Episode of the Week : Spectre of the Gun
- Thread starter Botany Bay
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The mysterious Melkotians force Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov to re-enact the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. A weak story redeemed by the visually striking, surreal set design and cinematography. This episode is the very essence of style over substance.
Eerie, spooky, iconic images. The art direction in this one left a lasting impression on me from seeing it as a child in the 1970s. The half existing buildings, the Earps walking in a line in the wind, wow. Great story great acting.
It always troubled me how after numerous episodes concerned with time travel and changing history how Spock now preaches that history can not be changed. I guess the Melkotians were controlling his mind.
It always troubled me how after numerous episodes concerned with time travel and changing history how Spock now preaches that history can not be changed. I guess the Melkotians were controlling his mind.
I like to think of this episode as Trek meets The Twilight Zone. I gave it a seven, for having the courage to try something different.
Aside from the aforementioned set design, I think one thing that's stuck with me is the unmitigated, unequivocal, and unswerving malevolent hatred displayed by the Earps. Their jibes, nominal humor directed at the landing party, were likewise devoid of anything other than utter contempt. They were reminiscent to me of automations. I have to say that I was a bit surprised by Wyatt's look of terror with Kirk's gun in his face. I suppose I expected a blank appearance of incomprehension.
Not to forget Spock's eloquent but direct explanation of the "reality" they were actually facing, I give it a 7. On the other hand, yet another advanced species putting humanity to the test in TOS. Still, distinct from some other examples, the Melkotians were apparently not so advanced, or distant from how they conceived of themselves, that they didn't accept the resolution and restraint that Kirk displayed, as sufficient proof of Starfleet's worthiness to be allowed to engage them immediately, not some far off time in the future and only after they had evidence of necessary further "development".
Not to forget Spock's eloquent but direct explanation of the "reality" they were actually facing, I give it a 7. On the other hand, yet another advanced species putting humanity to the test in TOS. Still, distinct from some other examples, the Melkotians were apparently not so advanced, or distant from how they conceived of themselves, that they didn't accept the resolution and restraint that Kirk displayed, as sufficient proof of Starfleet's worthiness to be allowed to engage them immediately, not some far off time in the future and only after they had evidence of necessary further "development".
The thing that doesn't scan about the climax of the story is that if the heroes managed to escape their scripted fate via the knowledge that their opponents were illusions, then how was it a test of Kirk's character that he chose not to pull the trigger on what he knew to be an illusion? Might have had a bit more bite if it had been revealed that the Earps had actually been disguised Melkotians, and a life actually did hang in the balance...but then the bullets would need to be real, which creates a new problem....
This episode is of course plagued with numerous historical inaccuracies in depicting the events of Tombstone in October 1881. The most obvious of these is in the overall portrayal of both the Earps and the Clantons. The Earps are depicted as swaggering, corrupt bullies while the Clantons are viewed by the townspeople as folk heroes. In real life, the Clanton Gang, or the "Cowboys" as they were known as, were a bunch of thugs that the townspeople desperately wanted to get rid of, and they for the most part sided with the Earps, who were all respectable citizens and reliable lawmen.
One noteable exception was Sheriff Behan, who had a long-standing feud with the Earps, he blamed Wyatt for stealing his girl, despite the fact that he actually lost her due to his own romantic infidelity. So the episode is accurate in making Behan a Clanton sympathizer, although he did not have the backing of the town as is implied in "Spectre".
Some of the other historical flubs of the episode -
The actual "Gunfight at the OK Corral" did not take place at the corral at all, as depicted in the show. It actually took place in front of a photographer's studio a couple of miles away.
Morgan Earp is referred to by Kirk as "the man who kills on sight". The actual Morgan, by all reliable accounts, was an even-tempered man who used his gun only when forced to.
The gunfight in the Melkotian scenario is treated as a pre-arranged event when, actually, it was more-or-less a spontaneous affair. The gunfight took place near the hour of three o'clock, rather than the five o'clock given as an ultimatum by the Earps in the episode.
