Friday's Child is an episode about the trio almost to the complete exclusion of the rest of the cast. Scotty leads the bridge crew on a very minor B story, but other than that it is strictly Kirk, Spock and McCoy on the planet of the giants. Not one of those episodes that wins awards, but definitely a solid adventure episode. It is kinda funny how when negotiating a treaty with a pre-warp society the prime directive never comes up once. I guess that only counts when the natives don't live on top of valuable mineral resources. McCoy adds to his collection with, "I'm a doctor, not an escalator."
The episode begins with McCoy leading a briefing on a primitive society that Kirk is to negotiate a treaty with. It is never explained why McCoy was the one that Starfleet chose to send down and study these people. I guess they give some excuse about trying to give them medical tech, but really, the chief doctor on the Enterprise? The aliens are 7 feet tall and use deadly throwing weapons, "as deadly as our phasers up to 100 feet." Upon beaming down they discover the Klingons have gotten there first, but the Capellans (see, I finally looked it up) want to hear from Kirk as well. The leader of the Capellans seems more willing to work with the Federation than the Klingons, so the Klingon leads another Capellan faction in killing the leader and taking over.
The pregnant wife of the overthrown leader is to be killed now that he is dead, but Kirk grabs her and intervenes, a grave violation of Capellan customs. Now Kirk is to be killed, but fortunately the Capellans are dumb so they manage to escape with Eleen, the dead leaders wife. At first she refuse to be touched by any of them, but McCoy insists getting his way after slapping her in the face which she apparently finds highly romantic. McCoy learns she is about to give birth and we learn through narration that she doesn't want to keep the child. The Cappellans attack, but Kirk and Spock manage to create a rockslide (on the Vasquez rocks again) with some sort of magic sonic blast from the phasers. One of the Capellans is crushed and the Klingon sneakily steals a Federation phaser from his body.
This whole time Scotty is in charge back on the Enterprise. He is fooled into flying away from the planet by a false distress signal. Eventually they figure it out and turn back, but are confronted by a Klingon bird of prey. We are left wondering if they will survive or come to the rescue in time. There is a cool scene where Sulu's scanner unfolds from his console which they haven't shown before.
McCoy manages to deliver the baby successfully, but Eleen flees leaving the baby with McCoy. Kirk and Spock make highly effective bows and arrows in a few minutes and they are ready to confront the Capellan forces. Just before they are about the fight Eleen comes out from somewhere and tells the leader of the Capellans that the baby is dead and she killed the humans. The Klingon doesn't believe her and pulls his phaser on the group of them. Kirk shoots him with an arrow and the fight is on. Several Capellans are killed and for some reason the new Capellan leader throws his life away allowing the Klingon to kill him just as one of his men kills the Klingon. Now Eleen's new son is the ruler apparently and Scotty shows up with a crew of red shirts just after everything is resolved. The baby gets named Leonard James Akaar pleasing Kirk and McCoy to no end.
Scoring: This is a really fun episode. It has humor, but is hardly lighthearted. It really cements that Kirk, Spock and McCoy are the main characters of the show. The Capellan costumes are kinda funny looking, but they manage to come across as not overly silly primitive people. Kirk and Spock making effective stone age weapons faster and better than the Capellans is unbelievable, but less so than the Gorn cannon...
7 out of 10
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
TOS: Journey to Babel
Murder on the Enterprise Express! Not quite, but Journey to Babel managed to be a solid murder mystery with a story about Spock's struggles with his father and his people along for the ride. In addition to meeting Spock's father Sarek we also meet his human mother Amanda. I think of Sarek as a regular, but this is actually his only appearance in TOS. This episode also introduces several other alien races previously only mentioned in passing greatly expanding the lore of Trek.
The episode opens with the ship crowded with diplomats on their way to a conference to discuss the inclusion of a valuable mining world into the Federation. Kirk and Spock personally greet the Vulcan ambassador who Kirk discovers is Spock's father Sarek. Sarek doesn't seem pleased to see Spock, even for a Vulcan. Amanda explains to Kirk that Sarek wanted Spock to follow in his footsteps rather than join Starfleet, but Spock only ever felt truly at home in the multiracial world of Starfleet. At a social gathering of ambassadors the Tellarite ambassador Gav confronts Sarek about how he will vote on inclusion, but Sarek refuses to answer and Gav storms off. Later Gav returns and confronts Sarek again and it gets heated this time. Gav again storms off and is found dead soon after.
