Author: Erica Drayton Writes

Officer’s Log, Stardate 3259.2 made by officer Spock.

SYNOPSIS

Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are trapped on a planet where abducted aliens are enslaved and trained to perform as gladiators for the amusement of bored, faceless aliens.

CANON CONTEXT

The popular Star Trek catchphrase “Beam me up, Scotty” is a common misquotation, with The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations stating that the nearest equivalent is the phrase uttered in this episode: “Scotty, beam us up.”

RECAP

This one is a bit of a hot-button episode as it delves into the idea of slavery. At least, as much as they could considering the time period when television could get away with a multitude of sins.

We start with a small crew of Kirk, Uhura, and Chekhov beaming down onto a planet for observations. That is what Enterprise is all about after all. Except, they don’t exactly beam down. They are brought down there by a being that is far superior to their own.

Once on the planet they are met by a group of “misfits” I think is the best word I can come up with to describe them. They are each different with varying degrees of odd make-up jobs.

The leader of the group, suffering the worst kind of make-up out of all of them, in my estimation, is the bald-headed guy in the middle there. He explains to the crew that they are now slaves and will each be assigned one person who will take care of them and train them. One guess who gets paired with Kirk…

They are equipped with this collar that can stun them if they get out of line and, well, you know this crew by now, getting out of line is their bread and butter.

Kirk quickly “falls in love” with little miss green hair and the rest is television history as I like to think of it. I’m sure if I did some digging someone out there has cataloged the exact number of women that Kirk found interest in throughout the series. Then again, it has been, what, an entire episode since he had a femme fatale to dominate.

Getting back to the story, the crew have to figure out how to outsmart a being that believes itself to be superior. So superior, in fact, that they are bored and therefore concocted this “game” if you will, where beings from all over the galaxy are brought to this planet for their amusement. A group of men will bet on who they believe will win in random fights. Sort of like gladiators.

Kirk ends up appealing to this voice that speaks from high above and they grant him permission to meet with them to discuss how he might make a deal with them.

Hold on to your hats as you feast your eyes upon the beings that have such enormous power!

Oh, and let’s not overlook shirtless Kirk. If there is one thing we can be guaranteed to see is his nipples at least once whenever he’s got femme fatale scenes. I wonder if that was a clause in his contract? Or a stipulation by the studio that he must appear shirtless for at least half of the season.

Either way, these colorful (I realize the colors come as a result of the remaster as the show was originally in black and white) brains get outsmarted by Kirk who agrees to battle anyone of their choosing. If he’s victorious then the brains must agree to no longer have slaves but to teach them to be self-sufficient instead. If he loses, then the entire Enterprise will have to live on the planet to be slaves forever. Not a bad deal if I do say so myself.

But not to worry, Kirk would never let the Enterprise go that easily. Of course he manages to win out in the end. The people on the planet are free now and the femme fatale pledges to wait for him down on the planet.

How lucky Kirk is to get all these women falling for him only to easily leave them behind. No commitments. What a life!

One last thing I want to mention a bit out of order from how the episode went, but it is important as the main topic had to do with slavery. I mentioned that Uhura was with them throughout this ordeal. There is one moment when they three of them are witness to what happens when a slave gets out of line. For some reason, Uhura is forced to whip another slave because she lashed out when her “handler” tried to get handsy with her and she fought back. Of course, the person she must whip is a black man.

She refuses to do it, of course. But the scene, however fleeting and quickly done, spoke a lot about what having to even play in that scene must’ve been like. The white guy behind her is the one who, earlier, attempted to rape her while Kirk listened to her cry out. We assume that he was not able to get his way. But still. So much crammed into this story for her as a woman and a black woman. I was disappointed that it wasn’t delved into or discussed further.

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

Dr. McCoy: Hope? I always thought that was a human failing, Mr. Spock.

Spock: True, doctor. Constant exposure does result in a certain degree of – contamination.

Original air date: December 29, 1967

SYNOPSIS

To protect a space station with a vital grain shipment, Kirk must deal with Federation bureaucrats, a Klingon battle cruiser and a peddler who sells furry, purring, hungry little creatures as pets.