It is also curious that while Kirk recalls that Billy Claiborne was supposed to survive the historical gunfight with the Earps, he did not make mention of the fact that the character he was portraying, Ike Clanton, also survived the fracas. Ike went on to live another six years before being shot by a lawman while attempting to evade arrest for cattle-rustling.
Billy Claiborne, who was a friend of Ike's but not technically a member of the Clanton gang, survived the gunfight through the expedient of turning tail and running at the first shot. Claiborne lived just a year after the affair at tombstone. He was killed by gunfighter Frank Leslie in a duel. The cause of the dispute was that Leslie refused to refer to Claiborne as "Billy the Kid", which Claiborne liked people to call him.
It is possible that since everything in this episode comes from Kirk's mind, that all the historical errors can be attributed to the fact that while Kirk has an interest in and admiration for historical figures, hi interest in history is only superficial and he is by no means a serious scholar or even a buff. Hence his knowledge of the events in Tombstone are garnered from storybooks and movies, and are therefore based on legend rather than fact.
One noteable exception was Sheriff Behan, who had a long-standing feud with the Earps, he blamed Wyatt for stealing his girl, despite the fact that he actually lost her due to his own romantic infidelity. So the episode is accurate in making Behan a Clanton sympathizer, although he did not have the backing of the town as is implied in "Spectre".
Some of the other historical flubs of the episode -
The actual "Gunfight at the OK Corral" did not take place at the corral at all, as depicted in the show. It actually took place in front of a photographer's studio a couple of miles away.
Morgan Earp is referred to by Kirk as "the man who kills on sight". The actual Morgan, by all reliable accounts, was an even-tempered man who used his gun only when forced to.
The gunfight in the Melkotian scenario is treated as a pre-arranged event when, actually, it was more-or-less a spontaneous affair. The gunfight took place near the hour of three o'clock, rather than the five o'clock given as an ultimatum by the Earps in the episode.
It is also curious that while Kirk recalls that Billy Claiborne was supposed to survive the historical gunfight with the Earps, he did not make mention of the fact that the character he was portraying, Ike Clanton, also survived the fracas. Ike went on to live another six years before being shot by a lawman while attempting to evade arrest for cattle-rustling.
Billy Claiborne, who was a friend of Ike's but not technically a member of the Clanton gang, survived the gunfight through the expedient of turning tail and running at the first shot. Claiborne lived just a year after the affair at tombstone. He was killed by gunfighter Frank Leslie in a duel. The cause of the dispute was that Leslie refused to refer to Claiborne as "Billy the Kid", which Claiborne liked people to call him.
It is possible that since everything in this episode comes from Kirk's mind, that all the historical errors can be attributed to the fact that while Kirk has an interest in and admiration for historical figures, hi interest in history is only superficial and he is by no means a serious scholar or even a buff. Hence his knowledge of the events in Tombstone are garnered from storybooks and movies, and are therefore based on legend rather than fact.
Any historical inacuracies with this episode are easily explained. The version they experienced was based not on facts, but on Kirks knowledge of th incidet.
Good point, but they never left the ship. We're not beaten over the head with it, but nothing was really as it seemed since the probe mind-linked with them.
I voted 8. I also appreciate the effort in making the Melkot. I think they should have shown it a just a bit more clearly, but it's nice to see a non biped alien, although it still apparently has a face.
It's equally possible that things just happened differently in Kirk's universe.
We already have to cope with some things happening differently without affecting the overall course of history, including major ones such as the Eugenics Wars (after which the rest of the 1990s still look completely familiar, and eventually we even get 9/11 footage). And we know the fates of individual people in the general case have zero significance: Edie Keeler and John Christopher were apparent special cases whose significance was uncovered through meticulous study.
So perhaps all the Clantons indeed died in Kirk's past. Or perhaps a different set of witnesses recounted the events to the history writers so that a slightly different take on the very same facts was recorded.
Timo Saloniemi
ToddPence,
Fly's Photographic Studio was definitely not two miles from the OK Corral. More like a couple hundred feet, if memory serves. But you are correct in that the fight took place closer to it than it did to the actual corral.
