It definitely is one of my favorites and highlights the adventures part of the series.
Star Trek TOS Re-Watch
- Thread starter Commander Troi
- Start date
I think that mine was King Kong.
Errand of Mercy by Gene L. Coon
Well! This is the first appearance of the Klingons. And they're about to go to war!
The premise is laid out right in the beginning by Kirk: "Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a surprise attack. We are to proceed to Organia and take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base." Then the Enterprise is attacked and destroys it's attacker. It sets up the tension right away.
Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet and no one seems to notice or care that strangers just appeared. They are greeted by Ayelborne, the chairman of the Council of Elders. He takes them to the Council, who hear Kirk out but...
"We are in no danger. We thank you for your kind offer of assistance, although we must decline it, and we strongly recommend that you leave Organia before you yourselves are endangered."
Knowing the ending going in, I found that everything the Organians do or say makes perfect sense from their point of view. But from Kirk's and Kor's points of view, they make no sense, and I found myself really loving how Kirk and Spock (and Kor) misinterpret everything about Organia from the get-go and end up despising the people from a place of complete ignorance.
Kor... oh, John Colicos, how beautifully you play the villain! Even though these Klingons are very different from later depictions, I can see the very tiniest inkling of the honorable warrior in Kor. He's very calm and civilized, even when giving tyrannical orders. He's just doing what "must be done." When he learns he's facing Kirk, he shows quite a bit of respect. He sees a "Worthy Foe" more than a hated enemy. The scene between them in Kor's office is a highlight, with both Shatner and Colicos playing well off each other.
Big shoutout too to John Abbott, who plays Ayelborne beautifully throughout. His concern that Kirk and Spock might get hurt is well presented, making sense when he hides them, then when he turns them in, and then when he breaks them out.
FYI, there IS a clue right from the beginning - all the doors seems to open and close by themselves.
Kirk and Spock have some nice banter as they work their way to Kor's office after being freed by Ayelborne.
The Klingons = Communist analogy is quite direct BTW. "KOR: Do you know why we are so strong? Because we are a unit. Each of us is part of the greater whole, always under surveillance. Even a commander like myself, always under surveillance, Captain. If you will note."
As the fleets prepare to meet in space, Kirk and Spock make it to Kor's office and then more Klingons come and it's about to be a fight... and then everyone drops their weapons in pain. They can't even touch each other. On the ship, the crew jump out of their seats, away from their consoles.
"All instruments of violence on this planet now radiate a temperature of three hundred and fifty degrees. They are inoperative."
The war is over.
Ayelborne explains that, "Unless both sides agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities, all your armed forces, wherever they may be, will be immediately immobilised."
Kirk and Kor both start arguing for their grievances against each other and why they have the right to a war.
KIRK: Even if you have some power that we don't understand, you have no right to dictate to our Federation...
KOR: Or our Empire!
KIRK: How to handle their interstellar relations! We have the right...
AYELBORNE: To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?
KIRK: Well, no one wants war. But there are proper channels. People have a right to handle their own affairs. Eventually, we will have...
AYELBORNE: Oh, eventually you will have peace, but only after millions of people have died. It is true that in the future, you and the Klingons will become fast friends. You will work together.
KOR: Never!
And so the Organians reveal themselves. They are not simple peasants in a stagnant civilization, but beings of pure energy ("bomp-bomp-bom-bom-BADA") with incalculable power.
This IS Foundational Star Trek. The Klingons as similar-but-different, the Organian Peace Treaty, the set up here for a Cold War, the prediction of future collaboration... so much of the groundwork for what Star Trek becomes over time is laid here.
A thoroughly enjoyable episode. I almost wish I could go back and watch it without knowing the end again.
Well! This is the first appearance of the Klingons. And they're about to go to war!
The premise is laid out right in the beginning by Kirk: "Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a surprise attack. We are to proceed to Organia and take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base." Then the Enterprise is attacked and destroys it's attacker. It sets up the tension right away.
Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet and no one seems to notice or care that strangers just appeared. They are greeted by Ayelborne, the chairman of the Council of Elders. He takes them to the Council, who hear Kirk out but...
"We are in no danger. We thank you for your kind offer of assistance, although we must decline it, and we strongly recommend that you leave Organia before you yourselves are endangered."
Knowing the ending going in, I found that everything the Organians do or say makes perfect sense from their point of view. But from Kirk's and Kor's points of view, they make no sense, and I found myself really loving how Kirk and Spock (and Kor) misinterpret everything about Organia from the get-go and end up despising the people from a place of complete ignorance.
Kor... oh, John Colicos, how beautifully you play the villain! Even though these Klingons are very different from later depictions, I can see the very tiniest inkling of the honorable warrior in Kor. He's very calm and civilized, even when giving tyrannical orders. He's just doing what "must be done." When he learns he's facing Kirk, he shows quite a bit of respect. He sees a "Worthy Foe" more than a hated enemy. The scene between them in Kor's office is a highlight, with both Shatner and Colicos playing well off each other.