Examining the body Spock explains that Gav's neck was broken in a way traditional to Vulcans. The confront Sarek, who refuses to explain what he was doing on classic Vulcan, "we do not discuss such things with outsiders," excuse. Sarek then collapses and McCoy discovers he has a heart condition that will kill him without a risky surgery, a surgery that requires a large amount of Vulcan blood. Meanwhile on the bridge a vessel approaches the Enterprise, but stays just outside weapons range. Without warning an Andorian attacks Kirk in a hallway and wounds him badly in the lung (he clearly stabbed Kirk in the kidney) narrowly missing his heart. Spock assumes command and refuses to give his blood to McCoy to save Sarek on the grounds that his duty is to Starfleet.
Kirk awakens from surgery in a lot of pain, but manages to drag himself onto the bridge and fake it to get Spock to save Sarek. Spock agrees and McCoy begins surgery, but before Kirk can turn command over to Scotty and go recover they are attacked! The small ship that has been staying near them flies in at warp 10 (arrrr, TNG warp rules make it hurt every time they say warp 10 or higher) and shoots them with phasers. Kirk has the Andorian prisoner brought to the bridge, but in a struggle with security part of his antenna is damaged and revealed to be fake. Kirk manages to draw in the hostile ship by pretending to be badly damaged and cripples the vessel. Before they can be beamed about the ship self destructs followed by the so called Andorian who commits suicide. Medical examinations reveal he was Orion, a planet trying to profit from the valuable system staying out of the Federation. The episode ends with Kirk, Spock and Sarek all in sickbay where McCoy is gloating over being able to order them all to stay in bed.
Commentation: This is a solid episode which introduces numerous new aliens into Star Trek lore and manages to stay tense and exciting throughout. I guess it wasn't all that shocking that Sarek isn't a murderer, but the mystery of why he would be framed is plenty interesting. It also explores the sometimes twisted logic of the Vulcans in ways that would continue to develop over the decades.
9 out of 10
The episode opens with the ship crowded with diplomats on their way to a conference to discuss the inclusion of a valuable mining world into the Federation. Kirk and Spock personally greet the Vulcan ambassador who Kirk discovers is Spock's father Sarek. Sarek doesn't seem pleased to see Spock, even for a Vulcan. Amanda explains to Kirk that Sarek wanted Spock to follow in his footsteps rather than join Starfleet, but Spock only ever felt truly at home in the multiracial world of Starfleet. At a social gathering of ambassadors the Tellarite ambassador Gav confronts Sarek about how he will vote on inclusion, but Sarek refuses to answer and Gav storms off. Later Gav returns and confronts Sarek again and it gets heated this time. Gav again storms off and is found dead soon after.
Examining the body Spock explains that Gav's neck was broken in a way traditional to Vulcans. The confront Sarek, who refuses to explain what he was doing on classic Vulcan, "we do not discuss such things with outsiders," excuse. Sarek then collapses and McCoy discovers he has a heart condition that will kill him without a risky surgery, a surgery that requires a large amount of Vulcan blood. Meanwhile on the bridge a vessel approaches the Enterprise, but stays just outside weapons range. Without warning an Andorian attacks Kirk in a hallway and wounds him badly in the lung (he clearly stabbed Kirk in the kidney) narrowly missing his heart. Spock assumes command and refuses to give his blood to McCoy to save Sarek on the grounds that his duty is to Starfleet.
Kirk awakens from surgery in a lot of pain, but manages to drag himself onto the bridge and fake it to get Spock to save Sarek. Spock agrees and McCoy begins surgery, but before Kirk can turn command over to Scotty and go recover they are attacked! The small ship that has been staying near them flies in at warp 10 (arrrr, TNG warp rules make it hurt every time they say warp 10 or higher) and shoots them with phasers. Kirk has the Andorian prisoner brought to the bridge, but in a struggle with security part of his antenna is damaged and revealed to be fake. Kirk manages to draw in the hostile ship by pretending to be badly damaged and cripples the vessel. Before they can be beamed about the ship self destructs followed by the so called Andorian who commits suicide. Medical examinations reveal he was Orion, a planet trying to profit from the valuable system staying out of the Federation. The episode ends with Kirk, Spock and Sarek all in sickbay where McCoy is gloating over being able to order them all to stay in bed.