Sir Rhosis
EDIT: For those interested, a drawing showing the corral and the location of the actual fight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.K._...ia/File:Tombstone_lithograph_map_shootout.png
Fly's Photographic Studio was definitely not two miles from the OK Corral. More like a couple hundred feet, if memory serves. But you are correct in that the fight took place closer to it than it did to the actual corral.
Sir Rhosis
EDIT: For those interested, a drawing showing the corral and the location of the actual fight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.K._...ia/File:Tombstone_lithograph_map_shootout.png
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I've had a mind slip about this episode, as I had it fixed in my mind, for some reason, that the buoy was destroyed at the beginning, after Enterprise had received the warning. Doubly embarrassing as I just used that remembrance in another post.
I have to admit though, that in the many times I've actually viewed this one, your contention has never occurred to me. Taking the meaning that way certainly fits with the continuity of the episode as it ultimately plays out. Are you implying that the entire scenario that ostensibly takes place on the planet, is essentially of a moment's duration as the "landing party" and crew experience it? If not, I suppose the rest of the ship's complement has been influenced to think that Kirk et al. actually did beam down and are simply under the impression that they are waiting for them to reestablish contact, correct? Also, why does the buoy self-destruct? Would an explanation be that while it seemed to have let the ship approach the planet initially, it actually hadn't, and now that it's played its purpose, Enterprise is being allowed to proceed, but, if so, why does that necessitate it blowing up?
The interpretation does make sense in a number of ways that fills in continuity, especially obvious when the Melkotians invite Kirk and company to advance to the planet, which would plainly imply that they hadn't done so before. But at the same time, it would seem to materially change the thrust of the plot. How was the landing party ever really in danger if they never faced the supposed existential threat that was seemingly imposed on them, and in fact were just experiencing the illusion as a type of forced fantasy or daydream, while they were actually safe aboard Enterprise? Interestingly, when seemingly returned to the ship, no one (not even Spock) explicitly surmises that this, in fact, is what just happened to them, instead apparently further validating their presence on the planet, however manipulated the circumstances, by merely referencing a rationale for Chekov's survival that doesn't question at all the premise as they experienced it and the audience viewed it. Accepting this view of events, also seems to change the character of Spock's realization, though not necessarily diminishing its importance.
While I did get a significant plot element out of place and drew an incorrect partial conclusion because of it in the post that I mentioned above, the overall sense that I made of the episode would seem to materially agree with the meaning that I think one would have to surmise from what you suggest. That is, the challenge being presented to the landing party was really a test, one that the Melkotians perhaps used as a standard procedure, to value the worthiness of an alien civilization's stated intention to make first contact. So all the machinations that the landing party worked through were in effect, part of a thought experiment that, depending on how it was reasoned out and its conclusions implemented, would determine the value (moral,ethical, or otherwise) that the Melkotians would assign to this alien culture and form the basis of their decision to allow contact to take place.
It would seem that in your perception of how the events happened, a response that was deemed a failed one, wouldn't of necessity, result in anyone's death, but perhaps simply in a steadfast refusal of the Melkotians to engage any further with the visitors, although that determination could ultimately be enforced by a further telepathic contact that would be designed to manipulate the visitors into some kind of self-destruction. The proposition that I advanced might have advanced to the same conclusion, the difference being that in accepting that, as in this instance, the landing party was actually on the planet, their fate in failing to comprehend the real parameters of the situation or explicitly articulating a violent nature, would have been sealed there and then.
Perhaps this understanding is a fairly common taken one that I've just never encountered, but seems more or less obvious to many serious observers of the episode. It seems to me, that it substantively changes its character, by introducing a more nuanced and multi-faceted aspect to the presentation.
I would conclude by asking if, in clearly having this view of how the experience takes place, you (and others) would tend to agree that the purpose of the exercise is to enable the Melkotians to test and judge, as has been the theme in a number of other TOS episodes, the innate qualities of a culture that appears, at least superficially to be inferior, as to their suitability for genuine encounter, rather than as the stated punishment for a nominal offense that has been committed?
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