Big shoutout too to John Abbott, who plays Ayelborne beautifully throughout. His concern that Kirk and Spock might get hurt is well presented, making sense when he hides them, then when he turns them in, and then when he breaks them out.
FYI, there IS a clue right from the beginning - all the doors seems to open and close by themselves.
Kirk and Spock have some nice banter as they work their way to Kor's office after being freed by Ayelborne.
The Klingons = Communist analogy is quite direct BTW. "KOR: Do you know why we are so strong? Because we are a unit. Each of us is part of the greater whole, always under surveillance. Even a commander like myself, always under surveillance, Captain. If you will note."
As the fleets prepare to meet in space, Kirk and Spock make it to Kor's office and then more Klingons come and it's about to be a fight... and then everyone drops their weapons in pain. They can't even touch each other. On the ship, the crew jump out of their seats, away from their consoles.
"All instruments of violence on this planet now radiate a temperature of three hundred and fifty degrees. They are inoperative."
The war is over.
Ayelborne explains that, "Unless both sides agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities, all your armed forces, wherever they may be, will be immediately immobilised."
Kirk and Kor both start arguing for their grievances against each other and why they have the right to a war.
KIRK: Even if you have some power that we don't understand, you have no right to dictate to our Federation...
KOR: Or our Empire!
KIRK: How to handle their interstellar relations! We have the right...
AYELBORNE: To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?
KIRK: Well, no one wants war. But there are proper channels. People have a right to handle their own affairs. Eventually, we will have...
AYELBORNE: Oh, eventually you will have peace, but only after millions of people have died. It is true that in the future, you and the Klingons will become fast friends. You will work together.
KOR: Never!
And so the Organians reveal themselves. They are not simple peasants in a stagnant civilization, but beings of pure energy ("bomp-bomp-bom-bom-BADA") with incalculable power.
This IS Foundational Star Trek. The Klingons as similar-but-different, the Organian Peace Treaty, the set up here for a Cold War, the prediction of future collaboration... so much of the groundwork for what Star Trek becomes over time is laid here.
A thoroughly enjoyable episode. I almost wish I could go back and watch it without knowing the end again.
Errand of Mercy by Gene L. Coon
Well! This is the first appearance of the Klingons. And they're about to go to war!
The premise is laid out right in the beginning by Kirk: "Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of breaking down. Starfleet Command anticipates a surprise attack. We are to proceed to Organia and take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base." Then the Enterprise is attacked and destroys it's attacker. It sets up the tension right away.
Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet and no one seems to notice or care that strangers just appeared. They are greeted by Ayelborne, the chairman of the Council of Elders. He takes them to the Council, who hear Kirk out but...
"We are in no danger. We thank you for your kind offer of assistance, although we must decline it, and we strongly recommend that you leave Organia before you yourselves are endangered."
Knowing the ending going in, I found that everything the Organians do or say makes perfect sense from their point of view. But from Kirk's and Kor's points of view, they make no sense, and I found myself really loving how Kirk and Spock (and Kor) misinterpret everything about Organia from the get-go and end up despising the people from a place of complete ignorance.
Kor... oh, John Colicos, how beautifully you play the villain! Even though these Klingons are very different from later depictions, I can see the very tiniest inkling of the honorable warrior in Kor. He's very calm and civilized, even when giving tyrannical orders. He's just doing what "must be done." When he learns he's facing Kirk, he shows quite a bit of respect. He sees a "Worthy Foe" more than a hated enemy. The scene between them in Kor's office is a highlight, with both Shatner and Colicos playing well off each other.
Big shoutout too to John Abbott, who plays Ayelborne beautifully throughout. His concern that Kirk and Spock might get hurt is well presented, making sense when he hides them, then when he turns them in, and then when he breaks them out.
FYI, there IS a clue right from the beginning - all the doors seems to open and close by themselves.
Kirk and Spock have some nice banter as they work their way to Kor's office after being freed by Ayelborne.
The Klingons = Communist analogy is quite direct BTW. "KOR: Do you know why we are so strong? Because we are a unit. Each of us is part of the greater whole, always under surveillance. Even a commander like myself, always under surveillance, Captain. If you will note."
As the fleets prepare to meet in space, Kirk and Spock make it to Kor's office and then more Klingons come and it's about to be a fight... and then everyone drops their weapons in pain. They can't even touch each other. On the ship, the crew jump out of their seats, away from their consoles.
"All instruments of violence on this planet now radiate a temperature of three hundred and fifty degrees. They are inoperative."
The war is over.
Ayelborne explains that, "Unless both sides agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities, all your armed forces, wherever they may be, will be immediately immobilised."
Kirk and Kor both start arguing for their grievances against each other and why they have the right to a war.
KIRK: Even if you have some power that we don't understand, you have no right to dictate to our Federation...
KOR: Or our Empire!
KIRK: How to handle their interstellar relations! We have the right...
AYELBORNE: To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?
KIRK: Well, no one wants war. But there are proper channels. People have a right to handle their own affairs. Eventually, we will have...