Commentation: This is a solid episode which introduces numerous new aliens into Star Trek lore and manages to stay tense and exciting throughout. I guess it wasn't all that shocking that Sarek isn't a murderer, but the mystery of why he would be framed is plenty interesting. It also explores the sometimes twisted logic of the Vulcans in ways that would continue to develop over the decades.
9 out of 10
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
TOS: Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis tries really hard to be feminist, but misses the mark to a modern audience. On the surface it is a very scifi story about an immortal energy cloud, but deep down it is about how a woman may achieve success, but what she really wants is love. This time the godlikeness of the energy cloud is toned down a bit and it can't leave the tiny rock it lives on for more than a few days. On the planetoid though it is your garden variety pseudodeity.
The episode begins with Kirk, Spock and McCoy flying a shuttle with Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford. It is never explained why the hell they are in a shuttle instead of on the Enterprise, other than for plot convenience. It makes even less sense than you think though, because the commissioner has contracted a deadly disease and will die unless they make it back to the Enterprise, in four days. Suddenly Spock notices something on the scanners, a flashing cloud of energy which seizes control of the shuttle from them and takes them to a tiny planetoid.
They find their shuttle totally disabled along with their communications equipment. They are startled to hear someone calling out greeting them. It is a human named Cochrane who has been marooned here for years. He eventually admits that the same energy cloud brought him here is called the Companion, and that it both made him young again and has kept him from aging ever since. Kirk thinks he recognizes him, and it turns out he is in fact the same Zephram Cochrane who invented warp drive (and played such a bit role in First Contact). While attempting to repair the shuttle Spock is attacked by the Companion with a powerful electric shock. Meanwhile the commissioners condition is deteriorating.
Spock realizes that if it is made of electricity it can probably be disrupted and Cochrane agrees to help them, he is tired of living alone on a rock. Spock rigs up a disruptor, but the Companion overwhelms them and almost kills Spock and Kirk, but Cochrane intervenes. Kirk then directs Spock to rig the universal translator to try and communicate with it. They do and discover it is female and cares deeply for Cochrane. The commissioner is about to die and reveals that despite her amazing career, her one regret is never knowing love. Kirk explains to the companion that since it isn't human it can never love so it merges with the commissioner giving up immortality to live with Cochrane. At first he is put off by the idea, but realizes he love her and decides to stay with her until the grow old together.
Conversation: This episode is both touching for it's humanity, and kinda sexist for its depiction of woman as only being able to have jobs or love interests, not both. The commissioner half the the merged being at the end seems perfectly happy to give up her life as one of the most important people in the galaxy to live on a tiny rock for the next 50 years. I had mixed feelings about some of the messages, but I enjoyed watching it.
7 out of 10
The episode begins with Kirk, Spock and McCoy flying a shuttle with Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford. It is never explained why the hell they are in a shuttle instead of on the Enterprise, other than for plot convenience. It makes even less sense than you think though, because the commissioner has contracted a deadly disease and will die unless they make it back to the Enterprise, in four days. Suddenly Spock notices something on the scanners, a flashing cloud of energy which seizes control of the shuttle from them and takes them to a tiny planetoid.
They find their shuttle totally disabled along with their communications equipment. They are startled to hear someone calling out greeting them. It is a human named Cochrane who has been marooned here for years. He eventually admits that the same energy cloud brought him here is called the Companion, and that it both made him young again and has kept him from aging ever since. Kirk thinks he recognizes him, and it turns out he is in fact the same Zephram Cochrane who invented warp drive (and played such a bit role in First Contact). While attempting to repair the shuttle Spock is attacked by the Companion with a powerful electric shock. Meanwhile the commissioners condition is deteriorating.
Spock realizes that if it is made of electricity it can probably be disrupted and Cochrane agrees to help them, he is tired of living alone on a rock. Spock rigs up a disruptor, but the Companion overwhelms them and almost kills Spock and Kirk, but Cochrane intervenes. Kirk then directs Spock to rig the universal translator to try and communicate with it. They do and discover it is female and cares deeply for Cochrane. The commissioner is about to die and reveals that despite her amazing career, her one regret is never knowing love. Kirk explains to the companion that since it isn't human it can never love so it merges with the commissioner giving up immortality to live with Cochrane. At first he is put off by the idea, but realizes he love her and decides to stay with her until the grow old together.