CANON CONTEXT

Let’s learn about tribbles: The use of live animals to represent the tribbles was immediately ruled out. According to Gerrold’s account, as their similarity to Heinlein’s flat cats was not yet discovered, the inspiration for the form of the tribble instead came from a fluffy keyring owned by Holly Sherman. Sherman’s Planet in this episode was subsequently named after her. The design came from Wah Chang, but they were individually sewn by Jacqueline Cumeré. She was paid $350 to sew five hundred tribbles from synthetic fur and stuff them with foam rubber. Six ambulatory tribbles were made using the mechanisms of walking toy dogs, which were quite noisy and required the dialogue to be looped in during editing. Other tribbles were created by Jim Rugg out of beanbags for when it was required for one to sit on a person or object, and the breathing tribbles were hollow with surgical balloons inserted.

RECAP

This is the one. My favorite one. The one, I think, could be considered most referenced, especially in pop culture. And why not? It’s absolutely ridiculous from start to finish, the quick wit comments back and forth between cast and the storyline itself makes for great comedy (for the late 60’s). So, let’s delve in, shall we? Be warned this review has more images than the others for added context.

Where shall we begin? Perhaps, the Deep Space Station K7 that sent out a distress call which Enterprise felt compelled to answer.

Why was the DS K7 in distress? Well, because they currently are housing tons of quadrotriticale. A word that is managed to be repeated at least a dozen times (it seems) in one scene and it’s great watching each of them stumble over saying it right. It’s a grain by the way and Kirk is not pleased to have been summoned to the station over it. But undersecretary Nilz Baris insists that is be guarded against the Klingons who seem to want it desperately.

Kirk agrees to leave behind two guards which Baris is not happy about. He goes boo-hoo crying to the Federation who then call Kirk and tell him to return to the station and treat the quadrotriticale with a bit more urgency. Upon their return Kirk decides to let the crew use this time for shore leave.

A Klingon ship decides to do a similar respite here which also rubs Kirk the wrong way. But they are trying to be diplomatic, so all he can do is have one guard per Klingon that spends time at the space station. First up to take a break is Lieutenant Uhura. While hanging out at the local bar she encounters a shady tradesman trying to sell one tribble to the man behind the bar who seems less than interested. By the end of the negotiations, Uhura returns to the Enterprise with one free tribble.

Seems innocent enough. Cute and cuddly with a bit of a trill sound it makes. How much harm can it be? Look, even Mr. Spock seems to be mesmerized by the little guys.

Yep, in a matter of hours, the one tribble that Uhura brought on board managed to multiply and she’s giving them out like candy to all of the crew. Even Bones who is fascinated to learn how they are able to multiply so quickly.

As if that isn’t trouble enough, back on the space station the Klingons are getting drunk and rowdy at the bar. Well, one of them in particular.

He insults humans. He insults the captain. Oh hell no! Chekov is ready to go! But Scotty stops him. Kirk gave them instruction to behave and not get riled up by the Klingons in any way.

But then the Klingon insults the ship and Scotty couldn’t hold back. He throws the first punch and a bar fight begins. The barman gets the hell out of dodge and Cyrano Jones, the trader who you could say started all the problems, is helping himself to a few glasses of liquor while everyone is distracted.

With the fight broken up eventually, Kirk insists on knowing how it started. Who threw the first punch? Well, of course no one wants to snitch, least of all on Scotty who is a good guy. So, he has to snitch on himself and fess up. Kirk is pretty pleased to hear Scotty showed such gumption, that is, until he hears that Scotty didn’t actually throw a punch in defense of the captain, instead it was to honor the ship!

Chin up, Captain Kirk, you’ll get’em next time!

Okay, so while all of this is happening something even more sinister is taking place on the Enterprise. Also discovered when Kirk attempts to get a meal from the replicator.

This is crazy! I mean, look at all of those tribbles just hanging out. But to be in the replicator is really not good. Seconds later, Scotty arrives with an armful to say they are also in the ship making their controls inoperable.

This makes Kirk wonder if they are sneaking around within the ship, could they be in the storage areas on the space station. Turns out that grain he’s supposed to be protecting from the Klingons is being stored there. Quick! To the storage area!

I could be wrong but I think we’re too late. All the grain has been eaten by the tribbles. But what’s worse than finding out they’ve managed to multiply to over 1m? That most of the ones you see pictured there are dead. Why? Time for Bones to investigate the grain and the tribbles. Oh, and Bones delivers the great news that if they want the tribbles to stop multiplying they need to stop feeding them. Thanks, Bones.

And just because I feel it must be seen, I want to share this still of the bridge:

Yes, that is a tribble nestled just under her chin there!