AYELBORNE: Oh, eventually you will have peace, but only after millions of people have died. It is true that in the future, you and the Klingons will become fast friends. You will work together.
KOR: Never!
And so the Organians reveal themselves. They are not simple peasants in a stagnant civilization, but beings of pure energy ("bomp-bomp-bom-bom-BADA") with incalculable power.
This IS Foundational Star Trek. The Klingons as similar-but-different, the Organian Peace Treaty, the set up here for a Cold War, the prediction of future collaboration... so much of the groundwork for what Star Trek becomes over time is laid here.
A thoroughly enjoyable episode. I almost wish I could go back and watch it without knowing the end again.
Excellent episode, one of the absolute classics.
John Colicos was magnificent. Coupled with his 3 appearances on DS9, he is truly one of the best Klingons in the franchise. Martok is my favorite, and despite how little Kor did appear in the franchise, he is neck and neck with Worf for second favorite. A tribute to the excellence that is John Colicos. He is always a delight to see on screen in other roles, too. (Original BSG, WAR OF THE WORLDS series, other shows.)
If I were to pick Kirk's best adversaries, Kor would be at the top.They are very evenly matched and Kor isn't defeated - his reason for being there is removed. I would have loved to see him again in the series, even if Bob Justman hated the idea of meeting the same person twice in deep space.
Take away the Shakespeare quotes and the Klingons in TUC are very much like these OG Klingons.
Take away the Shakespeare quotes and the Klingons in TUC are very much like these OG Klingons.
The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison, with contributions from practically everyone on staff.
What can I say that hasn't been said before? Shatner positively shines as a man in love who then has to make a terrible choice. Kelley does a terrific job and Nimoy does too. Joan Collins is radiant and charming.
If the ending doesn't break your heart, you don't have one.
The Enterprise is investigating time distortions in a specific area of space near a planet. Sulu gets hurt and McCoy gives him a little of a drug that helps him, but then accidentally injects himself with a huge dose, which leaves him paranoid and manic. McCoy beams down to the planet. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, and a redshirt follow.
On the planet, there are ruins and a glowing object that's the source of the time displacements. It introduces itself as the Guardian of Forever and it can show - and send people to - other times and places. McCoy goes through the portal and suddenly there is no Enterprise.
("SPOCK: I am a fool. My tricorder is capable of recording even at this speed. I've missed taping centuries of living history which no man before has ever..." I love that even Spock can forget something important.)
Kirk and Spock have the Guardian replay the images of Earth's past and jump through slightly (they hope) before McCoy gets there. They end up in 1930, right in the Depression. They steal some clothing, but are caught by a cop. While Kirk tries to explain Spock ("He caught his head in a mechanical rice picker."), the cop is more concerned by the theft. Spock gives him the Vulcan pinch and they run. They duck into the cellar of the 21st Street Mission (I believe it's meant to be NYC) and Kirk uses a little reverse psychology to get Spock thinking about how they can view the images on his tricorder.
Edith Keeler shows up. Kirk is gobsmacked. He tries to lie but she catches him and he ends up telling her they were running from a cop after stealing clothes. She offers them some work around the mission. Spock, ever practical, asks how much she'll pay as he needs money for radio tubes for his "hobby." Later, as they eat upstairs, they hear Edith talk about the future she envisions.
"One day soon man is going to be able to harness incredible energies, maybe even the atom. Energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world and to cure their diseases. They will be able to find a way to give each man hope and a common future, and those are the days worth living for. Our deserts will bloom."
Kirk is impressed with her. Later, Edith is impressed with the work they did and offers to take them to her building where there's a room for let.
Days pass. We see Spock building an electrical contraption. It's not going great. "Captain, you're asking me to work with equipment which is hardly very far ahead of stone knives and bearskins." Later, they see men repairing clocks and Spock steals their tools. Edith confronts them about the theft and they tell her the tools will be returned in the morning. She sees right through Kirk: "Oh, and don't give me that questions about little old us? look. You know as well as I do how out of place you two are around here."
Kirk walks Edith home and she asks him questions. Something about her makes him want to tell the truth - or part of it. It leads to one of my absolute favorite lines in all of, well, everything:
KIRK: Let me help. A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He'll recommend those three words even over I love you.
Meanwhile, Spock manages to get an image of Edith's obituary. When Kirk comes in, he finds a further newspaper image from 6 years later, wherein Edith is meeting with FDR. He then tells Kirk about the obituary. Kirk says both futures can't be true. But she's obviously a focal point in time (shades of Doctor Who!).
McCoy shows up. He's raving.
EDITH: Why? What is so funny about man reaching for the moon?
KIRK: How do you know?
EDITH: I just know, that's all. I feel it. And more, I think that one day they'll take all the money they spend now on war and death...
KIRK: And make them spend it on life?
EDITH: Yes. You see the same things that I do. We speak the same language.
KIRK: The very same.
We cut to McCoy and a vagrant. McCoy has enough of himself there to see the man is at least mostly human. McCoy passes out. The vagrant steals his phaser and accidentally disintegrates himself. Obviously, he didn't effect the timeline!
