Plato's Stepchildren may not be the most loved, but hated??

[Qonundrum]

More rewatchable than one might think. Especially being made in the sixties, this one doesn't feel as slowly-paced. Or I was absorbed in the proceedings of the Platonians.

Not sure why this one gets as much vitriol as it does?

True, there are some issues, such as why the Platonians never bothered to research cures for paper cuts due to all the reading they're alleged to be doing, or otherwise Parmen is the first.

Or how Kirk managed to change into a kinky toga and still be allowed to have his communicator holstered.

Or why Alexander was able to live just as long as the others, though the plot explains enough of it via the pituitary gland and how that ties into the kironide substance. Amazed at how much detail was put into this, and some other scenes. It largely adds up. Certainly feels like it...

It does have those 60s tropes of a quick ending, never to have a sequel.

But the acting of the cast really sells the high-concept psychological horror. Roll with that and it's a surprisingly tense and creepy episode. (yes, we've seen the clips taken out of context. They're far more poignant in context. )

Parmen is essentially Trelane played straight.

Philana is suitably nasty. While not directly involved in most scenes, her reactions make up for it.

Michael Dunn excels in a cast, of which all already excel.

Of course, Kirk and co adapting to kironide is at the speed of plot, but it wasn't handled badly. Plus the latest in-episode explanation as to why Parmen would obviously kill them all - not just for the secrecy of their place, but because anyone trapped there would adapt. Nicely layered.

Not a classic, true, but it's definitely not a clunker.

6/10, maybe 7.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I hate "Plato's Stepchildren". It's a 1.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Like. 8.

 

[scotpens]

At the risk of repeating myself: Like many third-season episodes, "Plato's Stepchildren" feels like a half-hour script padded out to an hour. Our heroes are forced into degrading and humiliating performances again and again and again, to the point where you feel embarrassed -- not for the characters, but for the actors. I want to say, "Okay, enough already. We get it!" I don't know which made me cringe more -- Shatner's bad imitation of a horse or Nimoy's bad imitation of a folk singer.

 

[flandry84]

Hate it.
Embarrassed for the cast.

 

[Qonundrum]

At the risk of repeating myself: Like many third-season episodes, "Plato's Stepchildren" feels like a half-hour script padded out to an hour. Our heroes are forced into degrading and humiliating performances again and again and again, to the point where you feel embarrassed -- not for the characters, but for the actors. I want to say, "Okay, enough already. We get it!" I don't know which made me cringe more -- Shatner's bad imitation of a horse or Nimoy's bad imitation of a folk singer.

Yeah, it does drag on with some repetition... what, if anything, could have alleviated some of that? Another subplot? More background on the Platonians - showing Parman trying to defeat a successor, perhaps? The show uses exposition, but in a small masterpiece society of 38 there, it'd not be hard to show. (Or how to balance showing the Platonians in harmony while bringing in the new meat, and Parmen does say at the end how - after 2000 years - now they have someone new to play with. They were able to bring in a large enough cast, so why not have one of the 37 others have a go instead of all of them being placid? Either way, more worldbuilding would have helped save the actors from a lot... though give credit to where it's due, the leads play it all with utter sincerity and absolutely straight. I could believe that the Platonians were a bunch of nasties. But if the scenes weren't already working, how much worse would they be if they did 4th wall winks and nods. That'd be even more embarrassing, surely?

Is the bad singing due to Nimoy's acting or because Spock is having to fight for his mind?

But isn't the Platonians making the characters feel humiliated the point? In which case, this story is little other than "The Empath", only using high concept psychological horror instead of gore.

 

[1001001]

 

[M'Sharak]

Not a classic, true, but it's definitely not a clunker.

Absolutely not. It's uneven and clearly not among the best episodes in the series, but it has its moments.

Also: it's got Michael Dunn, who all by himself makes it worth repeated rewatching.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Isn’t this the script where Fred Freiberger exclaimed, “Star Trek fans will love this!”

**waits for laughter to die down before posting again**

 

[Frontis]

Plato's Stepchildren is involuntary comedy, scenes like Kirk beating his self made me laugh.
So I don't hate it, in the end it's entertaining.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Plato's Stepchildren is involuntary comedy, scenes like Kirk beating his self made me laugh.
So I don't hate it, in the end it's entertaining.