Now, what is going on here? Are the Klingons behind all this? Obviously! But it isn’t who Baris keeps insisting it is; the trader. Instead, it’s his trusted assistant. Turns out tribbles don’t like Klingons and start to freak out when they are brought near one. Sorry, mister, you’ve been caught.

Now, what to do with all of these tribbles on the space station? Well, instead of sending Cyrano Jones who took the tribble from its home planet to jail they decide he can spend the next two decades removing them all.

As for the tribbles on the Enterprise? Well, after a few ping-ponging back and forth between the crew to try and explain where the tribbles were sent, well, I’ll let you read the answer below:

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

[last lines]

[all tribbles have been removed from the Enterprise, but nobody seems eager to tell Kirk what happened to them]

Capt. Kirk: Mister Scott. Where – are – the tribbles?

Scott: I used the transporter, Captain.

Capt. Kirk: You used the transporter?

Scott: Aye.

Capt. Kirk: Well, where did you transport them?

[the others are looking away, trying to appear not involved]

Capt. Kirk: Scott, you didn’t transport them into space, did you?

Scott: Captain Kirk! That’d be inhuman!

Capt. Kirk: Well, where are they?

Scott: I gave them a very good home, sir.

Capt. Kirk: WHERE?

Scott: I gave ’em to the Klingons, sir.

Capt. Kirk: [whispering] You gave them to the Klingons?

Scott: Aye, sir. Before they went into warp, I transported the whole kit ‘n’ caboodle into their engine room, where they’ll be no tribble at all.

[Writer’s Note: I apologize for the many days off I took before resuming these reviews. Needed the time. Should be back to the daily grind tomorrow.]

Original air date: December 22, 1967

Captain’s Log, Stardate 3614.9

SYNOPSIS

Kirk and the Enterprise computer become detectives after Scotty is accused of murdering women on a pleasure planet.

CANON CONTEXT

Nothing of note to mention about this episode.

RECAP

This episode is all about Scotty and I love that. Apparently he suffered some sort of mental breakdown that has left him hating women. Solution? Take him to a planet where everyone is fun loving, especially the scantily clad, belly gyrating women.

Something tells me this trip is more for Kirk and Bones than it is for Scotty, brought them to lift his spirits and give him a better feeling about women in general.

And he surely has it when he has his eyes set on this belly dancer. Kirk, being the kind gentleman that he is, thinking only of his men. Invites this particular woman to their table where she proceeds to only show interest in Scotty. I mean, have you heard his Irish accent?

There is some strange gentleman at the next table who seems less than pleased with the way the three men are ogling her and storms off. Shortly after, Scotty and the belly dancer leave as well. Take a stroll in the “London-like” fog.

Nothing left for Bones and Kirk to do but head on over to another spot where the women are…well…I’ll leave that to your imagination. Off they go, but not before they hear a bloodcurdling scream and find themselves in the middle of a gruesome murder. Victim? The woman who left with Scotty, who happens to be standing nearby, bloody dagger in hand, in shock.

Is Scotty guilty of murdering this woman? He does hate women after all. And Kirk can’t ruffle any feathers as they are guests on this non-violent planet. In comes their lawyer and it took me less than a second to realize where I recognized him.

If you watch Golden Girls as often as I do, you’ll know who this is, but he’s from one of my favorite episodes, Love Me Tender (S4E14): Dorothy dates a short, bald man with whom she has nothing in common – except for great lovemaking.

Eddie: [Dorothy’s blind date finally arrives] Hi, I’m Eddie.

Dorothy: [to the girls] It took a computer to come up with this?

Eddie: [Eddie explains that he’s been in a long depression, and is still not completely recovered] After twenty-five years of marriage, my wife, Roberta sent me a Dear John letter.

Rose: That’s terrible. Married twenty-five years and she doeesn’t know your name is Eddie?

Anyway, moving on. You have to watch it to get all the jokes.

So this lawyer, a guy the planet uses from now and then, I guess, to help with these kind of disputes. He’ll be helping prove Scotty’s innocence. First step, get some other suspects.

Like these two guys. Except the guy on the far left is in love with her and was hoping to marry her. And the older gentleman is her father. I guess they won’t be able to help. Perhaps if the Enterprise can beam down someone on their ship who can put Scotty through a series of tests that will reveal what really happened to him when he blacked out, conveniently forgetting if he killed the girl or not.

But how can Kirk help Scotty if he keeps on being caught over dead bodies. Yep, you guessed it, another Star Trek NPC bites the proverbial dust.