McCoy stumbles into the Mission and Edith helps him to a cot in the back. Spock just misses seeing him. Nicely done.
Spock finally gets some answers. A growing pacifist movement, led by Edith, keeps the US out of WWII. The Nazis win.
KIRK: Spock, I believe I'm in love with Edith Keeler.
SPOCK: Jim, Edith Keeler must die.
Meanwhile, Edith tends to McCoy, who's doing a lot better but thinks he's unconscious or demented still.
Kirk saves Edith from falling down the stairs. Spock reminds him what's at stake. The crosscutting by the director here builds a sense of time moving faster.
As Kirk and Edith head to the movie theater, she mentions McCoy and Jim tells her to stay there and gets Spock. The trio is reunited. However, Edith starts to cross the street to be with them and a truck is coming. Kirk looks for a moment like he wants desperately to save her, but then stops McCoy from doing so.
They go back to the planet through the Guardian. Everything is back to normal. Except Jim. He'll never be the same again. "Let's get the hell out of here."
All the feels. There are reasons this episode is loved so much and shows up on so many Top Episode lists. Collins gives just the right mix of hard-nosed compassion, intelligence, and dreaminess. Shatner is completely believable as a man who has fallen deeply in love. Nimoy displays a restrained compassion for Kirk that's just beautiful. A few lines and bits are a little awkward from today's view, but everything holds together and I wouldn't hesitate to show this to a newbie to say "THIS is why I love Star Trek."
What can I say that hasn't been said before? Shatner positively shines as a man in love who then has to make a terrible choice. Kelley does a terrific job and Nimoy does too. Joan Collins is radiant and charming.
If the ending doesn't break your heart, you don't have one.
The Enterprise is investigating time distortions in a specific area of space near a planet. Sulu gets hurt and McCoy gives him a little of a drug that helps him, but then accidentally injects himself with a huge dose, which leaves him paranoid and manic. McCoy beams down to the planet. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, and a redshirt follow.
On the planet, there are ruins and a glowing object that's the source of the time displacements. It introduces itself as the Guardian of Forever and it can show - and send people to - other times and places. McCoy goes through the portal and suddenly there is no Enterprise.
("SPOCK: I am a fool. My tricorder is capable of recording even at this speed. I've missed taping centuries of living history which no man before has ever..." I love that even Spock can forget something important.)
Kirk and Spock have the Guardian replay the images of Earth's past and jump through slightly (they hope) before McCoy gets there. They end up in 1930, right in the Depression. They steal some clothing, but are caught by a cop. While Kirk tries to explain Spock ("He caught his head in a mechanical rice picker."), the cop is more concerned by the theft. Spock gives him the Vulcan pinch and they run. They duck into the cellar of the 21st Street Mission (I believe it's meant to be NYC) and Kirk uses a little reverse psychology to get Spock thinking about how they can view the images on his tricorder.
Edith Keeler shows up. Kirk is gobsmacked. He tries to lie but she catches him and he ends up telling her they were running from a cop after stealing clothes. She offers them some work around the mission. Spock, ever practical, asks how much she'll pay as he needs money for radio tubes for his "hobby." Later, as they eat upstairs, they hear Edith talk about the future she envisions.
"One day soon man is going to be able to harness incredible energies, maybe even the atom. Energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world and to cure their diseases. They will be able to find a way to give each man hope and a common future, and those are the days worth living for. Our deserts will bloom."
Kirk is impressed with her. Later, Edith is impressed with the work they did and offers to take them to her building where there's a room for let.
Days pass. We see Spock building an electrical contraption. It's not going great. "Captain, you're asking me to work with equipment which is hardly very far ahead of stone knives and bearskins." Later, they see men repairing clocks and Spock steals their tools. Edith confronts them about the theft and they tell her the tools will be returned in the morning. She sees right through Kirk: "Oh, and don't give me that questions about little old us? look. You know as well as I do how out of place you two are around here."
Kirk walks Edith home and she asks him questions. Something about her makes him want to tell the truth - or part of it. It leads to one of my absolute favorite lines in all of, well, everything:
KIRK: Let me help. A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He'll recommend those three words even over I love you.
Meanwhile, Spock manages to get an image of Edith's obituary. When Kirk comes in, he finds a further newspaper image from 6 years later, wherein Edith is meeting with FDR. He then tells Kirk about the obituary. Kirk says both futures can't be true. But she's obviously a focal point in time (shades of Doctor Who!).
McCoy shows up. He's raving.
EDITH: Why? What is so funny about man reaching for the moon?
KIRK: How do you know?
EDITH: I just know, that's all. I feel it. And more, I think that one day they'll take all the money they spend now on war and death...
KIRK: And make them spend it on life?
EDITH: Yes. You see the same things that I do. We speak the same language.
KIRK: The very same.
We cut to McCoy and a vagrant. McCoy has enough of himself there to see the man is at least mostly human. McCoy passes out. The vagrant steals his phaser and accidentally disintegrates himself. Obviously, he didn't effect the timeline!
