Episode of the Week : The Apple
- Thread starter Botany Bay
- Start date
Poor Spock really takes a beating in this episode, and Enterprise probably lost 10% of her security contingent before our very eyes.
I give it a six.
I give it a six.
Yeoman Martha Landon kicks butt. According to Memory Alpha and IMDb, it was Julie Ann Johnson who did the stunt work for Celeste Yarnall [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Julie_Johnson].
Lots of silliness in this episode, but it's also kinda fun. Interesting prime directive issues raised but dispensed with too simplistically for my taste. The Biblical parallel is intriguing, with the twist that the natives are rescued from the serpent, as represented in the dinosaur head. If only the execution had been better.
Six.
P.S. Those of you who are old enough, like me, might remember the Mission to Gamma VI playset for your Star Trek Mego action figures.
Lots of silliness in this episode, but it's also kinda fun. Interesting prime directive issues raised but dispensed with too simplistically for my taste. The Biblical parallel is intriguing, with the twist that the natives are rescued from the serpent, as represented in the dinosaur head. If only the execution had been better.
Six.
P.S. Those of you who are old enough, like me, might remember the Mission to Gamma VI playset for your Star Trek Mego action figures.
It was more the follow-up treatment at the end that I was referring to. I really hate the last scene of the episode.
First misfire of season 2. I gave this one a 6 but maybe I was too generous. The scenes where Kirk tries to explain "replacements" make me cringe. And the danger and solution are ripped off from "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and "The Return of The Archons."
GR once said the 60's compressed timeframe for developing scripts and fleshing out stories guaranteed bad episodes for even the best series. This episode supports his theory.
GR once said the 60's compressed timeframe for developing scripts and fleshing out stories guaranteed bad episodes for even the best series. This episode supports his theory.
Favorite moment: When Kirk punches the native and he starts to cry.
"You struck me."
It was different
"You struck me."
It was different
Yeah, that was a nice moment.
This episode has a lot of charm to it. The Children of Vaal are played as so intensely innocent and this is very unusual, it seems, in STAR TREK. The only other people that were like that was Miramanee's tribe. But I couldn't help but sympathise with Vaal's "children" as they were completely at the mercy of whatever Jim Kirk wanted to do to them, their innocence, or their world. And the juxtaposition of Chekov's romantic interest who's beamed down with him is there to gently remind the audience of what young people are "really" supposed to be like and how they "should," in fact, behave. That and the fact that the ENTERPRISE is directly threatened by the paper mâché Vaal and his explosive rock-fuelled LASER beams. This episode is such a curiosity and so sincere in its attempt at commenting on The Human Condition, that it's one of my favourite TOS episodes.
"With your hand."
Although Kirk completely upends their culture, by the 24th century the People of Vaal have evolved into Pakleds.
Never cared for "The Apple." The tone of the production just seems icky, rushed and cheap. (In a memo D.C. Fontana called an early draft of the script a "monumental bore." IMO the final version isn't much better.)
When people claim ST:TOS is a dated '60s show, they should be pointing to this episode.
When people claim ST:TOS is a dated '60s show, they should be pointing to this episode.
The story premise and resolution are stupid.
This giant computer god has the ability to not only control the weather of an entire planet down to the level of precision-targeting lightning strikes but even to pull a spaceship out of orbit - yet it's entirely dependent upon its "followers" putting a couple of pounds of fresh fruit in its maw every couple of days as its main energy source.
WTF?
This giant computer god has the ability to not only control the weather of an entire planet down to the level of precision-targeting lightning strikes but even to pull a spaceship out of orbit - yet it's entirely dependent upon its "followers" putting a couple of pounds of fresh fruit in its maw every couple of days as its main energy source.
WTF?
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I thought it was a pretty boring episode though I thought the Chekov/Landon scenes weren't that bad. The whole thing just didn't seem all that coherent.
They feed it the exploding rocks. You can see them holding the rocks and picking them up from a stack on the side here: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x05hd/theapplehd0860.jpg. Looks like a woman is starting to lean over to get a rock from a stack on the other side. Spock commented earlier that the rocks would make a good power source.
Kirk vs the Planet of Blonde White people. Picard would meet these same kind of folks in TNG, but they would be uber sexed up. It sucked then, too. Only worse.
I love how, after Kirk clouts Akuta and makes him cry, Kirk says "we're not going to hurt you." I certainly wouldn't believe him.
This planet has many wishbone shaped branches.
Hearing Spock say "good cleavage" is a treat.
Is it me, or does anyone else notice that (after Spock is hit by lightning) it's not Shatner calling for McCoy? Sounds like an off camera stage dude shouting "Bownth!"
Horny Chekov is amazing. The Enterprise is in danger of destruction, security guards are being killed left, right and center and ol' Pavel is only concerned about macking with a hot Yeoman.
I know it was the Network and the era, but the coy "don't want to say the words" sex discussions are painful.
I think Christopher pointed this one out awhile back in a "is there more than one transporter room" discussion and I think of it every time: the only reason they even have two sets of beam downs (i.e. 9 landing party members) is so they are enough red shirts to obliterate. Since when do they take that many people down to check out a nice planet? Even if they should.
This is by-the-numbers Trek. It's not interesting, it's not exciting, it's not even original in the context of the series. It was cheesy and corny when I was a kid in the early 70's and it still is today. The climax is, beat for beat identical to "Adonias" right down to the music. The epilog is too cute and obvious for words
I cannot take this episode seriously, but, like all classic Trek, there are moments of enjoyment. The poison darts are cool. The transporter failure is a fun sequence, as is Spock and Chekov's faux argument.
A 3. It would earn a 15 on Voyager, though.
I love how, after Kirk clouts Akuta and makes him cry, Kirk says "we're not going to hurt you." I certainly wouldn't believe him.
This planet has many wishbone shaped branches.
Hearing Spock say "good cleavage" is a treat.
Is it me, or does anyone else notice that (after Spock is hit by lightning) it's not Shatner calling for McCoy? Sounds like an off camera stage dude shouting "Bownth!"
Horny Chekov is amazing. The Enterprise is in danger of destruction, security guards are being killed left, right and center and ol' Pavel is only concerned about macking with a hot Yeoman.
I know it was the Network and the era, but the coy "don't want to say the words" sex discussions are painful.
I think Christopher pointed this one out awhile back in a "is there more than one transporter room" discussion and I think of it every time: the only reason they even have two sets of beam downs (i.e. 9 landing party members) is so they are enough red shirts to obliterate. Since when do they take that many people down to check out a nice planet? Even if they should.
This is by-the-numbers Trek. It's not interesting, it's not exciting, it's not even original in the context of the series. It was cheesy and corny when I was a kid in the early 70's and it still is today. The climax is, beat for beat identical to "Adonias" right down to the music. The epilog is too cute and obvious for words
I cannot take this episode seriously, but, like all classic Trek, there are moments of enjoyment. The poison darts are cool. The transporter failure is a fun sequence, as is Spock and Chekov's faux argument.
A 3. It would earn a 15 on Voyager, though.
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This is slightly harsher than I would have worded it, but agree, I will also vote 3, if this one lets me.
Last poll wouldn't let me vote
Actually, two of the episode I rank worst in Star Trek are these two in a row. a 2 and a 3.
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