Conversation: This episode is both touching for it's humanity, and kinda sexist for its depiction of woman as only being able to have jobs or love interests, not both. The commissioner half the the merged being at the end seems perfectly happy to give up her life as one of the most important people in the galaxy to live on a tiny rock for the next 50 years. I had mixed feelings about some of the messages, but I enjoyed watching it.
7 out of 10
Monday, March 16, 2015
TOS: I, Mudd
I, Mudd marks the first return antagonist to Star Trek, Harry Mudd. Mudd isn't as competent a villain as Q, but he is just as flamboyant. The episode manages to dodge and weave it's way around several pitfalls that could have turned it into a rather bland episode. It also marks the third time that Kirk has destroyed a powerful artificial intelligence by acting illogically, it is a wonder Spock survives his presence.
The episode begins with McCoy pointing out an out of place crewman to Spock, but fortunately for crewman Norman he doesn't do anything other than that. Norman goes directly to the auxiliary control room where he disables the crewman working there and overrides the ships navigation. He goes from there to engineering where he sabotages the controls to prevent interference and starts up the warp drive. Kirk is understandably upset to have his ship out of his control, but before he can do anything Norman shows up on the bridge. Norman tells them that the ship will fly for 5 days to a planet and that he is an android, but pretty much nothing else.
Arriving at the planet Norman forces the captain and officers to beam to the surface where they are greeted by female androids who lead them to their ruler, Harry Mudd. Mudd is having a great time explaining how he took over the place when he found a planet of androids desperate for leadership. He tells them their every wish will be granted, but they are stuck here. They explore around and figure out he was pretty much telling the truth. Suddenly Scotty arrives and Mudd explains he has emptied the Enterprise of crew and will be leaving them behind and taking their ship. Kirk explains to one of the androids that he can't be happy without his ship and it takes her a while to process.
It is time for Mudd to leave, but the androids won't let him. He is apparently too flawed for them and they decide humans are too dangerous so they must be helped by being conquered by the androids. Fortunately Kirk figures out their only weakness, being illogical. They fake an escape because apparently the androids are expecting it (not sure why Kirk is so certain of this, but whatever). Then they start acting crazy and dancing and pretending to have invisible bombs until all the androids shut down except for Norman. Kirk pulls out the old logical paradox of, "everything Mudd says is a lie," followed by Mudd saying, "I am lying." This causes Norman to overload. Before marooning Mudd on the planet Kirk mades 500 androids of his ex-wife to keep him in line.
Lookback: I was kinda dreading this episode since Harry Mudd is a pretty goofy villain, but this one manages to have enough story and action to keep things fun. It is nice to see Uhura tempted by immortality, too often the characters it Trek are such exemplars of moral fortitude they seem like machines.
7 out of 10
The episode begins with McCoy pointing out an out of place crewman to Spock, but fortunately for crewman Norman he doesn't do anything other than that. Norman goes directly to the auxiliary control room where he disables the crewman working there and overrides the ships navigation. He goes from there to engineering where he sabotages the controls to prevent interference and starts up the warp drive. Kirk is understandably upset to have his ship out of his control, but before he can do anything Norman shows up on the bridge. Norman tells them that the ship will fly for 5 days to a planet and that he is an android, but pretty much nothing else.
Arriving at the planet Norman forces the captain and officers to beam to the surface where they are greeted by female androids who lead them to their ruler, Harry Mudd. Mudd is having a great time explaining how he took over the place when he found a planet of androids desperate for leadership. He tells them their every wish will be granted, but they are stuck here. They explore around and figure out he was pretty much telling the truth. Suddenly Scotty arrives and Mudd explains he has emptied the Enterprise of crew and will be leaving them behind and taking their ship. Kirk explains to one of the androids that he can't be happy without his ship and it takes her a while to process.
It is time for Mudd to leave, but the androids won't let him. He is apparently too flawed for them and they decide humans are too dangerous so they must be helped by being conquered by the androids. Fortunately Kirk figures out their only weakness, being illogical. They fake an escape because apparently the androids are expecting it (not sure why Kirk is so certain of this, but whatever). Then they start acting crazy and dancing and pretending to have invisible bombs until all the androids shut down except for Norman. Kirk pulls out the old logical paradox of, "everything Mudd says is a lie," followed by Mudd saying, "I am lying." This causes Norman to overload. Before marooning Mudd on the planet Kirk mades 500 androids of his ex-wife to keep him in line.
