A Private Little War
The Enterprise is on a follow up mission to Neural. Years previously, young Lieutenant Kirk had found a veritable paradise, and after befriending one of the local Hill People, Tyree, had noted that the primitive culture was peaceful, idyllic, and had every prospect of developing into a advanced civilisation, provided the Federation kept their hands off. The follow up mission is merely to investigate the remarkable properties of the local roots and herbs, which could provide a revolution in medicine. The landing party of Kirk, Spock and McCoy are shocked however, when they see that the Villagers have apparently jumped generations ahead in technology, and now wield flintlock rifles with which they hunt the Hill People. Before they can beam back to the ship, Spock is shot and grievously injured. Back aboard, the worst is confirmed when a Klingon ship arrives, indicating that the aggressive race has been interfering in the planet’s development. While Spock’s life lies in the hands of specialist in Vulcan medicine, M’Benga, Kirk and McCoy beam back down to investigate further, and the Enterprise withdraws to remain undetected by the Klingons. No sooner has the ship left, than a vicious Mugato attacks the Captain, leaving him suffering under the effects of its poison. The only cure for this lies in the hands of a Kunatu witch doctor and the ailing Kirk urges McCoy to take him to Tyree’s camp, where he can be helped. Fortunately Tyree is married to a Kunatu, and Nona soon heals Kirk’s wounds. However, she has witnessed McCoy using the Federation’s advanced technology, and her avarice for power leads her to exert pressure on her husband and Kirk to rival the villagers’ flintlocks with weapons of their own. Tyree, a peaceful man refuses to kill, but Kirk realises the bitter truth. The genie can’t be put back in the bottle, and the Klingons’ gift of gun-smithing technology can’t simply be erased. He realises that the only possible solution is to arm the Hill People, restoring the balance of power. McCoy sees that this can only mean generations of war, that to protect paradise, Kirk will end up destroying it, and he’s concerned at the influence that Nona now has over Kirk. But for Nona, merely restoring the balance of power isn’t enough, and she takes matters into her own hands with tragic consequences.
“…but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go!”
Oh why did it have to be a guy in a monkey suit? Of all the cheap amateurish effects guaranteed to disrupt my suspension of disbelief, this has to be the worst. I’d much rather a Mugato be a spider or a mosquito. Its only motive is to deliver poison, but it looks like something that should be on the set of a Godzilla movie. It happens occasionally in Star Trek, that a stellar storyline is cheapened ever so slightly by execution, and to be fair, the Mugato is the least of A Private Little War’s troubles.
The concept is awesome, especially for Cold War America in the late sixties; although it’s political irony could have been improved by having Chekov as part of the landing party. To have an episode get by the censors, where the situation in Vietnam is mirrored by a less advanced society serving as battleground by proxy for two superpowers, is an outstanding achievement. And given that we are now dealing with the aftermath of another such brush war in Afghanistan, where the West financed fundamentalist groups to overthrow Soviet occupation, and now is beset by those very same fundamentalists, also means that this episode stays relevant still.
What really makes this episode memorable is that it is one where the good guys lose. And above all, it offers no pat solutions, no moral certitudes, and no evidence of truth, justice and the Federation Way. Instead we get to see the corruption of Paradise, with Kirk serving as serpent. Kirk is aware of what he must do, he realises that the only way of preserving something of the society is to maintain a balance of power, and making sure that the previously peaceful natives are provided with a supply of arms. The anguish as he actively destroys the innocence of a gentle man, as he arms the hill people to wage war is apparent, but as he tells McCoy, there is no acceptable alternative. Either the Hill People are wiped out and the Klingons take the planet, or he supplies the Hill People with overwhelming technology, shattering whatever remains of the Prime Directive. The ideal solution would be to broker peace, but the Klingon presence makes that impossible. And the Organian Peace Treaty makes dealing with the Klingons directly a hazardous proposition. What makes the situation doubly tragic is that the Klingons are supplying the villagers with a stream of improvements in the technology; meaning that far from maintaining a balance of power, Kirk will be making sure that the two sides will be entering into an arms race.
It’s also an episode where Kirk has to act without leaning on Spock, who’s busy introducing the Vulcan healing trance to viewers. But this is a situation where Kirk needs compassion, empathy and a conscience more than cold counsel, and it’s fortunate then that McCoy is with him.
Problem 1 with A Private Little War is the reappearance of the ‘Primitive = Noble Savage’ motif that is often used in Star Trek. Once again, the innocent idyllic society is shown as superstitious, uneducated, stoic and proud. They’re basically one step up from Captain Caveman. When McCoy was looking for assistance after Kirk was bitten, I half expected one of the Hill People to say, “Oonga Boonga, me help, me help!” Just once, I’d like to see a race of technologically backward people in Trek, elegantly dressed, manicured, with a rakish moustache and a cultured accent reminiscent of Terry-Thomas.
Problem 2, and the one that kills the episode for me, is Nona. However, this may be how the episode sneaked past the censors, as a Duplicitous, Back Stabbing, Power Mad Bitch ™ overshadow the Vietnam allegory. Forget all that I have written about Balance of Power, Kirk’s anguish and political relevance, as this episode ensures that the biblical message of Eve corrupting Adam is repeated once again. Nona is in lust with power, she’s also a drug dealer, using certain herbs to entrance her men. She climbs the political ladder like a pro, first Tyree, and then when she has seen the technology of the Federation, Kirk. But when Kirk ignores her charms (even after she has healed him with a twitching voodoo turd), and refuses to give her what she wants, she turns coat, steals a phaser and races off to the Village to find someone who can truly give her what she wants. Only she gets more than she bargained for, when instead of the chief, the simple villagers decide to sample her wares. She doesn’t like that now, does she? What the hell, the bitch gets what she deserved. She was asking for it, offering it on a plate…
And the gender inequalities are preserved.
You wouldn’t believe the profanities that escape my lips when Nona is onscreen. You take a good story like A Private Little War, and you reduce it to this crap. It’s just shameful.
Still, the following scene almost makes up for this, with Nona lying dead at McCoy’s feet, he serves as witness to the hell that Kirk and the Klingons have wrought on the primitives, as the two sides begin their little war. It’s a powerful touch, as the camera, instead of focusing on Kirk’s flying kicks and Tyree getting acquainted with the use of a hefty rock, concentrates on McCoy’s reaction to all of the carnage, and we realise the extent of the tragedy that is now occurring on Neural. At least dramatically, the story ends positively, compared to the whole heap of negative that is Nona.
For once, Kirk is happy with a lack of progress in a primitive society. Normally he takes a phaser to the first false god he sees. But more noteworthy trivia is that this isn’t the last time that Trek will touch on this theme, and were The Next Generation set 500 years after this instead of 80, then Too Short A Season could very well have seen Picard’s crew return to Neural.
