#14 (1-16): The Galileo Seven

Spock finds himself in command of a marooned shuttle.

Original Air Date: Jan. 5, 1967. Teleplay by: Oliver Crawford, S. Bar-David. Story by: Oliver Crawford. Directed by: Robert Gist.


Spock gets his first command. Unfortunately for him, it's on Gilligan's Island.


THE PLOT

The Enterprise is on its way to deliver much-needed medical supplies (*drink*) with a pompous Starfleet official aboard (*drink*), when it encounters a quasar-like formation in space. With standing orders to investigate such phenomena, Kirk sends out the shuttlecraft Galileo to study it, with Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Dr. Boma (Don Marhsall), a yeoman, and two security personnel aboard. Not long after leaving the ship, the shuttle is knocked off course and forced to make an emergency landing.

Communications are damaged, leaving no way to call for rescue. Though Kirk on the Enterprise tries to locate the shuttlecraft, the urgency of the medical mission and the stern presence of Commissioner Ferris (John Crawford) gives him only a very narrow window. The Galileo crew's best hope lies in repairing the shuttle and getting it in orbit as soon as possible.

But Spock's crew finds itself quickly in danger from the natives: giant savages whose only apparent intent for the new arrivals is murder!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: A Kirk-light episode, this. We see his frustration in dealing with Ferris, with Kirk's priority - saving his people - put into conflict with Ferris's mission. Kirk bends procedures as far as he can to maximize his chances of locating Spock & company, but he doesn't actually defy orders. William Shatner does a good job playing Kirk's mounting frustration, including a short-lived moment of defeat.

Spock-Logic: OK, quick question: In what parallel universe is Spock's action at the end illogical? His end-of-episode act is presented as something that's rash and emotional... but as far as I can see, it's the only logical course open. The Enterprise would have just barely abandoned the search, meaning that the ship is still in the area. The shuttle has a short time in orbit, after which it will burn up in the atmosphere. Literally the only hope not involving an Infinite Improbability Machine is to get the Enterprise's attention somehow. Spock's choice is to do nothing and burn up in an hour, or else take the only chance - however slim - of being seen. He makes the logical choice (indeed, his most logical choice of the entire episode), and ends up getting laughed at for an emotional outburst! All right-y, then.

Dr. McCoy: "Life and death are seldom logical." He tries to make Spock realize that cold logic and efficiency are not enough for command, that he needs to take the emotional responses of the shuttle crew into account as well. Spock mostly ignores this, much to McCoy's mounting frustration. McCoy is right, as shown by the increasing resistance Spock's orders receive from the others. In this episode, at least, McCoy strikes a balance - pushing back against Spock while also supporting his authority in front of the others.

Dr. Boma: He does not strike any such balance, with his attitude toward Spock increasingly tipping over into insubordination. When it becomes clear that someone will have to stay on the planet for the shuttle to achieve liftoff, and Spock rejects drawing lots, Boma starts griping in front of the rest of the crew. That not only continues, it intensifies, with him snapping that he's "sick and tired" of the Vulcan's logic and referring to him as a "machine." Actor Don Marshall does well in the role, but Boma the character ends up becoming more irritating than the requisite "Space Bureaucrat."

Pompous Space Bureaucrat of the Week: John Crawford's Ferris is introduced right at the start, arguing against investigating the quasar. He's barely mollified when Kirk points out that he has standing orders that require the delay. He becomes instantly aggressive when Kirk delays further to search for his missing crew. He reluctantly accepts Kirk's authority to continue looking until the last possible moment, the commissioner acknowledges it, but reminds him that all discretion ends as soon as he needs to leave to deliver the supplies. Ferris is presented as unlikable, all but gloating over the futility of the search, but it should be noted that his actual position - prioritizing the lives of the full population of a colony over seven lives - is not unreasonable... and is in fact very similar to Spock's own cold calculations with the Galileo crew.


LET'S PLAY... ZAP THE REDSHIRT!

Redshirt count: Two. Crewman Latimer becomes the first to meet the hostile natives, getting speared in the back to usher in the first post-credits commercial break. Crewman Gaetano later tries to escape from them by climbing up a sheer cliff-face. Turns out, he isn't Spider-Man.


THOUGHTS

"We're preparing a routine scientific mission. We don't anticipate anyone will have to leave the shuttlecraft at any time. Clearly, we need two security guards and a yeoman."

Exactly why are those security guards there? Or the yeoman? The answer, of course, is that the guards are there to provide a body count and the yeoman is there to provide some eye candy for the audience. But it might have been nice if any in-story reason existed for these three to be included in the mission.

The Galileo Seven is almost entirely Spock's episode. It also serves to answer why Kirk is in command instead of the more obviously intelligent Spock. This entire episode shows Spock failing as a commander, not through any lack of competence, but simply because he cannot inspire loyalty. Scotty and McCoy, who have worked alongside him regularly, show respect for his command. The others, however, find his cold calculations off-putting.

The episode is undercut a bit by heavy handedness with the guest characters. Commissioner Ferris's priorities aren't actually wrong, and he could be portrayed as a decent man while still being put into conflict with Kirk simply because of the cold math of the situation - exactly the same type of math Spock is using. Dr. Boma could also have all the same objections to Spock's comamnd without being so quickly and directly insubordinate. As portrayed, Boma should frankly be up on charges as soon as they return to Enterprise. This is not a man who belongs on anything remotely resembling a military service vessel.

Despite these issues, the episode remains effective. I enjoy the failures of Spock's command. Each of his decisions makes sense from a purely logical standpoint - even his reluctance to expend time on a funeral service instead of repairs - and yet the lack of empathy in both the decisions and (even more so) his presentation of them alienates his crew.

The more direct threat of the natives is also well handled, with tension rising steadily. The primitives are violent when first encountered and soon gather to attack, even as Spock tries to keep the crew focused on completing repairs. In order to get the shuttle into orbit, Spock ends up having to leave them helpless to defend themselves. At that point, they're in a race, trying to repair the shuttle before the attack hits. This is couched inside the episode's other race, to take off before the Enterprise is forced to leave for its mission. This is all well-structured, and it helps the episode to work despite its heavy-handed character writing.


Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: The Conscience of the King
Next Episode: Court Martial

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