What makes this scene so strange is they talk about this dead girl but never look at her. It was as if they were given direction to look at the camera instead of down at her body. You have to see the episode to understand what I mean.

Dead bodies keep piling up and no one but Scotty is in the area of the dead body. Plus, his lawyer doesn’t seem all too happy with how the Enterprise is handling the proceedings. However, the prefect of the planet agrees to let them conduct their investigation as they see fit if they allow his wife to do her own investigating. She is some sort of empath or something that can sense the truth by holding on to an object. In this case, the murder weapon used in both murders.

Don’t get too attached to her, though. Shortly after they all sit in a circle to prepare her seance or whatever, she apparently feels a dark and evil presence by the name of Redjac? This evil spirit seems like a really bad entity. The lights go out! I give you one guess what they find when the lights come back on…

So, with three dead bodies, one of them being the wife of the prefect, Kirk has only one ace left to play. Lucky for him the people on this planet really are pretty passive. I was surprised at how willing the prefect was willing to go, even so far as to move the entire court proceeding onto the Enterprise.

Once there, the time has come to prove Scotty isn’t responsible but instead…Jack, the ripper?!

I kid you not! That Redjac person the woman was talking about earlier, turns out is the “name change” of Red Jack which can also be known as Jack the Ripper. It’s really quite wild even to hear them talk about it and try to follow. I’d have to rewatch it to try and really understand how they added 2 + 2 to get 5, but let’s suppose their right. Who among them is this Redjac?

He’s not actually the lawyer. He’s just in the lawyer’s body. When they subdue him, Redjac manages to enter the computer system where it’s now taken over the ship and is trying to terrify everyone. Turns out, Redjac feeds off of fears. Who better to scare than an entire planet of non-violent people?

The only solution, which I still can’t believe, is to give everyone on the ship a dose of “happy drugs” so that no matter what Redjac does or says, no one will be scared. Everyone just thinks what’s happening is hilarious and groovy. Eventually, they are able to transport Redjac off the ship and save the day.

Wild episode. But nothing compared to the one I’ve been waiting a long time to see next!

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

Voice of Redjac: I am without ending. I have existed from the dawn of time, and I shall I live beyond its end! In the meantime, I shall feed, and this time I do not need a knife. You will all die horribly in searing pain!

Mr. Spock: It is attempting to generate terror, Captain.

Voice of Redjac: I can cut off your oxygen and suffocate you!

Sulu: Captain.

[McCoy injects Sulu with a hydrospray, Sulu immediately becomes euphoric]

Sulu: Whoever he is, he sure talks gloomy.

[starts to rise from chair]

Captain James T. Kirk: [pushing Sulu back into his chair] Man your post, Sulu.

Mr. Spock: An entity which feeds on fear and terror would find a perfect hunting ground on Argelius, a planet without violence, where the inhabitants are as peaceful as sheep. The entity would be as a hungry wolf in that fold.

Original air date: December 15, 1967

Captain’s Log, Stardate 3619.2

SYNOPSIS

Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.

CANON CONTEXT

“Lieutenant Lesley” played by regular Star Trek background actor is killed in this episode, however his character re-appears (and is referred to by name) in many subsequent episodes. Paskey was one of the core group of regular Star Trek extras and appeared in almost every episode, including the second pilot “”, until he left the show in the middle of the third season.

RECAP

Captain Kirk is obsessed. Just take a look at his facial expression here to fully grasp just how obsessed he is.

No, he’s not obsessed with that actor. He’s obsessed with the smoky thing that ultimately killed him and a bunch of other crewman.

It’s a thing Kirk encountered 11 years prior when he was on the just a lieutenant on the USS Farragut. His captain was Garrovick, same name as the new security officer taking over for the poor sod who was killed earlier. They waste no time replacing people around here.

Armed with the belief that his hesitation in destroying this thing 11 years ago that led to the deaths of half the crew and the captain, Kirk is beyond obsessed. He wants that thing dead. However, Spock and Bones are concerned that Kirk is shirking his duties as captain of the ship. See, aside from this, the main mission is to get rendezvous with USS Yorktown and get some really important medicine that has a short life span and could save the lives of others waiting for it.

It’s not very often we see Bones and Spock team up. Even Bones finds he needs a drink when Spock comes to him for advice on how to deal with Kirk’s current obsession.

I should probably mention this smoky creature drains humans of their blood and leaves them looking rather silvery-gray in color. Terrible makeup job, but they had to do something to represent blood drainage.

