Star Trek by the Minute 083: You are Montgomery Scott
Kirk and Spock prime follow the diminutive alien through the cavernous outpost as approaches a slovenly dressed man napping with his eyes covered and feet propped up on a table. This is apparently the Federation / Starfleet staff which the Enterprise's escape pod had been trying to notify for some time.
The alien slaps the man who shouts "What!?" Removing the scarf covering his eyes, the man says "Do you realize how unacceptable this is?" with a thick Scottish accent.
Yet again this film features a main character completely ignorant of to whom he's speaking and his situation blurting out dialogue that is all but inconceivable under any circumstances, regardless of one's surroundings or who such visitors might be.
"Fascinating." says Spock.
"What?" says Kirk.
"OK, I'm sure you're just doing your job but could ye naught come a wee bit sooner?" asks Scotty, continuing his foolish diatribe at people who could very well be interested primarily in following him to the local carnivores.
"Six months I've been here," he raves on, seemingly oblivious also to the expression of surprised recognition by Spock prime with "living off Starfleet protein nibs an' a promise of a good meal. And I know exactly what's goin' on here, OK? Punishment, isn't it? ...Ongoing...for something that was clearly an accident!"
Spock, completely ignoring his outburst declares "You are Montgomery Scott."
Kirk asks "You know him?"
With inappropriate comedy apparently the writers' intended goal, Scott continues: "Yes that's me... you're in the right place, unless there's another hardworking, equally-starved Starfleet officer around."
"Me," declares his fellow officer.
"Get ef! Shut up! You don't eat anything, you c'n eat like a bean and you're done. I'm talking about food, real food, but you're here now so thank you. Where is it?" He stands and starts looking around the floor behind Kirk and Spock apparently with the idea they are pulling a sandwich cart, still ignoring what they've said, how they look, and their reaction to him.
Spock prime likewise ignores Scotty's obvious confusion yet again in order to exposit yet another plot advancing miracle, declaring "You are in fact the Mr. Scott who postulated the theory of transwarp beaming."
Aside from sheer ludicrous dialogue, Spock and Kirk's unbelievable series of miracles leads them to the one person out of many billions in the Federation with the core background needed to produce a revolutionary new model in theoretical physics, and who also happens to be able to build the technology to take advantage of it, and who happens to be on the uninhabited ice world on which they are stranded, right when they need all this to get Kirk back on the Enterprise Bridge.
"That's what I'm talking about. How do you think I wound up here?"
No women speak or appear in this segment.
More buffoonery while for all our heroes know planets full of people burn in our next episode: Star Trek by the Minute 084: Future Sandwiches
Comments
My friend responded that she loved Dr. Smith. When I asked her why, she said "He's the only person who knew they were doing a comedy, and acted accordingly. The rest of them think they're doing serious SciFi" I got the same feeling watching Simon Pegg do Montgomery Scott.
At least he knew what kind of film they were making.
-RAnthony
The craven moron is not an interesting or funny character to me, except as a foil. One of my favorite buffoons was James Hacker from the "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" series. I liked Spicoli from Fast Times, Bill & Ted, and Dudley Moore's "Arthur" got laughs out of me, but none of them were trying to kill anyone...
What spoiled Pegg's role here was simply that he was not interacting with what was going on and did not seem to fit believably in his situation.
I just saw in Pegg's performance the same kind of disconnect that the actor playing Smith portrayed. He looks at his lines and wonders "this is what I'm going to be remembered for? Not Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz? This? I'm gong to kill my agent. Oh, well, at least be memorable."
-RAnthony