This episode is such an insult to Star Trek because Gene Roddenberry would NEVER have allowed women to be portrayed in such a degrading manner. The blonde commander's skirt is so short that her panties are visible in the rear when she is simply standing there, which means her uniform was not properly made to fit her. At best this was a mistake, but at worst this was blatant and deliberate exposure, and no woman in any military organization...especially one who is in a command position...would knowingly allow herself to be exposed like that. Yes, there were times in TOS when skirts went up and we saw the panties, but that was usually during an attack and when people were getting thrown around the room. Otherwise, women in TOS were allowed to retain their human dignity by wearing skirts that at least covered their panties while in an upright position. I'd really like to think this fubar was an accident, but at some point during production somebody would have noticed, and when they did they did not deem the matter important enough to fix. The poor blonde woman was obviously being sexually exploited because she changes in and out of her skirt and into pants so many times throughout the episode. Instead of keeping her pants (and her dignity) on, she inexplicably changes back into the skirt again and again.
Was this distracting enough to detract from the story? Yes. Uniforms that did not fit properly, unnecessary sexual exploitation and humiliation of a woman...Gene would have been appalled, and I am personally shocked.
Was this distracting enough to detract from the story? Yes. Uniforms that did not fit properly, unnecessary sexual exploitation and humiliation of a woman...Gene would have been appalled, and I am personally shocked.