After Ensign Garrovick has a similar encounter with the smoke-thing he is relieved of duty by Kirk and sent to his quarters (for a time). It is around this time that I want to mention Nurse Chapel. An unsung hero. Not unlike Uhura who at least is expected to have some brains as she is a lieutenant. Nurse Christine is just a nurse but every scene with her in it is gold. This is no different. Brings a bit of laughter in an otherwise intense episode. She is sent by Bones to deliver food to his patient, Ensign Garrovick who is less than pleased to see her. She proceeds to threaten him with feeding him intravenously in sickbay if he does not eat the food she brought him. Upon returning to sickbay with the “prescription” she claims to have been written by Dr. McCoy, he asks her why she took files on some random thing with her to deliver food. Psychology, doctor. Just psychology.

Okay, getting back to it. Kirk takes the ship to chase after this creature which is now on the move. Before we know it, it manages to get inside the ship and where do you suppose it ends up? In Ensign Garrovick’s quarters while he’s getting a pep talk from Spock.

The thing is, there’s supposed to be a correlation between this ensign and the Kirk of 11 years ago. Both men blaming themselves for the predicament they are in. I gotta say, of all the “past references” that we’ve seen in certain episodes so far, this is one I’m just not really that into. I spent more time wanting the solution to be reached than anticipating the next move. Especially since it seemed so out of character for Kirk to just snap at everyone for no reason. It’s not like anyone was stepping out of line or even getting in his way, even when Spock and Bones threaten to file a report of his unorthodox actions. Felt very off-script.

We finally reach the end when Kirk surmises the creature is headed back to where it encountered USS Farragut 11 years ago. Turns out it has a home planet there to reproduce. And of course, we can’t let that happen. I must say, when it comes to the federation rules, they don’t seem to be helpful to creatures they don’t understand. It’s more of a kill first and investigate or learn, never.

Kirk and Ensign Garrovick beam down to the planet to set a trap. A large amount of blood in a jar. They set up a bomb that they will detonate at the right moment as they beam back onto the ship and effectively kill it.

There is a moment where Garrovick worries the captain might decide to use himself as bait for the creature to make sure it is blown up. A fight ensues between the two men. But it’s short lived. They are beamed back on the ship but not before some technical difficulties happen. Reminding us just how much Bones hates the idea of having his molecules manipulated in space. That’s how he describes the transport system. As we are always reminded, he is a simple country doctor, not used to being on a space ship.

With the creature now dead, how they confirm that is unknown to me, they are finally able to meet up with USS Yorktown and complete their initial mission.

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

Nurse Chapel: Hi. Everyone else is at alert station, so I brought you some dinner.

Ensign Garrovick: I’m not hungry.

Nurse Chapel: Doctor’s orders.

Ensign Garrovick: [confined to his quarters] What’s happening?

Nurse Chapel: Are we still chasing that thing halfway across the galaxy? Yes. Has the captain lost his sense of balance? Maybe. Is the entire crew about ready to explode? Positively. You’re lucky you’re out of it.

Ensign Garrovick: What do mean “out of it?” I caused it. You know that, too, don’t you? If I’d fired my phaser quickly enough on Argus 10, this wouldn’t have happened.

Nurse Chapel: Your self-pity’s a terrible first course. Why don’t you try the soup instead?

Ensign Garrovick: I told you, Christine, I’m not hungry.

Nurse Chapel: Dr. McCoy thought you might say something like that. This is his officially logged prescription for you. It has one word on it: eat. Now, if you don’t follow his orders, Dr. McCoy could and possibly would have you hauled down to Sickbay and fed intravenously.

Scott: Captain, thank heaven.

Mr. Spock: Mr. Scott, there was no deity involved. It was my cross-circuiting to B that recovered them.

Dr. McCoy: Well, then, thank pitchforks and pointed ears! As long as it worked, Jim.

Original air date: December 8, 1967

SYNOPSIS

A landing party from the Enterprise is exposed to strange form of radiation which rapidly ages them.

CANON CONTEXT

DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) said of the make-up used in this episode, “I only worked half days on that show because I was in makeup the other half. I’d sit in the chair for a while, then I’d take a break, go to the john, come back and they’d work some more. It was a tremendous makeup effort. There were three makeup men working on me all the time, on my hands and on my face. Leonard [Nimoy] was lucky on that show. He was blessed by the fact that Vulcans don’t age as fast as humans.”

