Star Trek: The Original Series (1966 - 1969) - Random Musings

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Previous Episode: All Our Yesterdays

THE PLOT

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from Camus II. A team of scientists led by Dr. Janice Lester (Sandra Smith) was exploring the ruins of a dead civilization when Janice became exposed to toxic radiation. Janice is an old flame of Kirk's (yes, another one) who was with him at the Academy, but who was consumed with bitterness at Starfleet's refusal to allow women to become starship captains.

Once she and Kirk are alone, she uses a piece of alien technology to switch bodies with Kirk. Now in Kirk's body, Janice has command of the Enterprise. But "the captain's" irrational behavior is quickly noticed by McCoy and Spock. When a mind-meld confirms that Kirk is now in Janice's body, Spock moves against the usurper - and is immediately charged with mutiny!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Ham: This episode gives William Shatner a final opportunity to revel in sheer, unadulterated ham. His performance as the Janice-possessed Kirk is a bacon/pork marvel. He feminizes his walk and his gestures, introduces a tremor into his voice, and even raises his voice a pitch in any scene in which Janice becomes upset. No one could accuse him of underplaying, particularly when he throws himself around the corridor and makes fish faces when Kirk and Janice switch back. But it's entertaining, and goes a long way toward making such a fundamentally idiotic episode work as well as it does.

Spock: With Kirk incapacitated, Spock is effectively the hero of this episode. He calmly assesses "Kirk's" irrationality, assesses "Janice's" insane-sounding claims, then uses his Vulcan Voodoo to determine the truth. Once he knows the truth, he does not waver in his defiance of the false Kirk. Spock's absolute composure, contrasted with the false Kirk's hysteria, helps sway the command staff in Spock's favor. It also gives the series' two leads an excellent scene, with Shatner's over-the-top fervor offset by Nimoy's unflappability.

Dr. McCoy: He is forceful in insisting that "Kirk" undergo a battery of tests. But when the tests show no evidence of any disorder, he is honest about that fact and very hesitant when Scotty solicits him to defy the "captain" regardless.

Scotty: After "the captain" becomes hysterical in the face of Spock's defiance, Scotty makes a decision. As he tells McCoy, he has never seen Kirk behave in such a way. He trusts Spock, and he knows Kirk well enough to know that the man he just saw dissolve in front of him could not possibly be Kirk. So he decides that, despite the evidence, he will vote for Spock - and enlists McCoy to agree to do the same.

Hot Alien Space Villain of the WeeK: Sandra Smith gives a solid enough performance as Kirk-in-Janice. It doesn't even approach being a match for Shatner's hilarious mincing, but she keeps her performance calm and level-headed. We don't exactly see Shatner when we look at her, but we do see a temperament suited to command in contrast to the increasingly hysterical Janice-in-Kirk.

THOUGHTS

Star Trek began with a pilot that was rejected by the network, in part for having a female first officer who didn't seem to know her place. It is somewhat ironic, then, that it ends with an episode that all but flat-out states that women are mentally inferior to men and that those who don't remember their place are probably mentally unhinged and a threat to everyone around them.

Turnabout Intruder isn't quite as offensive as it should be, if only because it's far too silly to take seriously. Take Dr. Lester's entire plan. Her big body-switch with Kirk depends upon her being left alone with Kirk for several minutes in order to make the switch. With the help of an accomplice, this is doable... given that McCoy and Spock are the only people besides Kirk to beam down. What if a full security team had beamed down with them, with some guards staying in the room when Spock and McCoy left? That would be an elaborate villainous plan down the tubes very quickly, wouldn't it?

Despite it being basically one big Idiot Plot, Turnabout Intruder is actually one of the season's better-paced episodes. The body switch is done before the teaser is finished. Spock and McCoy are suspicious of the changed "Kirk" and actively investigating by the twenty minute mark. Spock is charged with mutiny by the thirty minute mark. And everything goes gloriously insane in the last ten minutes or so, with plans hatched for a mass execution and a cold-blooded murder while Janice-in-Kirk tries to fight back the body switch wearing off (never mind that the script never pauses before this point to indicate that the switch wearing off is even a factor). It's dizzying and dumb, but it moves. Given that static nature of many of even Season Three's good episodes, there is something to be said for a fast pace.