Lookback: I was kinda dreading this episode since Harry Mudd is a pretty goofy villain, but this one manages to have enough story and action to keep things fun. It is nice to see Uhura tempted by immortality, too often the characters it Trek are such exemplars of moral fortitude they seem like machines.
7 out of 10
Sunday, March 15, 2015
TOS: Catspaw
Red alert, all hands to battle stations! We have entered into the realm of camp. Tonight's pair of godlike beings take the form of two new age magicians who use, "sympathetic magic," to threaten the Enterprise. I am going to bash this episode a bit, but it does manage to avoid some of the trek tropes, (McCoy finds a man dead and DOESN'T say, "he's dead Jim") but it has way too much mumbo jumbo to be great.
We start on the bridge over a seemingly unoccupied planet. Unoccupied other than the landing party of three that is now missing. They hear from one of the landing party requesting to beam aboard, but when he does he is dead. A voice comes from his body and warns Kirk that the ship is now cursed and they must leave. With Sulu and Scotty on the surface that just won't do, so Kirk beams down with Spock and McCoy.
On the surface they find it foggy which confuses them for some reason. Then three witches appear and warn them off again with what even Spock points out is bad poetry. Then they run across a black cat and follow it into an imposing castle that didn't show up on sensors. Inside they follow the cat into a simple pit fall trap and find themselves chained in a dungeon. Sulu and Scotty show up but they have been brainwashed. Suddenly a magician appears complete with a wand. He spends about 10 minutes trying to talk them into working with him, before his cat turns into Sylvia, the other magician. And when I say magician, I mean it. They use their magic to threaten the ship yada yada yada.
In case you can't tell I am getting kinda bored with having every enemy have godlike powers with some silly weakness. In this case it turns out to be their magic wand. Kirk fails to seduce Sylvia, but fortunately the other magician is apparently less evil and talks about how she is betraying their way or something. Eventually she turns into a giant cat that only appears through doorways and in shadow and kills the other magician. Kirk smashes the wand and everything is as it was, only the two magicians are new tiny green puppets or something.
Me being judgmental: This one wasn't quite as boring as Alternative Factor, but there were lots of scenes that felt like they were being stretched to meet the run time. I am really starting to be ready for Q and some consistency in my godlike beings.
3 out of 10
We start on the bridge over a seemingly unoccupied planet. Unoccupied other than the landing party of three that is now missing. They hear from one of the landing party requesting to beam aboard, but when he does he is dead. A voice comes from his body and warns Kirk that the ship is now cursed and they must leave. With Sulu and Scotty on the surface that just won't do, so Kirk beams down with Spock and McCoy.
On the surface they find it foggy which confuses them for some reason. Then three witches appear and warn them off again with what even Spock points out is bad poetry. Then they run across a black cat and follow it into an imposing castle that didn't show up on sensors. Inside they follow the cat into a simple pit fall trap and find themselves chained in a dungeon. Sulu and Scotty show up but they have been brainwashed. Suddenly a magician appears complete with a wand. He spends about 10 minutes trying to talk them into working with him, before his cat turns into Sylvia, the other magician. And when I say magician, I mean it. They use their magic to threaten the ship yada yada yada.
In case you can't tell I am getting kinda bored with having every enemy have godlike powers with some silly weakness. In this case it turns out to be their magic wand. Kirk fails to seduce Sylvia, but fortunately the other magician is apparently less evil and talks about how she is betraying their way or something. Eventually she turns into a giant cat that only appears through doorways and in shadow and kills the other magician. Kirk smashes the wand and everything is as it was, only the two magicians are new tiny green puppets or something.
Me being judgmental: This one wasn't quite as boring as Alternative Factor, but there were lots of scenes that felt like they were being stretched to meet the run time. I am really starting to be ready for Q and some consistency in my godlike beings.
3 out of 10
TOS: The Doomsday Machine
The second season is really getting into its groove at this point. The Doomsday Machine is a classic episode about a horror from beyond the galaxy that threatens to kill billions. This is also an episode about how Kirk is in charge of the Enterprise even when he isn't in command and is on another ship. It features another, "I'm a doctor, not a mechanic," the third so far. I watched the version with replace special effects and I miss the goofy looking tube monster, but I guess the red glowing on the inside was alright.
