Yes, I think Kirk's "radar" went up pretty quickly since he didn't know if Ael was trustworthy or not. He didn't know if she had an ulterior motive.
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The Romulan Commander was a favorite character of mine. She had strength and determination. Yet Spock influenced her. I think it brought shame to her to see her niece fall from grace. I think she would have considered revenge on Spock.I am glad she didn't.
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18. During the meld, we learned more about the connection between Ael & the Romulan Commander from “The Enterprise Incident”. What did you think of the character? How did what happened to her on TOS affect her aunt, Ael, & her motivations/actions here?
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The Doctor I grew up with was Tom Baker. I have seen others too. But he was the one that was memorable.
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I love the detail that Spock is known among Romulans as one of Starfleet’s great officers. It always irks me when presumably well-informed characters haven’t heard of what must surely be a very famous ship and crew. #TrekBookClub

This is a good scene. There is much to be concerned about. McCoy is reason and Spock the logical one. With his mindmeld he would determine if she were truthful. Kirk is the deciding factor. Spock will let them know if she is truthful.
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17. To help convince Kirk that Ael was telling the truth, she agreed to have Spock perform a Vulcan mind meld with her. What did Kirk, Spock (and us) learn about Ael through the meld? Conversely, what did she learn through the meld?
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16. After Ael completed her presentation & made her proposal, we get some classic Kirk, Spock and McCoy conversations, similar to the many we saw on TOS. What perspectives did each of the three bring into the conversation/debate?
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She knew from their former interactions that he had a sense of honor. As for Romulans-she probably didn't know who she could trust. It's probably not easy for Romulans to defy the state. One wrong person and her plan would be up in smoke. #trekbookclub #startrekmyenemymyally

Honorable. I guess, *technically* she's disloyal also since she has to attack fellow Romulans. However, when the state is doing something clearly wrong, she has no choice but to defy them. #trekbookclub #startrekmyenemymyally

She might have thought Kirk felt guilty over what he did to Ael’s niece, which would give Ael leverage. #TrekBookClub

Well for one Kirk, himself has done some clandestine work before behind enemy lines. This was right up his alley. His cunning is what she needed to pull this off.
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She was being honorable for sure, with the asterisk of being self-serving also — her career in Romulan space effectively over, and her life prospects quite dim. I like Kirk’s thought that not even Federation hands would be safe with this kind of technology. #TrekBookClub

The Tom Baker run is the height of the franchise, IMO, and nothing quite tops Ark in Space. Crazy how much inspiration it appears to have given the Alien franchise. #TrekBookClub

Not sure the Vulcans limited psionic abilities really add to their power in a galactic sense. But of course the Romulan plan involved amplifying those abilities a hundredfold, so they even worked between ships. Not sure I really bought into this idea, but it was certainly original! #TrekBookClub

Nice little touch here: the Romulans refer to a ship with male pronouns instead of our custom to use female pronouns. #TrekBookClub

When a government steps out of line in the treatment of another culture or people, it is the sane mission for a person to stand up and say, "No, this treatment will not be tolerated." For the sake of all sentient beings throughout the Cosmos we won't tolerate it.
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14. Ael was willing to commit treason against her own government because she believes its actions violated her principles. Was she being honorable, disloyal, or both?
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Experimenting on Vulcans is pretty horrific, but the main implication is they are developing a telepathic weapon--I way to read minds from a distance. that would be terrible for the Federation and Klingons, the whole sector. #TrekBookClub #StarTrekMyEnemyMyAlly

While I've only watched a handful of episodes from modern era, I enjoyed it. I remember watching the 50th anniversary "The Day of the Doctor", some of the episodes with the 9th and 10th Doctors and more recently, the 60th anniversary specials with D. Tennant & C. Tate.
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