In my review of All Our Yesterdays, I remarked that I wished that had been the finale. I stand by that, as it was a good script realized with above-average production values, centered around a genuinely interesting concept. Turnabout Intruder is "B movie" material at best, and by the end I was laughing more at it than with it.

But there is one respect in which it's a more suitable finale than All Our Yesterdays would have been: It actually uses the ensemble. Uhura's MIA, with her role filled by a random brunette. But Scotty, Chekov, and Sulu all get strong moments, while in the previous episode, the latter two were not even present (or inded mentioned). So if nothing else, it's nice that the final episode of 1960's Star Trek both features and uses most of the show's cast.

Finally, as dumb as it is, I have to acknowledge that it's an entertaining dumb episode. With Shatner's glorious ham giving it a boost, I had a good time watching it. A bit like Spock's Brain, this is deeply stupid - but fun to watch in spite of itself.

Rating: 4/10.

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Previous Episode: The Savage Curtain

THE PLOT

The planet Sarpeidon, home to a thriving civilization, has a sun that's about to go nova. When the Enterprise arrives, there is no sign of life on the planet. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to The Library in hopes of learning what happened to the population.

They are met by Atoz (Ian Wolfe), the librarian, who fusses that the three are "very late" and must make their "selection" as quickly as possible. He directs them to viewers with different data tapes showing different parts of the planet's history. Kirk is viewing a tape set in the equivalent of American colonial times when he hears a woman scream. Not thinking, he runs out, following the scream...

...And finds himself in the very scene shown in the viewer. Spock and McCoy run after him. But McCoy was viewing a tape showing the planet's ice age, and he and Spock find themselves in a mountainous region in sub-zero temperatures. They have all been propelled into the planet's past, with no apparent way back. With Kirk accused of witchcraft, and Spock and McCoy in the middle of a blizzard, the first challenge they face is their own survival!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: Very much the decisive man of action - which is what gets the crew into trouble in the first place! Kirk's impulsive run through the portal feels like a plot contrivance, necessary to get the action started. Kirk takes charge in his new surroundings efficiently, escaping from imprisonment and gaining the information needed to get back to the Library, and eventually to get Spock and McCoy back as well.

Spock: Through the power of Plot Contrivance, going back into the past unwinds Spock's Vulcan reserve. Step by step, he is returned to the savagery of his ancestors. This doesn't really hold up to scrutiny, but it does give Leonard Nimoy his best episode since The Tholian Web. At first, there's just an unusual harshness in his voice. He becomes more "human" in his gestures and postures. All of this builds to the point at which he lashes out at McCoy, responding to one of McCoy's typical barbs with a violent, "I don't like that. I don't think I ever did!"

Dr. McCoy: After Spock's violent outburst, it doesn't take him long to figure out what is happening. He takes a considerable personal risk to provoke Spock in order to snap him out of it. I'm assuming that his overt hostility to Zarabeth is more an approach to directly provoke Spock than honest outrage, given that he is quite charming to her in their only previous scene. Either way, he does have enough insight to realize that she may not be telling them the whole truth.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the WeeK: Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley) is the lovely exile, a victim of a brutal regime from a point in the planet's history at which time travel was already a possibility. She has been alone for what must have been years, and latches onto Spock with desperation. Apparently, among the necessities of survival she was allowed were a complete cosmetics set and a salon - but given that Mariette Hartley, circa 1969, was nothing short of stunning, I'm certainly not going to complain that she looks too good for her situation. Hartley, a consistently reliable actress, manages to invest more in Zarabeth than is there on the page, and her presence alone elevates this episode.