The episode begins with the Enterprise searching through a solar system that has had it's planets turned to rubble. They are looking for the USS Constellation which was in the area and hasn't been heard from. Uhura is gone for some reason, so Lt. Palmer detects a distress beacon in another solar system of rubble, but this one has 2 planets still. The find the Constellation badly damaged and adrift. It still has life support so Kirk beams over with Scotty and a team of engineers. The find the ship badly damaged, but overall functional and while looking for the lots stumble across it's commander, Commodore Crazy Eyes (I know his name is Decker, but with the stubble and crazy eyes it isn't clear why anyone takes him serious). Crazy Eyes left his crew on the now destroyed 3rd planet and he isn't taking it well. He beams back with McCoy and promptly takes command stranding Kirk on the damaged Constellation.
McCoy is infuriated by Crazy Eyes crazy move to take command, but apparently doesn't have the medical records to prove he is crazy so oh well. Crazy Eyes risks the entire ship going on a suicidal attack run and only turns back when Spock threatens to relieve him on grounds of suicidal tendencies. The titular doomsday machine is a huge cone that eats rubble from the planets it destroys and shoots a fiery beam at anything that attacks it.
Communications with the Constellation are restored and Kirk orders Spock to take back command. Crazy Eyes doesn't like it one bit, but the security staff are clearly with Spock so he give in, only to attack a red shirt on the way the sick bay. Crazy Eyes steals a shuttle and flies it into the monster with no effect. This gives Kirk and idea though and he has Scotty rig the Constellation to detonate on a 30 second timer and then everybody but Kirk returns to the Enterprise. After positioning the Constellation to be devoured Kirk starts the detonator, but of course transporters go down and he is only saved at the very last minute.
Commentary time: This isn't the most intellectual of episodes, but it is tense and really helped by the actor playing Commodore Decker who does a good job showing a commander broken by having lost his crew. It does seem like Spock could have taken over earlier, but saving it for Kirk to order him works well to show Spock's personal loyalty.
7 out of 10
The episode begins with the Enterprise searching through a solar system that has had it's planets turned to rubble. They are looking for the USS Constellation which was in the area and hasn't been heard from. Uhura is gone for some reason, so Lt. Palmer detects a distress beacon in another solar system of rubble, but this one has 2 planets still. The find the Constellation badly damaged and adrift. It still has life support so Kirk beams over with Scotty and a team of engineers. The find the ship badly damaged, but overall functional and while looking for the lots stumble across it's commander, Commodore Crazy Eyes (I know his name is Decker, but with the stubble and crazy eyes it isn't clear why anyone takes him serious). Crazy Eyes left his crew on the now destroyed 3rd planet and he isn't taking it well. He beams back with McCoy and promptly takes command stranding Kirk on the damaged Constellation.
McCoy is infuriated by Crazy Eyes crazy move to take command, but apparently doesn't have the medical records to prove he is crazy so oh well. Crazy Eyes risks the entire ship going on a suicidal attack run and only turns back when Spock threatens to relieve him on grounds of suicidal tendencies. The titular doomsday machine is a huge cone that eats rubble from the planets it destroys and shoots a fiery beam at anything that attacks it.
Communications with the Constellation are restored and Kirk orders Spock to take back command. Crazy Eyes doesn't like it one bit, but the security staff are clearly with Spock so he give in, only to attack a red shirt on the way the sick bay. Crazy Eyes steals a shuttle and flies it into the monster with no effect. This gives Kirk and idea though and he has Scotty rig the Constellation to detonate on a 30 second timer and then everybody but Kirk returns to the Enterprise. After positioning the Constellation to be devoured Kirk starts the detonator, but of course transporters go down and he is only saved at the very last minute.
Commentary time: This isn't the most intellectual of episodes, but it is tense and really helped by the actor playing Commodore Decker who does a good job showing a commander broken by having lost his crew. It does seem like Spock could have taken over earlier, but saving it for Kirk to order him works well to show Spock's personal loyalty.
7 out of 10
Friday, March 13, 2015
TOS: The Apple
The Apple is one of those episodes I remember mostly from a specific image, in this case the image of a flower with deadly poison darts inside. This isn't one of those episodes that wins awards, but despite the plot holes discussed below, it manages to be a fun one to watch. The prime directive comes up in this episode again, and it seems this is exactly the kind of civilization it was designed to protect. But no, Kirk can't do that, he has to destroy their culture and offer to replace it with human culture.