McCoy stumbles into the Mission and Edith helps him to a cot in the back. Spock just misses seeing him. Nicely done.
Spock finally gets some answers. A growing pacifist movement, led by Edith, keeps the US out of WWII. The Nazis win.
KIRK: Spock, I believe I'm in love with Edith Keeler.
SPOCK: Jim, Edith Keeler must die.
Meanwhile, Edith tends to McCoy, who's doing a lot better but thinks he's unconscious or demented still.
Kirk saves Edith from falling down the stairs. Spock reminds him what's at stake. The crosscutting by the director here builds a sense of time moving faster.
As Kirk and Edith head to the movie theater, she mentions McCoy and Jim tells her to stay there and gets Spock. The trio is reunited. However, Edith starts to cross the street to be with them and a truck is coming. Kirk looks for a moment like he wants desperately to save her, but then stops McCoy from doing so.
They go back to the planet through the Guardian. Everything is back to normal. Except Jim. He'll never be the same again. "Let's get the hell out of here."
All the feels. There are reasons this episode is loved so much and shows up on so many Top Episode lists. Collins gives just the right mix of hard-nosed compassion, intelligence, and dreaminess. Shatner is completely believable as a man who has fallen deeply in love. Nimoy displays a restrained compassion for Kirk that's just beautiful. A few lines and bits are a little awkward from today's view, but everything holds together and I wouldn't hesitate to show this to a newbie to say "THIS is why I love Star Trek."
Well said!
It would have been interesting to have John Colicos as Kor in ST6:TUC instead of Chang.
Organians. I hate these guys.
I just thought of something: What would have happened in this episode if the Orgs had NOT been cosplaying Kindly Villagers? Is the planet still contested? Kirk's orders are to "take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base". If there is no haggling with the locals to be done does the Federation resort to out and out warfare over the planet? And if it's just Kirk and the Enterprise do they result to the guerrilla tactics we see in the episode? Or do they admit they're outmatched and cede the planet?
If the Organians are so hell bent on Kirk's welfare (and presumably the Klingons' as well) why don't the Light Bulbs tell Kirk "Hey, dude. We're fine. Don't get yourself killed. We're immortal." They can't take that small action for... Reasons? But they can effectively blockade two galactic superpowers when it all gets too much for them? Baby steps, my Super Enlightened Beings, baby steps!
As much as I can't stand the premise, this episode knocks it out of the park on every other level. The script crackles. All the leads are definitive Star Trek performances. Spock doesn't have much to do character-wise but this is one of the better "Kirk and Spock are besties and go on an adventure together" episodes.
Colicos. I certainly don't have anything to add.
City:
The only thing I have to add is how good Nimoy is. He's in the worst possible place. He's not only stuck on Earth but he's stuck on 1930's Earth. His only way home is to make sure his best friend and CO's love dies. It all just SUCKS. And Nimoy shows it.
Another reason why Harlan's original ending would not have worked as well. It would have been one selfish act (Kirk) being stopped by another selfish act (Spock). As it is it's Kirk working almost totally against his own self interest (and Edith's of course) for the greatest good.
In another telling the coda back on the time planet could have been dispensed with. "He knows, Doctor. He knows." could have been a great ending.
But Shatner's "Let's get the hell out here." It's possibly the flattest delivery Shatner has given in his life. It's so good.
I just thought of something: What would have happened in this episode if the Orgs had NOT been cosplaying Kindly Villagers? Is the planet still contested? Kirk's orders are to "take whatever steps are necessary to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base". If there is no haggling with the locals to be done does the Federation resort to out and out warfare over the planet? And if it's just Kirk and the Enterprise do they result to the guerrilla tactics we see in the episode? Or do they admit they're outmatched and cede the planet?
If the Organians are so hell bent on Kirk's welfare (and presumably the Klingons' as well) why don't the Light Bulbs tell Kirk "Hey, dude. We're fine. Don't get yourself killed. We're immortal." They can't take that small action for... Reasons? But they can effectively blockade two galactic superpowers when it all gets too much for them? Baby steps, my Super Enlightened Beings, baby steps!
As much as I can't stand the premise, this episode knocks it out of the park on every other level. The script crackles. All the leads are definitive Star Trek performances. Spock doesn't have much to do character-wise but this is one of the better "Kirk and Spock are besties and go on an adventure together" episodes.
Colicos. I certainly don't have anything to add.
That would have been amazing. I mean, you get rid of Christopher Plummer at your peril, but this would have been worth it. Just think we could have killed Kor AND seen Saavik as a traitor all in one movie. AND said goodbye to the TOS cast. I don't think I'd have stopped crying yet.It would have been interesting to have John Colicos as Kor in ST6:TUC instead of Chang.
City:
The only thing I have to add is how good Nimoy is. He's in the worst possible place. He's not only stuck on Earth but he's stuck on 1930's Earth. His only way home is to make sure his best friend and CO's love dies. It all just SUCKS. And Nimoy shows it.
Another reason why Harlan's original ending would not have worked as well. It would have been one selfish act (Kirk) being stopped by another selfish act (Spock). As it is it's Kirk working almost totally against his own self interest (and Edith's of course) for the greatest good.