THOUGHTS

As was the case with Requiem for Methuselah, it's immediately apparent that more care has gone into the making of this episode than has been the case with most of the late Season Three offerings. The setup in the teaser is both intriguing and entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the way in which the library is run, with duplicate librarians alternating between anxious hand-wringing and offers of assistance. "Reference services are available at the desk," an Atoz duplicate tells the three when they ask for recent history. The way in which this is phrased and delivered makes me think that the writer spent a fair amount of time at a large library.

Production values are very much above average, particularly for Season Three. The mountains on which Spock and McCoy find themselves are an obvious set, but not a bad one. The fake snow is well-used, and goes a long way toward selling it. The cave in which they take shelter is one of the series' most convincing cave sets, and some thought has gone into the lighting of it.

There are two main strands, one following Kirk's adventures in the 17th century, the other following Spock and McCoy. The Kirk strand is entertaining, and William Shatner gives one of his better recent performances. But the Spock/McCoy material is the real focus of interest, with Leonard Nimoy giving his best performance of the season. Spock's regression creates a genuinely strong dramatic situation, and Zarabeth's plight - a hopeless injustice which is refreshingly allowed to remain hopeless - is effective.

If everything came together, this would be the best episode of the season and might even be the only Season Three episode to win full marks from me. Unfortunately, there are some ragged bits of scriptwriting. Kirk's impulsive dash through the portal can be excused, though Kirk normally isn't that stupidly rash. I can even twist my brain to justify that his jail just happens to be run by someone who's been through the portal, even if that seems overly convenient and dramatically unnecessary.

There are a couple of big issues that I can't overlook, though, simply because they are so central to the episode. First, there's Mr. Atoz. Exactly why, if everyone on the planet has already gone through the portal, is he still there? Wouldn't he have made his escape already? The episode would work just as well if the real Atoz had already escaped, and all that remained were the robot duplicates. In fact, it would make more sense of Atoz's refusal to listen to Kirk in the second half of the episode. A real person should pick up, from Kirk talking to Scotty about "warping out of there," that the captain just might not be from around these here parts, but a robot would simply follow its programming.

The other issue that keeps this from being a "great" episode is one that's central to the show's best material: Why does Spock regress? If traveling so far back in time by this method should have this effect, then shouldn't McCoy be jumping around making chimp noises while trying to pick fleas off Spock? The answer is, of course, that it's good drama for Spock to lose his Vulcan logic while McCoy is the same as he usually is. But it simply isn't justified in the script. It doesn't stop me from enjoying some excellent scenes. But I wish at least some attempt was made to address this fairly obvious issue.

Even with these problems, All Our Yesterdays is a very good episode, a reminder of the quality this series used to regularly turn out. A part of me wishes this had been the series finale, as I have a feeling it would be a far more fitting finish than Turnabout Intruder is likely to provide.

Rating: 8/10.

Next Episode: Turnabout Intruder

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Previous Episode: Requiem for Methuselah

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is scanning a planet that is rumored to be the site of a mysterious civilization. After multiple scans, it is clear that the planet is uninhabitable. As McCoy says, its surface is molten lava, "its atmosphere poison." Kirk is about to order the ship to its next mission when the Enterprise is subjected to a deep scan. Then a figure appears on the viewscreen: Abraham Lincoln!

Kirk beams this figure (Lee Bergere) aboard the ship, and orders all crew members to treat him as if he were the real Abraham Lincoln. After a tour of the ship, Lincoln offers Kirk and Spock an opportunity to beam down to a section of the planet that has suddenly become habitable, even Earth-like. After some debate, Kirk accepts - only to find that he and Spock have been made part of a game for an alien's instruction and entertainment. The drama? A fight to the death, against the most notorious figures in history!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: Gene Roddenberry's return to the writer's desk also means a return of something I've personally missed: some semblance of military bearing on Kirk's part. In Season One, in particular, there was a real sense of command structure. This episode sees that return, when Kirk orders that Lincoln be treated as the genuine article, backed up with a threat to "have the hide of the first man who so much as smiles." Later, he warns McCoy that the doctor is dangerously close to insubordination as McCoy continues to argue against a decision of Kirk's after the decision has been made. It's good to see this long-forgotten trait return to the character, and this side of Kirk does bring out the best in Shatner's performance.