The episode begins with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Chekov beaming down with an an assortment of red shirts to investigate a planet that appears to be paradise. The weather is perfect from pole to pole and it is covered in the best lush plant life you can buy to decorate a sound stage. Kirk ignores a warning from Scotty that the anti-matter pods are losing potency and they start exploring. But the villain from the first act rears its flowery head and kills a red shirt with a blast of poison flower darts. Yes, the first act villain is a flower, and I say first act like that because the flowers disappear and are never mentioned after the first act. Spock takes a dart load for the captain and they attempt to beam back to the ship, but the energy drain stops it. Spock makes one of his unexplained recoveries, but they lose another red shirt to lightning.
Kirk notices a figure following them and greets the man as only Kirk can, with a punch in the face. The humanoid speaks English of course and appears to be from the village of spray tan. His name is Akuta and he take them to his village. Akuta explains he is the eyes and mouth of Vaal, evidently the deity of this world. They seem much like us, but appear to live forever rather than reproducing. Every day they feed Vaal by bringing minerals to a giant snake head normally protected by a forcefield. Spock seems to think maybe they should follow the prime directive and leave these primitive people as they are. McCoy and Kirk see things differently and decide they are obviously slaves to a machine.
The decision is made somewhat easier when Vaal starts trying to destroy the Enterprise by dragging it down with a tractor beam. Vaal also tells the people to kill the intruders by bashing in their skulls. They manage to get one red shirt, but Kirk stops and confines them before they can kill anyone else. All this fighting and feuding gets Vaal hungry for fuel, but this just gives Kirk and idea. He has Scotty blast Vaal's forcefield with the phasers to drain Vaal of power. It works and Vaal is destroyed. Kirk leaves the primitive villages to fend for themselves and figure out all that love stuff on their own.
The break down: If it wasn't for the threat to the Enterprise, this episode would be Kirk as his most arrogant. They show up at a planet that seems to be doing just fine (other than an infestation of deadly dart flowers) and destroy the thing granting the people immortality so they can be, "free." Not a bad episode, but not the best either.
6 out of 10
The episode begins with Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Chekov beaming down with an an assortment of red shirts to investigate a planet that appears to be paradise. The weather is perfect from pole to pole and it is covered in the best lush plant life you can buy to decorate a sound stage. Kirk ignores a warning from Scotty that the anti-matter pods are losing potency and they start exploring. But the villain from the first act rears its flowery head and kills a red shirt with a blast of poison flower darts. Yes, the first act villain is a flower, and I say first act like that because the flowers disappear and are never mentioned after the first act. Spock takes a dart load for the captain and they attempt to beam back to the ship, but the energy drain stops it. Spock makes one of his unexplained recoveries, but they lose another red shirt to lightning.
Kirk notices a figure following them and greets the man as only Kirk can, with a punch in the face. The humanoid speaks English of course and appears to be from the village of spray tan. His name is Akuta and he take them to his village. Akuta explains he is the eyes and mouth of Vaal, evidently the deity of this world. They seem much like us, but appear to live forever rather than reproducing. Every day they feed Vaal by bringing minerals to a giant snake head normally protected by a forcefield. Spock seems to think maybe they should follow the prime directive and leave these primitive people as they are. McCoy and Kirk see things differently and decide they are obviously slaves to a machine.
The decision is made somewhat easier when Vaal starts trying to destroy the Enterprise by dragging it down with a tractor beam. Vaal also tells the people to kill the intruders by bashing in their skulls. They manage to get one red shirt, but Kirk stops and confines them before they can kill anyone else. All this fighting and feuding gets Vaal hungry for fuel, but this just gives Kirk and idea. He has Scotty blast Vaal's forcefield with the phasers to drain Vaal of power. It works and Vaal is destroyed. Kirk leaves the primitive villages to fend for themselves and figure out all that love stuff on their own.
The break down: If it wasn't for the threat to the Enterprise, this episode would be Kirk as his most arrogant. They show up at a planet that seems to be doing just fine (other than an infestation of deadly dart flowers) and destroy the thing granting the people immortality so they can be, "free." Not a bad episode, but not the best either.
6 out of 10
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