In another telling the coda back on the time planet could have been dispensed with. "He knows, Doctor. He knows." could have been a great ending.
But Shatner's "Let's get the hell out here." It's possibly the flattest delivery Shatner has given in his life. It's so good.
Reasons. I think part of the difficulty in writing noncoporeal life is that their reasons are not going to be like Kirk's. Sharing their nature might go against what they view as needed because respecting the boundary should have been enough.
I admit this ocurred to me. Several times! The only way I can headcanon it is that they haven't had less advanced species around for a helluva long time and forgot how we are.
If memory serves, Spock stops Beckwith from saving Edith, while Kirk makes an emotional decision NOT to stop Beckwith.
But I don't see Spock's motives as selfish in Ellison's version either. It's for the greater good in the end. In terms of his own fate, he has an outwardly ''que sera sera'' outlook.
I don't mean selfish in terms of "Spock is a selfish so and so for wanting to restore the timeline and go home." But while Kirk and Spock both act (of course) for the greater good Spock would also be acting in his own best interests. Kirk is not necessarily acting in his. Kirk is sacrificing his own happiness and his relationship with Edith. Spock is not.
On paper Kirk's sacrifice is greater. And the audience knows this. (And so did Fred Steiner!)
And as I indicated above, however it was written, Nimoy's performance is the farthest thing from "Whatever will be will be" that you can get.
That's another way to look at it. But, a lot of times we take for granted our own points of view, and the Organians can see in to the future that Klingons and humans would become "friends." So, the resistance to that path might have been a bit surprising in that moment.
Operation -- Annihilate! by Steven W. Carabatsos
The title and effects seem a bit 50's pulp, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good the episode actually is. Other than Spock and Kirk's nephew being in danger, and the flying pancakes, I'd forgotten nearly everything.
The Enterprise is tracking a pattern of mass insanity that destroys civilizations. It's next stop appears to be Deneva, which isn't responding to hails and hasn't had contact with the Federation in over a year (seems a bit long, but c'est la script). A Denevan ship heads into the sun and Enterprise can't save it. Before burning up, the pilot says, "I did it. It's finally gone. I'm free."
As the opening scene finishes, McCoy asks Kirk, "...your brother Sam and his family, aren't they stationed on this planet?" Nicely ups the stakes.
Uhura manages to raise a private transmitter and Kirk recognizes the voice of his sister-in-law, Aurelan. However, she cuts off the communication. Everyone on the planet seems strangely quiet.
The Fab Four (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty) beam down with a Yeoman and 2 redshirts. Several men with clubs approach, but say they don't want to hurt them. The landing party stuns them.
MCCOY: There's something wrong, Jim. Their nervous systems. Unconscious like this, there should be just routine autonomic activity, but I'm getting a very high reading, as though even in their unconscious state, they're being violently stimulated.
They head to Kirk's brother Sam's lab, where Aurelan is trying to cover the air vents. Sam (looking suspiciously like Shatner with a mustache) is dead and his son, Peter, is unconscious. McCoy beams them up to sick bay and has to sedate them for extreme pain.
Aurelan wakes briefly and struggles to give Kirk some answers. She then dies.
Back on Deneva, the landing party investigates a weird buzzing sound and see pancake-like things attached to a shady wall. Even the yeoman says, "...it doesn't even look real." They start flying. The crew shoots them, downing one. As they turn away, it flies over and attaches to Spock's back. He's obviously in pain. They take him to sickbay.
McCoy and Chapel try to operate. McCoy shows up on the bridge with a jellyfish in a jar. "Evidently, when the creature attacks, it leaves a stinger much like a bee or wasp, leaving one of these in the victim's body. It takes over the victim very rapidly, and the entwining is far, far too involved for conventional surgery to remove."
Spock gets up and tries to take over the ship. McCoy knocks him out (after 4 guys restrain him) and they take him back to sickbay and restrain him. The bio-bed shows he's in intense pain. Spock wakes and tells them he can control the pain. McCoy and Kirk aren't so sure. McCoy reminds Kirk there are over a million people on the planet (no pressure!).
Spock shows up in the transporter room, trying to get to the planet. Scotty stops him and gets Kirk there for orders. Spock says one of the creatures needs to be captured and Kirk realizes he's right and lets him go. Spock brings one of the pancakes back to the ship.
After analyzing it, Spock says it's, "A one-celled creature resembling, more than anything else, a huge, individual brain cell." Apparently, they are all together one being in some way. Based on the Denevan who flew into the sun saying he was free, they start thinking of what could kill it.
The other shoe drops: "I cannot let it spread beyond this colony, even if it means destroying a million people down there."
Spock and McCoy come up empty - nothing has worked. Kirk hits on the idea of bright light. They put the collected specimen in a chamber and expose it to a million candlepower. It dies. Needing a guinea pig, Spock goes into the chamber. He's freed of the parasite, but made blind. As lab tests come back, McCoy realizes he didn't need full-spectrum light and Spock didn't need to be blinded.