Spock: He is affected by Surak (Barry Atwater), but knows that logically the figure he sees cannot be Surak. He still supports Surak's decision to attempt a peaceful solution. When Kirk comments on the Vulcan's bravery, Spock replies that "Most peacemakers are (brave men)." But he remains a pragmatist. When Surak has been captured, and the others hear him crying out in agony, Spock argues against an attack. All of them know it is a trap, and while Spock is "not insensitive" to the cries, he is willing to stand by and listen to them rather than engage in a reckless action.

McCoy/Scotty: The Greek chorus. Both of them argue against Kirk's beaming down, with McCoy skirting the edge of insubordination. Both men watch the action unfold on the viewscreen, and feel similar frustration at their inability to go to Kirk's aid.

THOUGHTS

This episode brings a Gene Roddenberry script to a season in which Roddenberry was largely "hands-off." It isn't a terribly good script, but it still brings the regulars into sharper focus than some recent episodes have. Kirk is a bit more military in his bearing, Spock a bit more cold in his pragmatism. The script even makes some use of Sulu and Uhura, who have been reduced this season to little more than extras.

The Savage Curtain is an important episode for the Star Trek franchise. Not so much for the plot, which is basically a retread of Arena, minus the intensity. But the introduction of Surak fills in some of Vulcan's backstory, showing us one of the key figures of Vulcan history. That makes it probably the most important Vulcan episode since Amok Time, even if Surak ends up playing second fiddle to (a very one-dimensional portrait of) Abraham Lincoln.

The script is generally well-structured. The first third of the episode, set entirely on the ship, effectively raises questions and plants seeds. Even the rock creature who acts as the episode's villain is set up in the early scenes. The tag offers a passable explanation for Lincoln and Surak (and Col. Green, Genghis Khan, Kha'less, and Zora). All are exactly as Kirk and Spock would expect them to be, and they are that way for good reason. Somehow, I doubt the real Genghis Khan (or, in Trek-universe, the "real" Kha'less) would be willing to take orders from the likes of Colonel Green. But since Green is presumably the most vivid of the figures in Kirk's mind, he takes the lead.

The episode is severely hampered by a frequent problem with late Season Three offerings: Extreme cheapness. The money isn't there to make the fight scenes effective. When the characters break out the wobbly spears and styrofoam rocks, it looks comically bad. The cutting isn't tight enough to disguise this, certainly not when compared to the much stronger fight scene editing of episodes like Arena. This results in an "action climax" that is more likely to provoke laughter than tension.

For that matter, the spectre of Arena looms over this entire episode. Kirk's being tested? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but he passed this whole "fight to the death" test once before. And he did so in a better episode. The Savage Curtain isn't terrible by any means - it's reasonably well-paced, and it is good to see Gene Roddenberry returning to the series. But it feels simplistic and frankly tired, with production values that make it among the worst-looking episodes of the entire series.

Rating: 5/10.

Next Episode: All Our Yesterdays

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Previous Episode: The Way to Eden

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is in the grip of a space plague (*drink*), the only cure for which is a substance known as ryetalyn. The ship's sensors have detected ryetalyn on an apparently uninhabited planet. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to secure it, only to find themselves confronted by Flint (James Daly), a man who has staked a claim to this world as his retreat from humanity.

