Them Archons

[RobertScorpio]

Well, we watched Return of the Archons..and, hey, I still like this episode. Its message is shockingly anti-religious, for its time. Oh, some may sat that wasn't the message, but it clearly is. But its handled pretty well, and hey, we get some killer ass party scenes at the start. Reminds me of the party I went to the night Obama won..one big Festival of mindless sex and drinking...

But I digress...Shatner puts in a good subtle perfomance in this one. And for a first season episode, we really see the Kirk/Spock dynamic coming into play here....

All I have to say? Book me on the next trip to 'red hour'...looks like some hot fun


Rob
scorpio

 

[Finnegan]

I always thought that Landru looked like he should be cutting men's hair. FETH-TIVAAAL!

 

[RobertScorpio]

I always thought that Landru looked like he should be cutting men's hair. FETH-TIVAAAL!

Yeah, he looked liked he might like sugar in his tank..

Rob

 

[Esteban]

A boring episode notable for being the first to mention the Prime Directive (or whatever they called it then). I'll give a nod to Gene R. on that.

 

[RobertScorpio]

A boring episode notable for being the first to mention the Prime Directive (or whatever they called it then). I'll give a nod to Gene R. on that.

Well, it wasn't boring to me. It is 'thought provoking' especially for the late 1960s TV...My 14 year old daughter thought it was kind of creepy. Anyway, I give it two thumbs up..

Rob scorpio

 

[Wingsley]

I just watched a documentary on the Jonestown disaster the other night... "die with a degree of dignity!"

Reminded me of Landru.

I always enjoyed that ep.

 

[Red Ranger]

Return of the Archons isn't my favorite, but I do like it. It's one of the few that doesn't start out with the Big Three -- with Sulu and O'Neal on the planet surface. And I love the whole "You're not of the body!" stuff! Let's not forget it's also one of the first eps featuring the patented Kirk fake-out of a sophisticated computer intelligence -- I think the first is in What Are Little Girls Made Of, when he turns Ruk against Dr. Corby. "Landru, help me! Help me help me help me!" -- RR

 

[BillJ]

Guess this is why the newer Treks don't work as well for me. Never see episodes like this again.

 

[TheThrasson]

"Landru, help me! Help me help me help me!" -- RR

Brilliantly funny!

One of the things I love best about sci-fi is the "what if?" factor. When they pulled out the light panel and the true history of the planet began to be revealed, that's when they hooked me.

After many years of waching Trek, it's the funny stuff that I love now. This episode had a few spots of this. The computer at the end and Landru looking like a poofter as mentioned above. The depiction of the red hour was hilarious as well. McCoy freaking out when he discovers Kirk is not of the body. I got a kick out of Hakum too. Kirk telling everyone to get a job. All good stuff.

I'm sure most know this, but Landru was in "Wolf in the Fold".

 

[Red Ranger]

I decided to watch the ep online last night, and I liked it better than I remembered. The obvious "moral" of the story is to not let technology dehumanize or subsume people to the machine. Me, I see it as a criticism of religious fundamentalism. Landru is the god-figure to whom all the people of that world were subject to its definition of tranquility, who they worshipped and who led them like mindless automations -- a lot like religious fanatics. "You're NOT of the Body!" The cry of the "believer" against the "infidel."

The Red Hour stuff confused me -- why would a machine want people to riot for 12 hours every once in awhile? The only explanation I can think of is that Landru knew repressing these emotions would harm the Body, so they had to "let off steam," a sacrifice for being peaceful and tranquil all the rest of the time.

The guy they meet, Bilar (?), with the derby, had an odd accent. "Come for the Festival, ay-yay-ah?" WTF?

Red Ranger

 

[A beaker full of death]

...it's the funny stuff...The depiction of the red hour was hilarious as well.

I don't get it. What's so funny about rape and rioting?

McCoy freaking out when he discovers Kirk is not of the body.

Again, this is funny how?

 

[kissthestar]

The inability of The Body to function normally during the Red Hour Landru Break chills my blood. It is so in line with the behavior of many people in hierarchies. They check their ethical sense at the door and figure the head honcho with the hotline to God will let them know the right thing to do. Return of the Archons is about religion and many other institutions.

 

[TheThrasson]

...it's the funny stuff...The depiction of the red hour was hilarious as well.

I don't get it. What's so funny about rape and rioting?

McCoy freaking out when he discovers Kirk is not of the body.

Again, this is funny how?

I generaly don't associate fiction and fact. It didn't really happen. It was the depiction of the scenes and acting that was funny.

It wasn't just the men who were under the effect of the red hour. The women were just as affected as the men. The idea of rape is at best questionable.

It was McCoy's face and the camera angle (over Kirk's shoulder), that I found funny.

I'm not saying my sense of humor is universal, but I don't take fiction so seriously. I didn't mean to upset anyone. If I did, I apologise.

 

[paustin]

always a big fav of mine

 

[Neopeius]

A boring episode notable for being the first to mention the Prime Directive (or whatever they called it then). I'll give a nod to Gene R. on that.

It's not so much that it's boring, but that it's possibly the worst edited and paced episode in the series.

 

[Anticitizen]

The Red Hour stuff confused me -- why would a machine want people to riot for 12 hours every once in awhile? The only explanation I can think of is that Landru knew repressing these emotions would harm the Body, so they had to "let off steam," a sacrifice for being peaceful and tranquil all the rest of the time.

Ever read George Orwell's 1984? It's almost straight out of that book - a story about an ultra-repressive totalitarian society. Every day the nation joins in the Two Minutes Hate, wherein the face of their nation's 'enemy' is shown on the screen, and all citizens degrade into a spectacle of cursing, stamping, and gnashing of teeth.

I saw that episode as a sort of 1984-lite-in-space. More subtle than Picard's 'THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!' moment, which is also straight from the same novel, where the Party convinces Winston that 2+2 does not equal 4.

 

[tomalak301]

I liked this one, but I could never understand Red Hour. Everyone goes crazy and then they get all zombie like again and there seemed to be a disconnect.

 

[toonloon]

Speaking of the red hour... the Amish have a custom where they allow young teenagers to experience the outside world for a brief time before they commit to their church. Parents are nervous at this time because the kids can basically indulge in one wild frat party for a time before they get to choose whether or not to return to their way of life or abandon it.

I'm not for a minute suggesting that the Amish endulge in anything like 'red hour' but there is precedent for something like it in earthly cultures.

Hope I didn't offend any Amish members... oh wait! They wouldn't be reading this would they. Doh!

 

[Anticitizen]

Yep, it's called Rumspringa.

 

[kissthestar]

I have supposed that the Body's zomboid mannerisms resulted from direct control by Landru. Because a lifetime of this suppression had nullified their judgement, whenever the Landru gadget had to take a breather, or whenever it released its hold for whatever reason, the Body would just freak out, having lost all ability to control their impulses.