The Enterprise sets up satellites in orbit and blast the planet with UV light. The pancakes dissolve into the gel they were made from. Everyone is free!
A little later, Spock walks onto the bridge, followed by McCoy. Apparently, Vulcans have "an inner eyelid, which acts as a shield against high-intensity light." The blindness has passed. Spock and McCoy banter a bit. We never hear what happens to Kirk's now-orphaned nephew. (Apparently, there was a deleted scene.)
According to Wikipedia, "The neural parasites were created by prop designer Wah Chang from bags of fake vomit." Yeah, they look it. But that's really the only "silly" part of this episode. Nimoy does a really nice job dealing with the parasite and the pain, with the occasional twitch to show he's still effected. He really sells it. Shatner does a nice job with his stubbornness that there MUST be a way to defeat the parasites without killing everyone, but his concern for his nephew didn't quite resonate for me, and neither did his grief over his brother. I head canon that Jim grieved after the threat was averted.
Now that we have Sam on SNW, I feel a little bad that he dies offscreen here. I hope we see more of him on SNW - I think that will add some depth to this episode.
The title and effects seem a bit 50's pulp, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good the episode actually is. Other than Spock and Kirk's nephew being in danger, and the flying pancakes, I'd forgotten nearly everything.
The Enterprise is tracking a pattern of mass insanity that destroys civilizations. It's next stop appears to be Deneva, which isn't responding to hails and hasn't had contact with the Federation in over a year (seems a bit long, but c'est la script). A Denevan ship heads into the sun and Enterprise can't save it. Before burning up, the pilot says, "I did it. It's finally gone. I'm free."
As the opening scene finishes, McCoy asks Kirk, "...your brother Sam and his family, aren't they stationed on this planet?" Nicely ups the stakes.
Uhura manages to raise a private transmitter and Kirk recognizes the voice of his sister-in-law, Aurelan. However, she cuts off the communication. Everyone on the planet seems strangely quiet.
The Fab Four (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty) beam down with a Yeoman and 2 redshirts. Several men with clubs approach, but say they don't want to hurt them. The landing party stuns them.
MCCOY: There's something wrong, Jim. Their nervous systems. Unconscious like this, there should be just routine autonomic activity, but I'm getting a very high reading, as though even in their unconscious state, they're being violently stimulated.
They head to Kirk's brother Sam's lab, where Aurelan is trying to cover the air vents. Sam (looking suspiciously like Shatner with a mustache) is dead and his son, Peter, is unconscious. McCoy beams them up to sick bay and has to sedate them for extreme pain.
Aurelan wakes briefly and struggles to give Kirk some answers. She then dies.
Back on Deneva, the landing party investigates a weird buzzing sound and see pancake-like things attached to a shady wall. Even the yeoman says, "...it doesn't even look real." They start flying. The crew shoots them, downing one. As they turn away, it flies over and attaches to Spock's back. He's obviously in pain. They take him to sickbay.
McCoy and Chapel try to operate. McCoy shows up on the bridge with a jellyfish in a jar. "Evidently, when the creature attacks, it leaves a stinger much like a bee or wasp, leaving one of these in the victim's body. It takes over the victim very rapidly, and the entwining is far, far too involved for conventional surgery to remove."
Spock gets up and tries to take over the ship. McCoy knocks him out (after 4 guys restrain him) and they take him back to sickbay and restrain him. The bio-bed shows he's in intense pain. Spock wakes and tells them he can control the pain. McCoy and Kirk aren't so sure. McCoy reminds Kirk there are over a million people on the planet (no pressure!).
Spock shows up in the transporter room, trying to get to the planet. Scotty stops him and gets Kirk there for orders. Spock says one of the creatures needs to be captured and Kirk realizes he's right and lets him go. Spock brings one of the pancakes back to the ship.
After analyzing it, Spock says it's, "A one-celled creature resembling, more than anything else, a huge, individual brain cell." Apparently, they are all together one being in some way. Based on the Denevan who flew into the sun saying he was free, they start thinking of what could kill it.
The other shoe drops: "I cannot let it spread beyond this colony, even if it means destroying a million people down there."
Spock and McCoy come up empty - nothing has worked. Kirk hits on the idea of bright light. They put the collected specimen in a chamber and expose it to a million candlepower. It dies. Needing a guinea pig, Spock goes into the chamber. He's freed of the parasite, but made blind. As lab tests come back, McCoy realizes he didn't need full-spectrum light and Spock didn't need to be blinded.
The Enterprise sets up satellites in orbit and blast the planet with UV light. The pancakes dissolve into the gel they were made from. Everyone is free!
A little later, Spock walks onto the bridge, followed by McCoy. Apparently, Vulcans have "an inner eyelid, which acts as a shield against high-intensity light." The blindness has passed. Spock and McCoy banter a bit. We never hear what happens to Kirk's now-orphaned nephew. (Apparently, there was a deleted scene.)