After some negotiation, Flint agrees to help Kirk and his crew mine and process their cure. He then brings the three men to his palatial estate, which he shares with his ward, Rayna (Louise Sorel). As Flint's robot helper processes the ore, he entertains his guests. He takes particular care to push Rayna and Kirk together, then reacts with jealousy to their growing closeness. Spock advises Kirk to focus less on Rayna and more on the ryetalyn. But as Kirk pushes his attachment with Rayna ever further, he moves his entire crew toward a direct conflict with Flint - who has resources at his disposal that Kirk has yet to even guess at!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: Most of his third season performances have been marked by ham. That's actually been a good thing for many of the episodes, as Shatner's ham has created mild entertainment value in shows that otherwise would probably have had none. Presented with a quality script by a good writer, though, he can't quite shake the habit. After giving a mostly enjoyably subdued performance for the first forty minutes, he lets loose at the end. He declares to Rayna, "YOU love ME!" Then he delivers a speech commenting on how "the human spirit is FREE!" The first forty minutes of the episode provide a reminder of just how good Shatner can be, given material worth playing. It is clear, though, that no one is holding his leash anymore. With large swaths of the original production team gone, there is simply no one left to reign him in.

Spock: Pragmatic as always, Spock tries to keep Kirk focused on their immediate priority: the ryetalyn. He uses his tricorder to scan everything in Flint's home, and slowly puts the pieces together. He suspects the truth long before it is revealed. He shows his friendship for Kirk and his protectiveness of Kirk's feelings by trying to keep the captain from going into the forbidden room at the end, knowing that Kirk will be hurt by what they will find.

Dr. McCoy: McCoy, the humanist, defuses the initial confrontation with Flint by comparing the symptoms of the epidemic on Enterprise to the plague. This prompts Flint to recall the plague on Earth, making him more receptive to the idea of inviting them to his home. McCoy is charmed by Rayna, but remains focused on the ryetalyn. He more or less forgets about the girl once the robot improperly processes the drug the first time, and he calls out Flint for the cruelty of his plans. He also gets a short speech at the end, in which he explains to Spock why he feels sorry for Spock's inability to appreciate love (was he asleep during This Side of Paradise?) - a speech which is highly theatrical, but which Kelly's delivery really helps to sell.

Villain of the Week: Flint (James Daly) is one of the richer guest characters of the third season. He fills the role of the episode's villain, acting against Kirk in particular and the Enterprise crew in general. Still, he remains a thoughtful and even sympathetic character. Daly's performance is effective, and the script provides him some excellent dialogue, from a recollection of the sounds of rats dying during the plague to some highly memorable monologues near the end about love and death.

Hot Space Babes of the Week: Louise Sorel is Rayna, Flint's ward. Sorel is very good, investing Rayna with more substance than perhaps is there on the page. She is particularly strong when Kirk and Flint are fighting over her, and she declares, first weakly and then more strongly, "I will not be the cause of this."

THOUGHTS

Jerome Bixby returns with another well-written script. Requiem for Methuselah has obviously been written with an eye toward the series' greatly-depleted budget, and is yet another show which could easily be adapted into a stage play. In its staginess and its ending revelation, this is not far removed from the type of story regularly seen in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. But that's hardly a knock, and Requiem for Methuselah is a reminder of much better days for Star Trek.

Bixby has carefully structured his story. He begins with a ticking clock. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy have only four hours before it will be too late to save the crew. That means that the entire episode takes place over only a few hours, making the action very compact. The intellectual plot, with the triangle of Flint, Kirk, and Rayna, is never allowed to become dry, because Bixby makes sure to introduced threats. First, there's the plague on Enterprise. Then there's Flint's robot. Finally, there is Flint himself, who shows near the end exactly how powerful he is.

Though vastly better than what we've been getting, this still falls short of being one of Trek'sgreats. There are definitely one or two speeches too many, and there are spots in the episode in which my attention begins to drift - if only for a minute or two. And though it's very thoughtful and works dramatically within the piece, the resolution of the Flint/Kirk/Rayna triangle still doesn't entirely convince.

In terms of both story and performances, however, this is the best episode since Day of the Dove. A thoughtful and carefully-crafted script, strong performances, and a production that makes good use of the limited budget available. After a run of shows that have ranged from "interesting failure" to "fun crap" to "just plain crap," the quality of this piece was extremely welcome.

