When the Enterprise discovers a planet that is lush, peaceful, and completely uninhabited, Kirk decides this is an ideal opportunity to give his weary crew some shore leave. However, before the first shore leave team can beam down, Kirk receives a report of a strange apparition: a giant white rabbit, followed by a little girl. Kirk initially dismisses this report as one of Dr. McCoy's jokes... until McCoy insists that he's serious, and is even able to produce a giant rabbit footprint. At this point, Kirk holds the shore leave until further investigation can be made.
Apparitions continue to appear. Kirk sees one pleasant apparation - his old flame, Ruth (Shirley Bonne) - and one unpleasant one - the old Starfleet Academy bully, Finnegan (Bruce Mars). Sulu finds himself menaced by both a Samurai warrior and a tiger. And a couple of other crew members come under attack by World War II-era fighter planes on strafing runs. As the apparitions become ever more dangerous, Kirk comes to realize that this peaceful planet may mean the deaths of them all!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: A pleasantly relaxed performance by Shatner. For more than half the episode, he reacts mainly with bemusement to the bizarre occurrences around him. He is intoxicated by the vision of Ruth, and seems to even enjoy being irritated by the spectre of Finnegan. But when events turn dangerous - even deadly - he shifts to the tightly focused captain of earlier episodes.
Spock: A fairly Spock-lite episode. Still, we get a very good character scene in which Spock tricks Kirk into accepting shore leave, and we do see Spock working to figure out what is happening on the planet, once the strange occurrences begin.
McCoy: Enjoys a fairly light-hearted installment. He gets to have a dalliance with a pretty young yeoman (Emily Banks), and spends most of his part of the episode flirting and enjoying her company. Even near the end, when he finds himself in a confrontation with an armed knight, he seems to be playing the part of the yeoman's protector, playacting, not realizing that the situation actually is serious.
Hot Space Babe of the Week: Emily Banks is Yeoman Barrows, one of the more fetching of Trek's random yeomen, in my opinion. Discernible character traits are limited, though she does appear to be a bit of a romantic, with fantasies about knights in armor and Don Juan (both of which come back to haunt her in ways she wouldn't have anticipated). Her crush on McCoy actually makes a refreshing break from all the young women in the show swooning over either Kirk or Spock. Though young, she's not too young for me to believe that she might be interested in the gentlemanly, compassionate, and wryly humorous middle-aged doctor.
THOUGHTS
Come to think of it, "refreshing" is probably the best description of this episode. I'll admit up-front that this episode is a personal favorite of mine. It's a jaunty, vaguely surreal romp, one that asks the viewers to suspend logic and just enjoy the ride. No wonder Spock had to be sidelined this time out!
With the bulk of it filmed on exterior locations, this is a particularly good-looking episode. Studio sets, even well-designed ones, date. Country exteriors don't, so this is one '60's Trek episode that could be watched in company with minimal embarrassment. Yes, the World War II planes are obviously stock footage, but the editing of the footage with the actors is well-done. I initially believed the tiger to be stock footage, too... but aprently it was a tiger that was actually on-set, and William Shatner evidently had to be shown the tiger at feeding time in order to be discouraged from "wrestling" it on camera. I suppose in an alternate universe, Shatner got his wish and the rest of the series had his character referred to as "Captain Peg-Leg." [Thanks to The Whovian Zorker on OG for pointing that out.]
The script, by noted science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, is a good one. It's well-structured, with new questions teasing the viewer at every turn. The situation mounts steadily. Everything appears ordinary, until an off-hand comment by McCoy creates the first illusion, leading us into the teaser. Then everything is more or less normal again, until Kirk beams down and more mysteries are discovered. The pace at which new apparitions appear gradually increases, as does the threat level to the regulars. Finally, when all has become truly out-of-control, we get answers... ones which fit with everything we've seen thus far. It's a tidy little masterpiece of television scripting, and an episode that rewards multiple viewings.
Besides, it's kind of nice to see the regulars all having a good time.
Rating: 9/10.
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