According to Wikipedia, "The neural parasites were created by prop designer Wah Chang from bags of fake vomit." Yeah, they look it. But that's really the only "silly" part of this episode. Nimoy does a really nice job dealing with the parasite and the pain, with the occasional twitch to show he's still effected. He really sells it. Shatner does a nice job with his stubbornness that there MUST be a way to defeat the parasites without killing everyone, but his concern for his nephew didn't quite resonate for me, and neither did his grief over his brother. I head canon that Jim grieved after the threat was averted.
Now that we have Sam on SNW, I feel a little bad that he dies offscreen here. I hope we see more of him on SNW - I think that will add some depth to this episode.
Kirk is a Starfleet Captain trained and experienced in dealing with crises of all kinds, including emotional distress he has to compartmentalize to focus on the situation at hand. A lot of people writing and creating TOS had actual military experience from WW2 and Korea that would serve to direct how Kirk’s character would deal with such a situation. This also reflected a general mindset predating today’s where people didn’t walk around with their emotions on their sleeve or exposed bare for everyone to see.
My father was of that generation. I knew my father loved us and cared for is even if he wasn’t always giving us hugs and saying how much he loved us. We knew through his actions. He had his foibles, but he was a damn good example of what a man was supposed to be and how he dealt with things. And we also knew he felt pain, disappointment and loss even if he didn’t parade it.
My father was of that generation. I knew my father loved us and cared for is even if he wasn’t always giving us hugs and saying how much he loved us. We knew through his actions. He had his foibles, but he was a damn good example of what a man was supposed to be and how he dealt with things. And we also knew he felt pain, disappointment and loss even if he didn’t parade it.
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This is the most horrifying death in the series. She literally dies screaming in pain. It's really unsettling and I'm surprised the network let it go.
Bingo. This is important to remember... these are officers. Professionals who are trained to take care of the situations and emergencies first, then deal with their feelings later. Being unable to do this can and will cost more lives. It's something a lot of people these days can't seem to fathom.
It was staged and acted in a wonderfully stylized, theatrical manner, probably with input from Shatner, knowing his flair for the dramatic. There was no blood spatter, no eel coming out of her ear (TWOK could take a lesson in tasteful horror), and it included a cool demo of the (then) sci-fi diagnostic panel. Even the tracked-in music stinger (from "The Naked Time") was cool.
I like the scene a lot, and I think it contributed to Star Trek's credentials as a gripping adult one-hour drama, closer to The Twilight Zone than to Lost in Space.
If they'd had time to make the scene even better: the Sickbay ward should "just so happen" to have highly dramatic lighting that day. Some shadowy depths like a night ward to help her sleep, a splash of vivid color from a gel in a light aimed at something, and angelic illumination of Aurelan's face in the dim surroundings. What a scene that would have been. (Come to think of it, the lighting was also too plain when Spock was the test subject for light exposure, and he emerged in tragedy. They were really working to a schedule.)
I find it convenient (maybe too convenient?) that the Enterprise has a pile of satellites in its hold that can be modified with burning chemicals to zap a planet with a million light candles per square inch of light. 
Of course, Spock's plan was before they knew they only needed UV light, so, maybe the chemicals can be tweaked or filtered to cut out the visual light portion. I guess each satellite could be very small, nothing but a simple box to hold the chemicals and a remote detonator. The logistics of this feat (modifying 210 satellites and deploying them) should have taken some time to set up, so, why is Kirk and gang in such a hurry that they couldn't wait five minutes for the test results on the dead creature? Poor decision making under pressure I guess.
(P.S. I found a 2021 article on Skykraft Air Traffic Management plans for its satellites. "These satellites will form a constellation of 210 satellites from all over the world. Skykraft states that this will enable the company to work on air traffic management and it will be of aid at a global level. As a result, it will enhance air traffic security." Someone must have asked the question, "how many satellites are needed..." to the show's science advisor.
)
SPOCK: Yes. In essence, it can be done. A string of satellites around the planet with burning tri-magnesite and trevium.
...
SULU: Completing the seeding orbit, Captain. Two hundred and ten ultraviolet satellites now in position. Seventy two miles altitude, permanent orbit about the planet.
...
SULU: Completing the seeding orbit, Captain. Two hundred and ten ultraviolet satellites now in position. Seventy two miles altitude, permanent orbit about the planet.
Of course, Spock's plan was before they knew they only needed UV light, so, maybe the chemicals can be tweaked or filtered to cut out the visual light portion. I guess each satellite could be very small, nothing but a simple box to hold the chemicals and a remote detonator. The logistics of this feat (modifying 210 satellites and deploying them) should have taken some time to set up, so, why is Kirk and gang in such a hurry that they couldn't wait five minutes for the test results on the dead creature? Poor decision making under pressure I guess.
(P.S. I found a 2021 article on Skykraft Air Traffic Management plans for its satellites. "These satellites will form a constellation of 210 satellites from all over the world. Skykraft states that this will enable the company to work on air traffic management and it will be of aid at a global level. As a result, it will enhance air traffic security." Someone must have asked the question, "how many satellites are needed..." to the show's science advisor.
)
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