When I saw this episode as a kid, there was all sorts of action and people running around and quite a lot of shades of green. The rich green of the background/horizon, the hunter green of Shahna's hair, the baby food puke green of Tamoon's skin... but it seemed like a bland outing with nothing happening except everyone beating the snot out of each other.
...after a few hundred decades later and I rewatch the episode:
It's remarkably a strong and compelling story, despite a few half-baked and convenient action scenes.
Spock and McCoy get some great verbal sparring, and long before "look that up in your funk'n'wagnalls" came "you're out of your Vulcan mind!" to annoy censors with. Margaret Armen's plot is somewhat generic, with obligatory cliché fight scenes with too-easy resolutions, but is far more than made up for by some sharp dialogue in a number of scenes. Later stories are novel, also elevated by some fantastic dialogue.
It's nice to see Uhura and Chekov be a part of the show for other than the catchphrases.
I can't help but to laugh as Kirk says, twice in the episode, how they're beaming down to check out the facilities. Not a bad thing to do on those long distance tips when the next restroom is four light years away and your vehicle lacks the requisite equipment... just like the Brady Bunch house, go figure...
It's a memorable and chilling cliffhanger to see Uhura being cornered by Lars (who also gets to wear a miniskirt, unique in the show...) and the Captain is unable to help. Pity the reprisal shows an interruption - it might have been nice to see Uhura use cunning to steal his weapon, use it, but then get knocked down by the Providers.
The scene where Uhura refuses to comply with an order to punish a slave, with Kirk stepping in to speak for the crew, topped by his taking responsibility for his crew's actions - while Galt indicated their titles and rank meant nothing, it's interesting that Galt humors the concept for letting Kirk be the sole thrall to be punished. There is a deeper side to Triskelion's culture than meets the eye.
The only scene that grates is the Kirk/Shahna scene where he teaches her all about looooooooooove, though Shatner's style of acting manages to make the scene watchable. Though she eventually rejects it (she gets punished) until the end of the episode where Kirk outproviders the Provider and becomes a Provider. It's kind of a nice bittersweet ending, since Kirk can't just pick up everyone he finds.
There are no duff performances.
Joseph Ruskin in particular puts in a reasoned performance as the Master Thrall Galt. I bet his first name wasn't John... then again, yeoman Rand's name wasn't necessarily inspired by Ayn unless it was, so it's all good. Probably.
I almost laughed in how Kirk and Chekov fight males, and Uhura has to fight Shahna. Thankfully Shahna gets a moment to use her silver-painted wood giant lobster claw prop to keep Kirk down. And, later, how she's shoehorned in for a final battle against Kirk (which somehow gets the Providers to bend the rules to let him win anyway... it's a trifle convenient, but the episode had to be wrapped up and, who knows, maybe they decided that Kirk's talk of educating the Thralls into a better society was ultimately more compelling than keeping them all as boring cattle?)
Angelique Pettijohn too is memorable, convincingly portraying the situation her character was in.
It's a shame Chekov gets to little to do. But when he is given something, it's got substance. His "Cossacks!!" makes up for almost every scene in season 2 when he gets all campy and claims a little old lady in Leningrad invented whiskey or whatever. (I prefer SeriousChekov vs CampyChekov any day. A united crew in Earth's future simply didn't need backhanded comedy relief.)
Another cliché fight was at the end, where the Providers spare Shahna's life for no reason. Without 1960s mores and censorship standards, I wonder what Ms. Armen would have done if given complete free rein. The episode hints at a lot of horror, but could only go so far in showing anything to begin with.
Interestingly, "triskelion" was a term appropriated by Celtic neopagans when its origins are said to be Ayran (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskelion#cite_note-10 ) Read up on the figure and there is something of a metaphorical connection to the story.
I wish Galt's outfit was just an inch lower. Then every shot he was in would make it look like he was gliding. Which is more effective than seeing his boots half-draped. The scenes where it looks like he's gliding convey so much more creepiness and menace...