RECAP

This was a great one for acting I must say. The crew landing party encounter a couple of people on the planet who should be in their late twenties but what they discover is very odd. Even for Star Trek standards.

Jumping back a few minutes, Chekov encounters one of the people who should be alive and well on the planet. Except, he’s very much dead from old age. This spooks him and in that moment of absolute terror he becomes immune to what happens next to the rest of the landing party.

What happens next is left up to the acting gods because between Bones, Spock, Scotty, and Kirk I don’t know who aged better. Actually, I take that back. My money is on Scotty. Grey looks good on him.

And never to be forgotten, here comes this week’s femme fatale for Kirk. Except, this one is slightly different. This is clearly a love interest that spans many years which we have only seen once before in a previous episode. But with this one at least she looks age appropriate for him. Slightly wrinkled but no less “his type” that’s for sure. And it just so happens that her last relationship was with a man 26 older than her. So naturally, seeing Kirk in all his grey glory gets her all kinds of hot for him.

Meanwhile, everyone is aging rapidly and Chekov has become their guinea pig while Bones tries to find out why he isn’t aging but the rest of them are. I also should mention this episode also had the spare crewman that would die later on in the episode from old age. This only makes the need to find a cure that much more prevalent. Chekov is pissed but he must subject himself to the studies till they find the cure.

Is it time for a cat nap? I think so. If you’ll excuse me…

Hmm? What was that? Oh yeah, the rest of the episode. Besides needing to reverse this crazy aging thing, Kirk has to put up with a commodore on their ship removing him from command the more he seems to age. Spock is aging as well so he feels ill-equipped to take over from Kirk. The courtroom scene is worth giving a watch as Kirk fumbles his way through it, trying to prove that age is nothing but a number. He fails epically, but the point is made that he will stop at nothing to retain control over his ship. So much so that when the cure is possibly uncovered he’s willing to risk his rapidly debilitating life to test it on himself first.

And right on time to cause the Enterprise is in a losing battle with the Romulans. And Kirk employs an old trick to make them leave! This is quite possibly the first evidence I can think of where a previous episode is clearly mentioned when he announces over a channel he knows the Romulans can hear that the Enterprise is going to employ their Corbomite machine that they have. If you recall, Corbomite is completely made up but he uses it back on Season I Episode 10 The Corbomite Maneuver in order to escape an enemy then. And it helps him again.

We end with Bones informing Spock that he has an antidote for him to his aging process can reverse. It took longer to make because, as we are always reminded, Spock is part Vulcan, so his internals aren’t the same as everyone else’s. And for funsies, Bones made the antidote extra potent so Spock suffers even worse than they did when they took it. Yay!

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

McCoy: Anytime you’re ready, Mr. Spock.

Spock: I am quite ready now, Doctor.

McCoy: Because of your Vulcan physique, I’ve prepared an extremely potent shot for you. However, I thought you’d might like to know that I’ve removed all the breakables from sickbay.

Spock: That is very considerate of you, Doctor.

Original air date: December 1, 1967

SYNOPSIS

The Federation clashes with the Klingon Empire over mining rights to Capella IV. A sudden coup between its warrior-minded inhabitants forces Kirk’s party to flee with the now dead leader’s pregnant wife.

CANON CONTEXT

The episode’s title is derived from a traditional English poem, known as “Monday’s Child”. The reference is to a line in the 1887 Harper’s Weekly version of the poem: “Friday’s child is full of woe.”

RECAP

The episode is named after the famous Monday’s Child poem, except I’m not sure if they meant to call it “Friday’s Child” as probably Wednesday’s Child would’ve been more appropriate.

As Friday’s Child is loving and giving that hardly seems in line with the way Star Trek episodes typically end up. Full of woe seems much more like it.

I won’t go into the outfits that this group of people on the planet Capella IV, except to say it’s…odd? Yes, I think odd is the wording for it. But then again, I can’t fault TOS too much. I’m sure their budgetary constraints meant they could only do so much to have encounters with other cultures on other planets seem as different from our own as possible. They can’t all be alien but just “really different” from what we think of as normal when it comes to their customs and behaviors.

This planet is no different. Reminds me of the way the “alternate universe” is treated where the flip side of the coin is that everyone is cutthroat and you have to watch your back. In this instance it’s very much the same.

There is a mining community that the Federation is very interested in. Unbeknownst to them, the Klingons, their fiercest enemy, is also interested in the same mine and they are looking to make a deal.

