THE PLOT
The Enterprise is on a particularly sensitive historical assignment. The slingshot time-travel technique they discovered accidentally is now being applied deliberately, in order for the Enterprise to record some critical moments from Earth's history. They are sent back in time to study the late 1960's, with the nuclear arms race at its peak.
The crew are completing their assignment when they detect a transporter beam from the other side of the galaxy. They intercept the beam, and a figure materializes: Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) a human who claims to be of this time period, and claims to have been living on a planet whose inhabitants will remain unknown even in Kirk's time. He insists that Kirk must let him go, or he will be interfering with history. When Kirk refuses to take the chance that Seven is either an alien or an agent from the future, Seven escapes. Still uncertain whether doing so is actually the best course of action, Kirk and Spock feel constrained to pursue him.
It soon becomes apparent that Seven's mission is connected to the launch of an American rocket carrying a nuclear weapons platform into orbit. The agent sabotages the rocket so that he can take control of it once it is in flight. He claims that his interference is necessary to prevent World War III. But is he there to stop a catastrophe or create one?
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: The arrival of Gary Seven provides quite a dilemma for Kirk. Either decision he makes - hold Seven or release him - will have devastating consequences if he's wrong. Lacking any evidence one way or the other, Kirk relies on protocol. He holds Seven prisoner to make sure that he does not interfere with history. When the agent escapes, he and Spock pursue. At the end, when it seems apparent that a catastrophe almost certainly will happen without Seven's intervention, he relies on his gut instinct and allows Gary Seven to complete his mission.
Spock: "Without facts, the decision cannot be made logically," Spock observes, when Kirk is faced with uncertainty over whether or not to trust Seven. He plays devil's advocate to Kirk early in the episode, taking pains to point out that it is entirely possible that Gary Seven is telling the truth. But he does not argue for releasing Seven, and he fully backs up Kirk in pursuing him.
Gary Seven: Robert Lansing is Gary Seven, intergalactic secret agent. The role seems virtually tailor-made for Lansing, who had played a moderately similar role (minus the science fiction elements) in Twelve O'Clock High and would go on in the 1980's to play a near-identical role in The Equalizer. He provides a solid screen presence to anchor the episode, which is needed since he is effectively the star. As in other roles, he has a mercurial presence that makes it easy to be uncertain as to whether or not he is trustworthy... though that aspect of the show is all but thrown away at the midpoint, when he receives his briefing from his office computer.
Cute Earth Babe of the Week: Teri Garr is Roberta Lincoln, the ditzy temp who gets pulled into Seven's mission. Like Kirk, she wavers between trusting Seven and being suspicious of him. When he tells her he is with the CIA, she initially believes him. But the more she sees, the more certain she is that his equipment is beyond even the CIA's abilities. Garr is both appealing and likable, though her characterization is perhaps hampered by a script that seems to self-consciously be writing down to her character, as if the writer was forcing himself to write "young people" dialogue.
THOUGHTS
Very nearly the last episode of Star Trek broadcast... and it's basically a pilot for an entirely different show, with Kirk and his crew tacked onto The Adventures of Gary Seven. Enterprise viewers found it disrespectful to end that series with a glorified Next Generation episode... making it somewhat amusing to me that, more than 30 years earlier, Gene Roddenberry came pretty close to doing the same thing with the original series. Thankfully, the network gave the show one more season - though if memories hold true, what ended up being the finale wasn't exactly an improvement.
For all that it's a bit odd that Star Trek almost ended with it, Assignment: Earth is really not bad. In a way, it almost feels appropriate to end a season that's been overstuffed with "parallel Earth" episodes with a visit to the genuine article. The episode's production values benefit from the "modern Earth" setting, which allows for genuine exteriors, clothes instead of costumes, and interiors (such as offices and mission control centers) that set dressers had plenty of experience in making authentic. Much like A Piece of the Action, the Earthbound setting results in one of the season's best-looking episodes.
Assignment: Earth is not one of Trek's shining hours, though. The "backdoor pilot" aspect gives it a bit of a split personality. As a Star Trek episode, it feels lacking in that there really isn't much for Kirk and Spock to do except observe. As a pilot for a show about Gary Seven, we are kept too much at arm's length from our prospective hero by the constant cutaways to Kirk and Spock. As a result, it isn't fully successful as either one thing or the other, which can be frustrating.
It is entertaining, though, with strong production values and good performances. The script makes a misstep, in my opinion, by letting us in on Seven definitely being a "good guy" far too early. I would have preferred to have been left as uncertain of him as Kirk was, right up to the climax. As it is, halfway through we know he's a good guy - which saps the ending scenes of a lot of potential tension.
Still, it's good fun and very well-made. For my rating, I'm wavering between a "6" and a "7," but I think I'll be generous and award it:
Rating: 7/10.
The Enterprise is on a particularly sensitive historical assignment. The slingshot time-travel technique they discovered accidentally is now being applied deliberately, in order for the Enterprise to record some critical moments from Earth's history. They are sent back in time to study the late 1960's, with the nuclear arms race at its peak.
