, because so many people come here, worried that the episodes have been cu´t for the sake of remastering, which is not true, of course. --Jörg 10:41, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

those were some of the Best sceanes!! That's the 4th episode where the good parts are always cut out "Mirror, Mirror" and "Catspaw"; "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" - – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.83.126.88

Uhura's background

This makes no sense:

• This is one of three episodes ("The Man Trap" and "The Changeling" are the others) to indicate Uhura is of something other than African-American descent, as her native language is "Swahili". The writers' bible confirms she is from "The United States of Africa".

There is nothing in the canon to indicate that Uhura is African-American, or any textual evidence about her homeland. She could just as easily be from anywhere on Earth, the Martian colonies, or any of the hundreds of colonies, planets or starbases comprising the Federation. In fact, since there is no reference to Uhura's birth place, she could be from the Mirror universe, unexplored space, or even North America. Likewise, the fact that she speaks Swahili is no more probative of her point of origin. Should I know place a comment in Kirk's background that he is Franco-American or part-Quebecois because he has been heard to utter "c'est la vie"? I think this reference should go, but I lack the gumption to make the cut myself. --GNDN 18:13, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Completely agree, cut that note out. The producers have gone out of their way to build up a backstory thats been 40 years in the making about Uhura. Novels, comic books, live action productions have ALL supported that Uhura was born in Africa and is a native speaker of Swahili. -FC 22:07, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Done. --GNDN 16:59, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

I actually already rewritten it to was confirmed in canon. The present version simply confirms she was Swahili and that the writer's guide says she was from Africa. The stuff about being African American was the part that didn't make sense. -FC 17:44, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Kirk's Illusion??

Is it possible that this episode of illusion takes place only in the mind of Captain Kirk? And that if Kirk "died" the aliens hope that the "Enterprise" will have to leave their solar system. Or is it just wishful thinking?? – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.83.126.88

I think it was a shared experience in the minds of the landing party. After Chekov "died" he was probably really in some holding place while the illusion of his dead body remained behind. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by A Pickering (talk • contribs)

Removed

The following statement with an incite on it was removed by an anon user, posting here for the record:

The scene from "Spectre of the Gun" of Spock mind-melding with Kirk, McCoy and Scott was originally going to be incorporated into Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.--31dot 15:04, January 31, 2010 (UTC)

Removed the following nitpick, as we do not draw comparisons with the real world unless they can be cited:

In real life, Morgan Earp was a happily married man and did not pursue any romantic interest with any other woman, as the Melkotian illusion depicted.--31dot 11:41, February 8, 2010 (UTC)

Also removed as speculation:

• The tavern has a poster on its side, featuring the name Rossini and a horse. Most likely, this is a reference to famous 19th century composer Gioacchino Rossini who was the author of 39 operas. If this is not a reproduction of a period poster, it could be a reference to the expression "horse opera", or to the composer's last opera, William Tell, whose overture provided the theme to The Lone Ranger. --31dot 11:46, February 24, 2011 (UTC)

The Matrix

The heroes are trapped in a simulated reality where they are pursued by virtual enemies. when one of them realizes their bullets cannot be real, he is able to dodge them. they defeat their enemies in hand-to-hand combat before escaping to the real reality where their ship confronts an enemy ship. Sounds like the plot from 'The Matrix'. Just pointing it out. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.233.92.204

Incomplet set TOS' only foray into surrealism

I object to the comment made that the incomplete sets created by the melkotians to depict tombstone are a singular example of surrealism in the original series. I would cite the courtroom scene in Squire of Gothos; the interdimensional montages from the Alternative Factor; and the "masked" putty faces from Charlie X as other examples of a surrealist streak running through TOS that has always been a point of interest for me. Perhaps the comment could be ammended to "a unique surrealist touch in later TOS" or something to that effect.

ViolenceAction82– 70.191.207.28 19:17, December 20, 2011 (UTC)

Character of Earps/Clantons

I always wondered why Gene Coon portrayed the characters the way he did. In just about all retellings of the story, the Earps are the "good guys", the law men trying to keep order, while the Clanton/McLaurys were always portrayed as the villains. We know that the actual event was not as clear cut, but what was Coon's motivation for turning the story on its head that way - protraying the Earps as bloodthirsty killers stalking Clanton and company? Does anyone have any theory or insight into this? I always felt this made what was considered a lackluster episode rather compelling.--Siskokid888 (talk) 21:16, November 18, 2014 (UTC)

Doctor Who info removed

I removed the following, as it was both unrelated to the episode and inaccurate (e.g., the TARDIS crew aren't mistaken for the Clantons, they don't try to convince anyone they're from the future, etc.):

• The British sci-fi show Doctor Who had an episode called "The Gunfighters" which aired 30th April - 21st May 1966 and contained nearly identical story and dialogue elements. Examples include "feel my shirt" in an attempt to prove to the bartender that the fabric is from the future, that the main characters are mistaken for the Clanton gang, that one of the characters visits the dentist office (albeit for different reasons), and resolutely standing still as Doc Holliday and the rest open fire at the O.K. Corral.