As much as I’d love to hang about and tell you what happened between Kirk wanting to kill the Klingon and all that, I much rather zoom in on the other story. The B story but just as fascinating.

The leader of this group known as the Tier (not pronounced the way it’s read…) is assassinated and his wife who is with child is besides herself. I guess, in their culture, for the husband to die means that they must die as well. And it also means they want nothing whatever to do with the child they are carrying. Interesting on so many levels.

This Tier’s wife, however, seems to fancy McCoy (aka Bones) and in his adamant desire to be a doctor and do what doctors do best, heal their patients, decides he’s going to make this woman want to live and also want to care for their child whether she likes it or not.

There is even an amazing moment when she slaps him when he tries to touch her stomach to find out how close she is to having the baby and he slaps her back! Man, that was quite the moment. After that she is clearly in love and when he tries to get her to want her child by repeating the mantra, “The child is mine. The child is mine. It is MINE.” She confuses this by thinking the child is HIS, as in McCoy’s and she continues to refer to the child in that way, even in front of Spock and Kirk who are altogether confused.

A baby is born, huzzah!

I think in the end the planet decides to do business with the Federation and not with the Klingons. I honestly don’t remember how all that turns out cause I was way more interested in Bones’ story. It’s rare for someone other than Kirk to get their moment with the on screen femme fatale, in this case played by none other than Julie Newmar, of Catwoman fame! Oh, did I forget to mention that? I thought you would recognize her and didn’t need me to say it. Sheesh!

Anywho, the baby is named after Kirk and Bones but not after Spock who was also on the planet and rescued them from the Klingon’s doing them harm so you’d think he’d have been included. As usual Bones and Kirk thought they would tease Spock about this fact but instead he gets one up on them. Doesn’t he always…

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

McCoy: [speaking of Eleen] Representing the High Tier, Leonard James Akaar!

Spock: The child was named Leonard James Akaar?

McCoy: Has a kind of a ring to it, don’t you think, James?

Captain James T. Kirk: Yes, I think it’s a name destined to go down in galactic history, Leonard. What do you think, Spock?

Spock: I think you’re both gonna be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month… sir.

This post is a thread. It works slightly different from my regular review emails so I thought I would give it a try in cases where news is made in the Star Trek Universe that is worth mentioning and opening for discussion. Not sure if links work here or not.

‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Original Movie Event Starring Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh Announced

Thoughts?

Original air date: November 17, 1967

SYNOPSIS

The Enterprise hosts a number of quarrelling diplomats, including Spock’s father, but someone on board has murder in mind.

CANON CONTEXT

Wyatt had been widely known for the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best, where she played Elinor Donahue’s mother. On a previous Star Trek episode, Donahue was a guest actor, playing Commissioner Nancy Hedford, who became Zefram Cochrane’s “Companion”.

This episode introduced the Andorian and Tellarite species.

RECAP

The time has come, after a full season + 10 that we meet Spock’s parents. Now, I have to admit I’ve watched Strange New Worlds which, as you may or may not know already, features Spock as well as his parent’s, prominently. I will say the stark contrasts and similarities between how the actors choose to play their parts is remarkable in both instances.

The Enterprise has been tasked to house several dozen dignitaries and representatives from various planets who are coming together for a very important vote.

Think of it like a meeting of the United Nations to vote a new nation into the club. Some are all for it but there are always those who are adamantly against it. at such times, a mingling party is always in order.

While at the party we discover an alien race demands to know how Sarek, Spock’s father, intends on voting. Ever the stoic, strong and silent type, he refuses to answer. A bit of harsh words are exchanged before Kirk intervenes.

Kirk thinks Spock and his parent’s might want to spend some time together to catch up, unaware of the strain that has been present between Spock and his father.

I must say I appreciated every single scene with Jane Wyatt, of Father Knows Best fame and other notable roles. Especially those with her and Kirk.

She is indeed a formidable woman and not one to be treated as anything less than the wife of Sarek, a very important man in his own right on Vulcan. Very bad ass, for sure. A pleasant change of pace from what I’ve grown accustomed to seeing with all the femme fatales fawning and falling all over the place.

There is clearly a mutual show of respect and love between Sarek, a Vulcan and Amanda, his human wife. I love to see it.

Eventually a mystery begins when the alien who confronted Sarek demanding to know how he would vote is found to be dead. The manner in which he was killed could only be known by someone of Sarek’s previous station so he becomes a suspect. However, that quickly changes when he falls ill and in need of a blood transfusion. But he is Vulcan and as we are always reminded, his blood is not red like ours. His son has half Vulcan blood so he is the nearest and best candidate. However, Kirk is taken out of commission when he is attacked just walking his own ship! Madness!