The crew are completing their assignment when they detect a transporter beam from the other side of the galaxy. They intercept the beam, and a figure materializes: Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) a human who claims to be of this time period, and claims to have been living on a planet whose inhabitants will remain unknown even in Kirk's time. He insists that Kirk must let him go, or he will be interfering with history. When Kirk refuses to take the chance that Seven is either an alien or an agent from the future, Seven escapes. Still uncertain whether doing so is actually the best course of action, Kirk and Spock feel constrained to pursue him.
It soon becomes apparent that Seven's mission is connected to the launch of an American rocket carrying a nuclear weapons platform into orbit. The agent sabotages the rocket so that he can take control of it once it is in flight. He claims that his interference is necessary to prevent World War III. But is he there to stop a catastrophe or create one?
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: The arrival of Gary Seven provides quite a dilemma for Kirk. Either decision he makes - hold Seven or release him - will have devastating consequences if he's wrong. Lacking any evidence one way or the other, Kirk relies on protocol. He holds Seven prisoner to make sure that he does not interfere with history. When the agent escapes, he and Spock pursue. At the end, when it seems apparent that a catastrophe almost certainly will happen without Seven's intervention, he relies on his gut instinct and allows Gary Seven to complete his mission.
Spock: "Without facts, the decision cannot be made logically," Spock observes, when Kirk is faced with uncertainty over whether or not to trust Seven. He plays devil's advocate to Kirk early in the episode, taking pains to point out that it is entirely possible that Gary Seven is telling the truth. But he does not argue for releasing Seven, and he fully backs up Kirk in pursuing him.
Gary Seven: Robert Lansing is Gary Seven, intergalactic secret agent. The role seems virtually tailor-made for Lansing, who had played a moderately similar role (minus the science fiction elements) in Twelve O'Clock High and would go on in the 1980's to play a near-identical role in The Equalizer. He provides a solid screen presence to anchor the episode, which is needed since he is effectively the star. As in other roles, he has a mercurial presence that makes it easy to be uncertain as to whether or not he is trustworthy... though that aspect of the show is all but thrown away at the midpoint, when he receives his briefing from his office computer.
Cute Earth Babe of the Week: Teri Garr is Roberta Lincoln, the ditzy temp who gets pulled into Seven's mission. Like Kirk, she wavers between trusting Seven and being suspicious of him. When he tells her he is with the CIA, she initially believes him. But the more she sees, the more certain she is that his equipment is beyond even the CIA's abilities. Garr is both appealing and likable, though her characterization is perhaps hampered by a script that seems to self-consciously be writing down to her character, as if the writer was forcing himself to write "young people" dialogue.
THOUGHTS
Very nearly the last episode of Star Trek broadcast... and it's basically a pilot for an entirely different show, with Kirk and his crew tacked onto The Adventures of Gary Seven. Enterprise viewers found it disrespectful to end that series with a glorified Next Generation episode... making it somewhat amusing to me that, more than 30 years earlier, Gene Roddenberry came pretty close to doing the same thing with the original series. Thankfully, the network gave the show one more season - though if memories hold true, what ended up being the finale wasn't exactly an improvement.
For all that it's a bit odd that Star Trek almost ended with it, Assignment: Earth is really not bad. In a way, it almost feels appropriate to end a season that's been overstuffed with "parallel Earth" episodes with a visit to the genuine article. The episode's production values benefit from the "modern Earth" setting, which allows for genuine exteriors, clothes instead of costumes, and interiors (such as offices and mission control centers) that set dressers had plenty of experience in making authentic. Much like A Piece of the Action, the Earthbound setting results in one of the season's best-looking episodes.
Assignment: Earth is not one of Trek's shining hours, though. The "backdoor pilot" aspect gives it a bit of a split personality. As a Star Trek episode, it feels lacking in that there really isn't much for Kirk and Spock to do except observe. As a pilot for a show about Gary Seven, we are kept too much at arm's length from our prospective hero by the constant cutaways to Kirk and Spock. As a result, it isn't fully successful as either one thing or the other, which can be frustrating.
It is entertaining, though, with strong production values and good performances. The script makes a misstep, in my opinion, by letting us in on Seven definitely being a "good guy" far too early. I would have preferred to have been left as uncertain of him as Kirk was, right up to the climax. As it is, halfway through we know he's a good guy - which saps the ending scenes of a lot of potential tension.
Still, it's good fun and very well-made. For my rating, I'm wavering between a "6" and a "7," but I think I'll be generous and award it:
Rating: 7/10.
Previous Episode: The Omega Glory
Next Episode: Spectre of the Gun
Season Two Overview
Search Amazon.com for Star Trek
Review Index
To receive new review updates, follow me:
On Twitter:
On Threads:
Since this is a pilot for a show starring Gary Seven, they have to keep us guessing about him. But if it were a real Star Trek episode -- instead of a pilot shoehorned into a Star Trek setting -- Kirk could have had Spock mind meld with Seven to see if he was telling the truth. I think the script would have been stronger if they'd spent 30 seconds having Spock try to mind-meld with Seven and discover that the same alien whatever that protects him from neck pinches also protects him from mind melds. Otherwise, it's a pretty big plot hole.
ReplyDelete