Sparial (talk) 21:24, August 10, 2016 (UTC)

Removed

I've removed:

• Wyatt Earp, despite the sign in this episode, was not the marshal of Tombstone. His older brother, Virgil, was. Wyatt and Morgan were deputy marshals. Also, in reality, the actual gunfight took place outside Fly's Photographic Studio, a good distance from the O.K. Corral. These inaccuracies can be attributed to Kirk's romanticized conceptions of the Old West.
• Kirk also appears unaware that Ike Clanton (the character that is associated with him in the illusion) survived the actual historical gunfight.
• Some other errors regarding the historical gunfight: Morgan Earp is referred to by Kirk as "the man who kills on sight" when the real-life Morgan, by most reliable accounts, was an even-tempered lawman who used his gun only when he was forced to. The gunfight in the Melkotian scenario is treated as a prearranged event when, actually, it was a more or less spontaneous affair. The gunfight took place near the hour of three o'clock, rather than the five o'clock in the episode. Finally, although it may have seemed that Chekov's Billy Claiborne was the youngest (he turned twenty-one the day before the gunfight), Billy Clanton (Scotty) was nineteen.
• All of the actors playing a genuine historical role were significantly older than the character was at the time of the shoot-out:

• Ron Soble was 40 in 1968, Wyatt Earp was 33 in 1881
• Charles Maxwell was 55, Virgil Earp was 38
• Rex Holman was 40, Morgan Earp was 30
• Bill Zuckert was 52, Sheriff Behan was 37
• Sam Gilman was 53, Doc Holliday was 30

This episode wasn't supposed to be a 100% accurate recreation of historical events, it was piecework based on incomplete information of an event 350 years later, so let's not spend too much time, or any, comparing and contrasting real and fictional events.

Also,

• Kirk's chair has a pad on its base, made from the same material that covers the rest of the floor of the bridge.
• Although the OK Corral is swept by wind and flying detritus in the last act, this effect ceases during the close-up shots where Spock mind-melds with the crew.
• A funny photo taken on the set of this segment, and reproduced in the paperback book A Star Trek Catalogue, shows Kelley looking in puzzlement at a revolver that he is holding incorrectly. This is apparently a joke, since Kelley acted in dozens of Westerns before Star Trek.
• For the third season, the velour tunics from the first two seasons have been replaced by polyester ones, which are better-fitting but lack the luster of the original velour. The new fabric was a heavy diamond-weave nylon double-knit material akin to that used in professional baseball uniforms. The switch was made because the original velour shrank every time it was dry-cleaned. This was a problem because union rules required that costumes be cleaned before each use.
• Chekov is the only member of the landing party who wears a two-holstered gun belt.

I fail to see the relevance of the above, are 'nitpicky', or unsupported.--Alan del Beccio (talk) 18:17, August 21, 2017 (UTC)

Discontinuity

Spock's "History cannot be changed" comment doesn't really make sense in the light of "City on the Edge of Forever" and "Tomorrow is Yesterday" showed history could be changed. In fact, John Christopher points out his disappearance would change history but this is not deemed important until it was discovered his son, Shaun Geoffrey Christophe, would head the Earth-Saturn probe.

It is clear from Kirk's later "Yes. Yes, that's right. That means it doesn't have to happen the way it happened. We can change it. Bones, how's the tranquilliser coming?" that Spock did not mean "History cannot be changed, without repercussions."--BruceGrubb (talk) 01:16, May 3, 2020 (UTC)

"Mr. Kirk"

I'm removing the entry below, as it is inaccurate. Ben Childress calls Kirk "Mister Kirk" in Mudd's Women from season 1.

• Before the release of the new Star Trek movie franchise by J.J. Abrams, this episode was the only time in any Star Trek series or film in which James T. Kirk is referred to as "Mr. Kirk" rather than his usual title of Captain (and later Admiral) Kirk.

Edith Keeler calls him that twice in "The City on the Edge of Forever (episode)". Childress is the only one who calls him that who is not an illusion (Morgan Earp) or someone who doesn't know he's a starship captain (Edith Keeler). --LauraCC (talk) 00:56, 6 May 2024 (UTC)