Episode of the Week : Assignment: Earth

[scotpens]

. . . I also like John Byrne's "Assignment: Earth" comic series. The Richard Nixon stuff was particularly entertaining, and kind of reminded me of a classic "Outer Limits" episode whose title I can't remember.

"The Hundred Days of the Dragon."

 

[Kor]

. . . I also like John Byrne's "Assignment: Earth" comic series. The Richard Nixon stuff was particularly entertaining, and kind of reminded me of a classic "Outer Limits" episode whose title I can't remember.

"The Hundred Days of the Dragon."

That's the one. Thanks!

Kor

 

[Drone]

Snoooooore.

Remind me to give you a "Mirror, Mirror" Kirk-Fu flying, over the bed kick for your post!

"Assignment: Earth"

For all of the season two missteps ("I, Mudd," "A Piece of the Action," "The Gamesters of Triskellion," etc.), this year ended with a string of serious, often brutal stories. "Assignment: Earth" falls in that category.

20th century Gary Seven being completely unflustered by 23rd century Starfleet officers quickly established his threatening, almost untouchable nature. That was the first job of the plot, and it succeeded. From that point forward, anything Seven attempted had to be respected by both character (the 1701 crew) and the audience, since this was no easily fought / restrained or foiled villain of the week.

The idea of an alien-trained agent knowing no bounds in his recognition of past, present and future history gave him that "above you all" edge that kept Starfleet's best and brightest on their toes until the end, but instead of being arrogant about it, his behavior was mission-oriented.

Not being an ass about his mission--or abilities made him a promising character, since he was not susceptible to the self-defeating arrogance of the Romulan Commander from "The Enterpise Incident'," Kor, Henoch, Khan, Rojan, Captain Tracey, et al.

Of all of Roddenberry's non-Trek concepts, this had the head and shoulders potential that Planet Earth, Spectre, & Genesis II did not--and was not simply re-treading Trek-ian ideas.

Perhaps the story--by the under-appreciated Art Wallace--has something to do with its stand-out effect from the other Roddenberry productions, where by that period, GR's stagnant ideas muddled the work, no matter who contributed screenplays.

In any case, "Assignment: Earth" was a strong end to TOS season 2, ad its too bad the intended series did not make it.

I too think it had a lot of promise as a potential series. There could have been many permutations worked out of the type of plot line presented in the episode. Also, I think that the dynamic between Seven and Roberta was a good fit from the get go and would have been an obvious strength. I asked the question not too long ago, but didn't get an answer. What were the factors that put the kibosh on the series coming to fruition?

Also, while probably not what you were thinking about when giving your description of Seven's qualities, but Daniels came immediately to mind as a kind of analogue. Anything comparable as you see it?

Anyway, for the reasons mentioned above and my appreciation of seeing our stalwarts walking the streets of a contemporary metropolis, I unreservedly gave the episode a 7.