Rating: 7/10.

Next Episode: The Savage Curtain

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Previous Episode: The Cloud Minders

Captain Kirk versus the Space Hippies!

THE PLOT

The Enterprise encounters the Aurora, a stolen Federation ship. They pursue the smaller ship and quickly catch it in their tractor beam. But when the thieves refuse to cut power to their engines, the ship is destroyed, with Scotty just barely able to beam them aboard before the explosion.

The Enterprise's new visitors are no ordinary thieves, but rather a collection of dropouts from several planets. All of them have advanced scientific and technical knowledge, but have turned their backs on technology in pursuit of the mythical world of Eden, where they believe they will be able to live in harmony with nature. One member of the group is the son of an ambassador, which prevents Kirk from simply throwing the lot of them in the brig. But when Dr. McCoy discovers that their leader, Dr. Sevrin (Skip Homeier), is a carrier for a rare and virulent disease, Kirk orders him into isolation... leading the rest of the group to attempt to seize control of Enterprise!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: Though he has little patience for the space hippies, he does listen to Spock when he expresses sympathy for them. In probably the only good exchange of the episode, Scotty rails against the youths, wondering why a young mind has to be an undisciplined one. Kirk replies reflectively, musing that he "got into some trouble when (he) was their age - didn't you?"

Spock: Has some sympathy with the space hippies, and a surprising familiarity with their internal culture - enough to be able to gain a modicum of cooperation from Dr. Sevrin. He observes to Kirk that the members of this group feel "like aliens on their own worlds," and that this is a feeling with which he is all too familiar. He forms a genuine bond with Adam (a very young Charles Napier), the hippie musician, which allows Nimoy to give a pleasantly relaxed performance.

Chekov: Though the episode takes care to give him a direct link with the main plot, thus giving him more screen time than most recent episodes, he still doesn't get much to do. It is refreshing to see his scientific skills being called upon by Spock again. That recalls early Season Two, before Chekov's scientific skills were forgotten in favor of endless Russian jokes. It seems odd, though, that hot-headed Mr. Chekov is presented as the face of conservative conformity.

Hot Space Babes of the Week: Mary-Linda Rapelye is Irina, Chekov's old flame from Starfleet Academy, who dropped out and joined the space hippies. There's not much to her character beyond that. She's there in order to give Chekov a bit more to do, rather than being a character in her own right. Still, she does manage to be appealing despite the horrible flowered belly-dancer dress she's decked out in.

Villain of the Week: Skip Homeier is Dr. Sevrin, leader of the Eden movement. As Spock is the first to observe, he is insane. Not only is he a carrier for a deadly disease that would wipe out whomever he finds on Eden - he doesn't care. All he cares about is finding this planet and becoming "one" with its people. Overall, Sevrin is one of the series' weaker villains, and it seems ridiculous that he would have gotten anywhere near taking over the ship. The fake ears were a mistake, as he comes across looking like the result of cross-breeding experiments involving Yul Brynner and Dumbo.

THOUGHTS

The Way to Eden is an easy episode to mock. Offstage, the changes made to her original proposal led Trek veteran D. C. Fontana to leave the series. Onstage, we are provided with bizarrely costumed and made-up space hippies; endless chants of "Herbert! Herbert! Herbert!" every time they are on-screen with Kirk; Adam's unconvincing lip synching to seemingly endless bland would-be "hippie songs"; and the exaggerated slang ("That is now! That is so now, man!").

I think this last is the most annoying. The writers' need to have virtually every one of Adam's lines involve some exaggerated slang ranges from irritating to comical. My personal favorite is when his way of calling Kirk scared is to say the captain has "jelly in the belly." That sounds less like an accusation of fear than like a commentary on Shatner's third season weight gain.

