Any Fans of "The Paradise Syndrome"

[Cakes488]

What's not to like....for most of the episode, Kirk can't remember shit and then dear Miramanee gets stoned (not in a good way) at the end and loses her and her babies life.... so what's not to like? It's good lighthearted fun for all! Yaaaay!

But seriously, I have always liked it no matter it's flaws....I make no apologies.
I've always gotten a kick out of the "I am Kirok" thing...me and my bro would always use that line (and still do!) when we are displaying superiority....much as we use "it is the will of Landru" when we're trying to be persuasive...so yeah...mark me down in the fan column...with pride!

 

[Trekwatcher]

I found myself enjoying this episode quite a lot. My biggest problem was McCoy's inability to save Miramanee at the end. I mean, he's treated way worse, it seems to me.

Does he let her die for reasons having to do with the prime directive, perhaps?

 

[Christopher]

^No, he couldn't save her because it was nearing the end of the episode and a tragic ending was required. "Dammit, Jim, I can't change the laws of TV drama!"

 

[TheLonelySquire]

While I recognize that this is a somewhat unusual episode, I have always been a fan of "The Paradise Syndrome." I know this is not everyone's favorite and some feel it is downright silly. To me, there are lots of good things in this one. There are some very interesting sci-fi concepts (the preservers, the asteroid deflector), a cool set (both the interior and exterior of the obelisk), several very good McCoy/Spock scenes, and IMHO an exceptionally well done finale (from the stoning to Miramanee's death scene) with a great musical score. The music during Miramanee's death is especially sad, very well done. Also, this episode is unusual in that much of it is filmed in natural light, giving it a different look than most TOS eps.

Do people out there like this one or hate it? My best friend, who is also a huge fan, cringes at this one so I thought I would see what others thought.

I like it. Not the best of Trek but certainly not the worst! And Miramanee...what red blooded man wouldn't love her?

 

[Middle Earther]

I found myself enjoying this episode quite a lot. My biggest problem was McCoy's inability to save Miramanee at the end. I mean, he's treated way worse, it seems to me.

Does he let her die for reasons having to do with the prime directive, perhaps?

It's like the theme in the new movie- it's Kirk's destiny to captain a starship and there's nothing - not even a family - that can get in its way (cue music...)

 

[Praetor]

Take out the stereotypical Indians and it might not be so bad. That's the real sticking point for me.

 

[Wingsley]

Definitely did not like this.
TOS didn't do romance well. At least not for me.

Agreed.

Romance and jealousy were two overused TOS staple plot devices. You could always tell when Hollyweird cheap writing was rearing its ugly head when "Regular X falls in love with guest star Y" that we would never see again after the ep ended.

In fact, I'd be ready to conclude TOS never did romance well.

Interestingly enough, I wonder what this ep would've been like if "Kirok" have been discovered by male Amerinds and the romance c-story had been removed. Might've been an improvement...

 

[Praetor]

^That's an interesting suggestion...

 

[Iowagirl]

I always liked this ep very much, because it shows a different Kirk, a Kirk who could have been if... who falls in love, marries, has a child, and all of this not for the sake of the ship or the crew, but for himself and his own feelings. But at the same time, it states he‘s a born leader, no matter the circumstances. Sure, it's a bit declamatory and one hell of a tear jerker, but the setting, the storyline, the way it's portrayed, and the atmosphere have always been kinda hauting for a hopeless romantic and Kirkologist like me.

 

[Christopher]

Interestingly enough, I wonder what this ep would've been like if "Kirok" have been discovered by male Amerinds and the romance c-story had been removed. Might've been an improvement...

But it wouldn't have fit Kirk's character. It was established as far back as "The Naked Time" that Kirk is a man who yearns to escape from the strictures of duty and have the freedom to find love and happiness in some idyllic place. This episode is about taking Kirk's established fantasy and making it real. The Indian god stuff isn't the point. That's the c-story. What's important dramatically, emotionally, is that Kirk is free from his burdens as a commanding officer and is able to be just a man, a husband. The whole Kirok business is just a way of showing that he can't have his fantasy, that even in his new idyllic life, he's still called upon to be responsible for others, still naturally rises to a leadership role that precludes him from leading the simple, domestic life he wants.

 

[Wingsley]

I see your point, but what if you took the whole "Kirok's excellent fantasy vacation from command" concept out of it, and forced a non-amnesiac Kirk to "go native" while he is rescued by the Amerinds and recovers from injuries inflicted by his fall into the obelisk.

I think the story would work just as well if it were done like "Seven Against the Sea" (a drama-for-TV-movie that served as the basis for McHale's Navy). Maybe Kirk could even find his way back into the obelisk, but not know what to do once he's inside.

 

[Christopher]

Given that the portrayal of Native American culture was hardly the episode's strong point, I don't see why it would be desirable to keep that part and ditch the rest.

 

[Penhall99]

I actually thought this one was pretty solid. I think it needed to be a 2-parter to really be effective, though. But I still liked it.

The only thing that kinda bugged me (and it is shallow, I admit) is when Miramanee is pelted by rocks. It just wasnt executed very well, and when she was dying, she didnt have a mark on her.

I know it was a 60s TV show, but I would have liked to have seen some bruises and maybe a bit of blood coming out of her mouth to really sell the scene...It just would have made the scene more powerful.

But yeah, I enjoyed the episode.

 

[Patrickivan]

I really liked this ep. I always enjoyed Star Trek a little bit more when our characters where filmed on out-door sets. It added that little bit of realism that was always lacking (granted everything had to look Earth-Like, but that was understandable).

 

[Wingsley]

Given that the portrayal of Native American culture was hardly the episode's strong point, I don't see why it would be desirable to keep that part and ditch the rest.