It has the plot elements of telekinesis and Kironide that are interesting, but those are tempered by Spock’s Flamenco dancing…

 

[scotpens]

Is the bad singing due to Nimoy's acting or because Spock is having to fight for his mind?

It's because Nimoy was an actor, not a singer. And he wasn't a dancer either.

 

[fireproof78]

Awful episode. One I avoid.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It's because Nimoy was an actor, not a singer.

You couldn't tell him that. Nimoy wrote "Maiden Wine" himself, and obviously used his clout to sing it on Star Trek. Also, you don't put out five albums of you singing unless it's kind of your thing.

Furthermore, I believe he must have been inspired to write "Maiden Wine" by the Nancy Sinatra smash "Summer Wine," which he would have heard many times on his car radio. Basically, Nimoy inverted the story to make the man the villain. The only musical phrase he borrowed was where "Ahh, bitter dregs" is sung to the tune of "Ohh, Summer Wine" in the refrain.

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[Qonundrum]

Could be worse. Imagine it's 1601 and we're watching a Shakespeare play in a theater.

It has the plot elements of telekinesis and Kironide that are interesting, but those are tempered by Spock’s Flamenco dancing…

Shatner had guts to act out that scene with someone dancing inches from his cranium and all. Scene might be dragged on and all, but one can't say the actors involved weren't talented. But, once they got to Spock's upper half... I still pin it down to the inner struggle between Spock and Parmen.

It's because Nimoy was an actor, not a singer. And he wasn't a dancer either.

A fair point. Such triple acts are not easy to come by. The script, while lax in some areas, was arguably overreaching in others. For number of takes or other reasons, the script still compensates by Spock having to endure the Platonian psi-assault. When Parmen tries to puppet Spock to kick Kirk's head in, that's when he gives it the biggest fightback.

 

[Qonundrum]

You couldn't tell him that. Nimoy wrote "Maiden Wine" himself, and obviously used his clout to sing it on Star Trek. Also, you don't put out five albums of you singing unless it's kind of your thing.

Furthermore, I believe he must have been inspired to write "Maiden Wine" by the Nancy Sinatra smash "Summer Wine," which he would have heard many times on his car radio. Basically, Nimoy inverted the story to make the man the villain. The only musical phrase he borrowed was where "Ahh, bitter dregs" is sung to the tune of "Ohh, Summer Wine" in the refrain.

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The Baggins song was good for sure.

The idea of inverting a song's story is pretty good. Nancy also did that for "Day Tripper" and it's a great cover... but before I digress...

I'd have to listen to more of his songs, but my initial impression of "mental fighting" in the Plato scene still comes through first. It'd probably help if the actor didn't know how to sing as opposed to being a zillion-Grammy winner. Not many actors can pull off being a great singer intentionally doing it bad. Katey Sagal definitely could, but that talent is rare. Jean Stapleton, an opera singer, also had a knack of singing and playing piano off-key in "All in the Family". Those two examples are about a couple decades apart and not because it'd get trite real quick if everyone did the same routine... IMHO and as far as I know right now, so my opinion is subject to change of course...

 

[kkt]

I kept waiting for something, anything to do with Plato's philosophy, or Greek history, but none appeared.
Just a bunch of bullies wearing togas.

 

[Spock's Barber]

I kept waiting for something, anything to do with Plato's philosophy, or Greek history, but none appeared.
Just a bunch of bullies wearing togas.

 

[kkt]

See, at least he (is that Belushi?) is entertaining...

 

[Qonundrum]

I kept waiting for something, anything to do with Plato's philosophy, or Greek history, but none appeared.
Just a bunch of bullies wearing togas.

Just some token faff and some inevitable name alterations (e.g. Dionysus = Dionyd) )

Could be worse. At least the Platonians didn't act as if they were in a Shakespeare play circa 1600, though in some ways the Trek episode might have been more fun - if the-most-of-the-38-of-the Platonians did more than sit there and Waldorf'n'Statler it through the proceedings.

https://www.ranker.com/list/shakespeare-globe-theater-experience-in-1600s/genevieve-carlton

It's a bit of a read. Or a byte. Or lots of bytes. Tens of thousands of kilobytes if you include the static imagery...