This episode is loaded with clichés doubling as dialog. Not Gene Coon's best effort, IMHO. A decent episode, enjoyable and even fun at times, but not a memorable outing. Fits neatly in the middle of the pack when I rack and stack the 79 episodes.
Gave it a 10. Absolutely one of my top 5 favorites, as so many others have posted.
Nothing clichéd about this:
ANAN: Captain, surely you can see the position we are in. If your people do not report to our disintegration chambers, it is a violation of an agreement that dates back five hundred years.
KIRK: My people are not responsible for your agreements.
ANAN: You will be responsible for an escalation that will destroy everything. Millions of people horribly killed. Complete destruction of our culture here and yes, the culture on Vendikar. Disaster, disease, starvation, horrible, lingering death, pain and anguish!
KIRK: That seems to frighten you.
ANAN: It would frighten any sane man.
KIRK: Yes. You're quite right.
ANAN: Don't you understand, Captain? We have done away with all that. Now you are threatening to bring it down on us again. Are those five hundred people of yours more important than the hundreds of millions of innocent people on Eminiar and Vendikar? What kind of monster are you?
KIRK: I'm a barbarian. You said it yourself.
ANAN: I had hoped I'd spoken only figuratively.
KIRK: Oh, no. You were quite accurate. I plan to prove it to you.
ANAN: Open a channel to the Enterprise. You give me no choice, Captain. We are not bandits, but you force us to act as bandits.
Kirk REVELS in the description of barbarian here, and frankly I've never heard anything like that in SF before or since. This is some of the best dialogue in Trek, along with the earlier discussion in Anan 7's chambers. This is really Shatner at his best as Kirk.
"Sir, there is a multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder."--Spock the Never-lying![]()
This episode is loaded with clichés doubling as dialog. Not Gene Coon's best effort, IMHO. A decent episode, enjoyable and even fun at times, but not a memorable outing. Fits neatly in the middle of the pack when I rack and stack the 79 episodes.
This is a perfect description. Just a few too many preachy lines to really knock it over the top for me. I'd go with a 6/7 and say slightly above average.
Gave it a 10. Absolutely one of my top 5 favorites, as so many others have posted.
Nothing clichéd about this:
ANAN: Captain, surely you can see the position we are in. If your people do not report to our disintegration chambers, it is a violation of an agreement that dates back five hundred years.
KIRK: My people are not responsible for your agreements.
ANAN: You will be responsible for an escalation that will destroy everything. Millions of people horribly killed. Complete destruction of our culture here and yes, the culture on Vendikar. Disaster, disease, starvation, horrible, lingering death, pain and anguish!
KIRK: That seems to frighten you.
ANAN: It would frighten any sane man.
KIRK: Yes. You're quite right.
ANAN: Don't you understand, Captain? We have done away with all that. Now you are threatening to bring it down on us again. Are those five hundred people of yours more important than the hundreds of millions of innocent people on Eminiar and Vendikar? What kind of monster are you?
KIRK: I'm a barbarian. You said it yourself.
ANAN: I had hoped I'd spoken only figuratively.
KIRK: Oh, no. You were quite accurate. I plan to prove it to you.
ANAN: Open a channel to the Enterprise. You give me no choice, Captain. We are not bandits, but you force us to act as bandits.
Kirk REVELS in the description of barbarian here, and frankly I've never heard anything like that in SF before or since. This is some of the best dialogue in Trek, along with the earlier discussion in Anan 7's chambers. This is really Shatner at his best as Kirk.
"Sir, there is a multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder."--Spock the Never-lying![]()
That is a very good scene. I think Kirk is being somewhat sarcastic near the end of the dialogue but at the same time dead serious with his conviction. Almost as if he is toying with Anan and trying to teach him a lesson at the same time. Extremely well acted.
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