It's not everyone's cup of tea, and Ms Armen has written better episodes later in TOS's run, but it's easy to see why she would return. The characterizations are refreshing and engaging to watch, and the themes are very solid overall, and that's what makes the story worthwhile.
7/10
...after a few hundred decades later and I rewatch the episode:
It's remarkably a strong and compelling story, despite a few half-baked and convenient action scenes.
Spock and McCoy get some great verbal sparring, and long before "look that up in your funk'n'wagnalls" came "you're out of your Vulcan mind!" to annoy censors with. Margaret Armen's plot is somewhat generic, with obligatory cliché fight scenes with too-easy resolutions, but is far more than made up for by some sharp dialogue in a number of scenes. Later stories are novel, also elevated by some fantastic dialogue.
It's nice to see Uhura and Chekov be a part of the show for other than the catchphrases.
I can't help but to laugh as Kirk says, twice in the episode, how they're beaming down to check out the facilities. Not a bad thing to do on those long distance tips when the next restroom is four light years away and your vehicle lacks the requisite equipment... just like the Brady Bunch house, go figure...
It's a memorable and chilling cliffhanger to see Uhura being cornered by Lars (who also gets to wear a miniskirt, unique in the show...) and the Captain is unable to help. Pity the reprisal shows an interruption - it might have been nice to see Uhura use cunning to steal his weapon, use it, but then get knocked down by the Providers.
The scene where Uhura refuses to comply with an order to punish a slave, with Kirk stepping in to speak for the crew, topped by his taking responsibility for his crew's actions - while Galt indicated their titles and rank meant nothing, it's interesting that Galt humors the concept for letting Kirk be the sole thrall to be punished. There is a deeper side to Triskelion's culture than meets the eye.
The only scene that grates is the Kirk/Shahna scene where he teaches her all about looooooooooove, though Shatner's style of acting manages to make the scene watchable. Though she eventually rejects it (she gets punished) until the end of the episode where Kirk outproviders the Provider and becomes a Provider. It's kind of a nice bittersweet ending, since Kirk can't just pick up everyone he finds.
There are no duff performances.
Joseph Ruskin in particular puts in a reasoned performance as the Master Thrall Galt. I bet his first name wasn't John... then again, yeoman Rand's name wasn't necessarily inspired by Ayn unless it was, so it's all good. Probably.
I almost laughed in how Kirk and Chekov fight males, and Uhura has to fight Shahna. Thankfully Shahna gets a moment to use her silver-painted wood giant lobster claw prop to keep Kirk down. And, later, how she's shoehorned in for a final battle against Kirk (which somehow gets the Providers to bend the rules to let him win anyway... it's a trifle convenient, but the episode had to be wrapped up and, who knows, maybe they decided that Kirk's talk of educating the Thralls into a better society was ultimately more compelling than keeping them all as boring cattle?)
Angelique Pettijohn too is memorable, convincingly portraying the situation her character was in.
It's a shame Chekov gets to little to do. But when he is given something, it's got substance. His "Cossacks!!" makes up for almost every scene in season 2 when he gets all campy and claims a little old lady in Leningrad invented whiskey or whatever. (I prefer SeriousChekov vs CampyChekov any day. A united crew in Earth's future simply didn't need backhanded comedy relief.)
Another cliché fight was at the end, where the Providers spare Shahna's life for no reason. Without 1960s mores and censorship standards, I wonder what Ms. Armen would have done if given complete free rein. The episode hints at a lot of horror, but could only go so far in showing anything to begin with.
Interestingly, "triskelion" was a term appropriated by Celtic neopagans when its origins are said to be Ayran (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskelion#cite_note-10 ) Read up on the figure and there is something of a metaphorical connection to the story.
I wish Galt's outfit was just an inch lower. Then every shot he was in would make it look like he was gliding. Which is more effective than seeing his boots half-draped. The scenes where it looks like he's gliding convey so much more creepiness and menace...
It's not everyone's cup of tea, and Ms Armen has written better episodes later in TOS's run, but it's easy to see why she would return. The characterizations are refreshing and engaging to watch, and the themes are very solid overall, and that's what makes the story worthwhile.
7/10