Spock refuses to give up command of the ship to someone else just so he can save his father’s life. It is illogical. Even when his mother confronts him about how stubborn both he and his father are being. She slaps Spock! And for the first time I feel like I’m seeing some really amazing acting coming out of this show! If you haven’t seen this episode it would easily be in my top 5 favorites across all of TOS.

Kirk is forced to hide just how severe his injuries are to trick Spock into leaving the bridge and report to surgery to do the blood transfusion to save his father’s life. Which he does. Is there nothing Kirk can’t do or fake?

There is a touching moment at the end which, upon reflection, I wonder if it were logical to have happened being that Vulcans are not one to express emotion. Is not humor and sarcasm an emotion? Hmm…

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

Amanda: And you, Sarek, would you also say thank you to your son?

Sarek: I don’t understand.

Amanda: For saving your life.

Sarek: Spock acted in the only logical manner open to him. One does not thank logic, Amanda.

Amanda: Logic! Logic! I’m sick to death of logic! Do you want to know how I feel about your logic?

Spock: Emotional, isn’t she?

Sarek: She has always been that way.

Spock: Indeed. Why did you marry her?

Sarek: At the time it seemed the logical thing to do.

Original air date: November 10, 1967

Captain’s Log, Stardate

SYNOPSIS

While returning to the Enterprise aboard the shuttlecraft, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a seriously ill Federation diplomat find themselves kidnapped by an energized cloud.

CANON CONTEXT

RECAP

Ok, I have SO much I want to say about this episode but I’m going to try and hold my tongue about it. What I will say is I have an “expose” if you will, about Kirk titled “How Captain Kirk Is Bad For the Federation” and will be an upcoming Supplemental. Oh it will be a hot take, for sure. But try as I might I’m going to move past this and get onto the actual episode.

Kirk, Spock, and Bones are on their spacecraft, Galileo, ferrying a female commander who contracted some disease that could only be found in 1 in a billion! Wow! So, of course she didn’t receive the necessary vaccine against that disease that will kill her rapidly if she isn’t taken to the Enterprise to receive the proper treatment. On the way two things happen:

1. We discover just how annoying this commander is with her ungrateful attitude.

2. A thing appears out of nowhere in forces their ship of course towards a planet that appears uninhabited.

We soon discover there is at least one man down on this planet.

He seems harmless enough but looks can often be deceiving as Kirk discovers this guy looks awfully familiar. Only problem is he has little time for pleasantries with Cochrane. He has to get Commander Hedford to the Enterprise to save her life.

Only problem is when he discovers Cochrane is a man who did the first warp 150 years ago and should be dead. Though Spock points out his body was never found. Turns out he was brought to this planet by “The Companion” as he calls it and given eternal life. That came with a price of boredom and loneliness. To fix that the Companion brought this spacecraft to him.

While Kirk worries about getting free from this planet the commander is first freaking out at the idea of being a “pet” to the Companion? It seemed a bit too extreme, but maybe not as Cochrane makes a similar “this is disgusting” response when they point out that clearly he and the Companion are in a “relationship” whether he likes it or not.

I mean, just look at how they communicate with each other.

Enough said my dude.

Okay, now, back on the Enterprise we have Scotty (in charge) and Uhura both giving us their best facial expressions and catchy phrases and I’m here for it.

Kirk finally realizing he can’t defeat the Companion when they are able to hear it speak and it sounds like a woman, so that means he has an idea of how to deal with her. Because we all know what a sentient female voiced form would want, love and to be love and to feel love. I’m going to try not to think about a Celine Dion song and I welcome you to not do the same…

The obvious solution here, which I assumed was how this episode would end just not how they did it but Cochrane and Hedford end up together. The Companion realizes the only way for her to be with Cochrane (who she loves) is to become human and give up her powers. She inhabits Hedford’s body, thereby healing her from the killer disease she had, which I question how she managed doing that if by entering her body she lost her powers. But the point of Star Trek is not to over analyze the details to that extent so we’ll overlook that.

At the end of the day, love is in the air when Cochrane decides to stay with the Companion aka Hedford and live out their life together on this planet. How sweet.

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

Zefram Cochrane: I could even offer you a hot bath.

Nancy Hedford: [dripping with sarcasm] How perceptive of you to notice that I needed one.