The episode's portrayal of indians was neither outstandingly bad or good. There wasn't enough there to really get excited about.

I think it was great that TREK acknowledged that there were American indians by showing them, instead of the backhanded reference in "The Omega Glory". For that reason alone, "Paradise" gets a pass.

If I could direct a remake of this ep with the original cast and sets, I would have Kirk leading a landing party that included a 23rd century-Earth indian, sent to study the native culture. (Let's call him Youngblood. He could be a Starfleet crewman or a civvie xeno-anthropologist.) When Kirk is lost in the obelisk, Youngblood offers to stay behind to look for him. When the Enterprise departs, Youngblood finds an injured Kirk emerging from the obelisk. The Amerinds find Youngblood aiding Kirk at the obelisk, and offer to care for Kirk.

The Amerinds are intensely curious about Kirk and Youngblood, what they were doing at the obelisk. They explain their tradition that the Wise Ones taught, to awaken the Blue Flame in times of the storms. Kirk takes time to heal, and has trouble remembering what he did to fall into the obelisk. Evenutally, he heals and the Chief accompanies Kirk and Youngblood to the obelisk. Kirk is able to figure out how to get inside, but they have no idea what to do next.

The Enterprise fails to deflect the asteroid, and returns to Amerind ahead of it. As the sky darkens, Spock and McCoy return to the obelisk and find Kirk leading the Amerinds into the safety of the obelisk. Youngblood is tampering with the controls, trying to get it to work. Spock presses "the right button", and the asteroid is deflected. Youngblood is able to decipher what musical notes the Amerinds should play to access the obelisk. The Amerinds celebrate and gave thanks to the visitors, who then peacefully return to the departing Enterprise.

Not quite as dramatic as Hollyweird "indians" throwing stones? Maybe not, but if it were written well I think it would've been just as entertaining if not moreso. Insofar as Kirk yearning for the Amerind "paradise", this story could illustrate it as being "so close and yet so far" without the silly amnesia subplot.


Oh, and the thought occurred to me that it would be doubly interesting if Youngblood were a woman, maybe a CPO. Think of Kirk referring to her as "Chief Miramanee Youngblood" in the presence of the Amerinds, and that they conclude that Kirk "must know the Wise Ones". (No, I was not thinking of a romance between Kirk and Youngblood; but rather a tension similar to what Kirk had with Dr. Helen Noel, but this time on a professional level without the romantic overtones. An ailing Kirk could insist on ordering Youngblood to "go to the obelisk" and not worry about him.)

 

[Christopher]

If I could direct a remake of this ep with the original cast and sets, I would have Kirk leading a landing party that included a 23rd century-Earth indian, sent to study the native culture. (Let's call him Youngblood. He could be a Starfleet crewman or a civvie xeno-anthropologist.)

Or maybe Dawson Walking Bear?

 

[Gary7]

I'm not a big fan... I still enjoy what it offers in the Star Trek canon. It's kind of like Picard's "Inner Light", in that Kirk gets to live a life he has probably longed for, even though it didn't last but a few months.

There were some serious plausibility problems with the episode, though. If they had more time to work on it, I think it could have been a really decent episode.

The other thing... the loose ends... What of the next asteroid? Someone would need to be educated to activate the obelisk deflector device. We see none of this knowledge transfer take place. Remember, there is some inconsistency... on the one hand, the Indian tribe had a medicine man that knew how the thing worked. But he died before he could pass on the information to Salesh (sp?). And yet the device was supposed to have some automatic functionality. This wasn't well defined. In any case, you'd need someone knowledgeable in case there was a need to "reboot" the system, as Kirk and Spock ended up doing.

But the way the episode ends, we're left with the tribe fearful of the humans from outer space. We don't see any sign of them while Kirk and McCoy tend to Miramanee. It's not possible to imagine Kirk or Spock simply taking Salesh or someone else aside and educating them about what to do with the deflector device. So, this is totally unresolved.

Also, the nature of the stoning wasn't convincing that Miramanee would have sustained such horrible internal injuries while Kirk escaped relatively unharmed. He did try to block many of the blows. I could understand maybe a head injury, but then she wouldn't be conscious and able to speak in those final moments. McCoy does say something like "massive internal injuries", anyway. Again, for what happened she should have been treatable.

Actually, I would have liked the episode better if Miramanee lived. Kirk would still have to leave... "to go back to his people". And Miramanee would be carrying the child of the man who saved their village (not a disrespectful pregnancy). It could have been that Kirk makes a promise to return "someday soon"... and knowing he has a son waiting for him then.

 

[Christopher]

^^No way would '60s TV executives or censors have allowed a show's hero to abandon his pregnant wife. And no way would the network have allowed the episode to leave any unresolved continuity threads such as an unborn child. Miramanee's death was the only acceptable resolution to the story by 1960s TV standards.

 

[Praetor]

The other thing... the loose ends... What of the next asteroid? Someone would need to be educated to activate the obelisk deflector device. We see none of this knowledge transfer take place. Remember, there is some inconsistency... on the one hand, the Indian tribe had a medicine man that knew how the thing worked. But he died before he could pass on the information to Salesh (sp?). And yet the device was supposed to have some automatic functionality. This wasn't well defined. In any case, you'd need someone knowledgeable in case there was a need to "reboot" the system, as Kirk and Spock ended up doing.

But the way the episode ends, we're left with the tribe fearful of the humans from outer space. We don't see any sign of them while Kirk and McCoy tend to Miramanee. It's not possible to imagine Kirk or Spock simply taking Salesh or someone else aside and educating them about what to do with the deflector device. So, this is totally unresolved.

That is an excellent point.

 

[Kelso]

Take out the stereotypical Indians and it might not be so bad. That's the real sticking point for me.

The juxtaposition of this post and your current avatar made me laugh.