I don't actually hate The Way to Eden. It's poor, but it's also essentially Cheese Fest '69, so downright stupid that bits of it become entertaining in their own right. On the other hand, the third season already has Spock's Brain. And Spock's Brain at least was well-paced and, within the confines of an idiotic concept, was nevertheless well-structured. The Way to Eden shares neither of these virtues.

The takeover of the ship - the main external conflict - doesn't occur until past the halfway mark. It's also only possible because Chekov happily identifies auxiliary control for Irina, throwing in (unsolicited) the information of how to use the controls in the room to navigate even if you don't know anything about navigation. "Let me tell you how to take over the ship, I'm sure you won't use this information later." There are apparently no safeguards in place to prevent anyone from wandering in there and doing what Sevrin does, nor does even a single redshirt bother to guard such a sensitive area.

If you're looking for quality Star Trek, you won't find it here. If you're looking to just float along with some cheese and dairy products, then this has its enjoyable moments... but really, if you want a "fun bad" Star Trek episode, Spock's Brain is much more enjoyable than this one.

Rating: 3/10.

Next Episode: Requiem for Methuselah

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Previous Episode: The Lights of Zetar

THE PLOT

A Federation planet is suffering from another space plague, and the Enterprise has been dispatched to the only planet in the galaxy that has the cure. And no, the cure is not more cowbell. The planet Ardana is the only source of a rare mineral known as zenite. Ardana is ruled from Stratos, a city in the clouds, while the Troglyte miners toil to produce the mineral that maintains the lifestyle of the planet's elders.

No sooner have Kirk and Spock beamed down than they are attacked by Troglyte disruptors, who are rebelling against this harsh system. They are saved by the intervention of Plasus (Jeff Corey), the High Advisor of Ardana. He informs them that the disruptors have stolen the shipment of zenite, holding it hostage against their own "completely unreasonable" demands.

As Kirk and Spock observe more of the inequities between the privileged who live on Stratos and the downtrodden Troglytes, they become convinced that Plasus is protecting his own standard of living by enforcing a system of near-slavery. Kirk decides to deal with the Troglytes directly, offering protective masks to act against the zenite gas. But he may find the Troglytes just as untrustworthy as Plasus!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: "I find this rather enjoyable," Capt. Horndog leers when Vanna attacks him in his bed. Thankfully, that and a few appreciative looks are the sum total of his romantic entanglements in this episode. Kirk is entirely devoted to getting the mineral needed to stop the plague. The main concern he voices about Plasus' handling of the situation is that it's unlikely to be effective, and his justification for dealing with the rebels directly is that it is more likely to actually get them the zenite in time to be of use. That isn't to say he isn't genuinely concerned about helping the Troglytes, particularly when McCoy reveals the source of the mental inequality between the two castes. But he does regard it as less of a priority than accomplishing his mission, and that doesn't explicitly change at any point.

Spock: He's come a long way in overcoming his shyness about the more ritualistic elements of Vulcan society. In early Season One, he had to undergo significant mental preparation to do a simple mind-meld. In Amok Time, he was very reticent to share details about the Vulcan ritual of pon farr, even with Kirk. Now, he openly discusses it as a way of flirting with the local blonde! Beyond heavy flirting with Droxine (a far less interesting object of Spock's affections than Jill Ireland's character in This Side of Paradise), there's relatively little for Spock to do in this episode, though he does provide a hilarious Ed Wood-like voice over at one point, hammering home the inequities of Ardana just in case our brains are too tiny to grasp them.

Hot Space Babes of the Week: Charlene Polite is Vanna, the leader of the Troglytes. It's refreshing the Vanna isn't simply a "noble savage," instead betraying Kirk to her people when he offers his solution. Polite is very appealing, and has sufficient acting skills to do a decent job in the role. I far preferred her to Diana Ewing as Droxine, who comes across as completely empty-headed. I can't believe that Spock would spare her more than second's thought. In all three areas of interest, she falls short as the week's "Space Babe." Vanna is better-scripted, is better-acted and - to my tastes at least - more attractive.

Villain of the Week: Jeff Corey is Plasus, the Tsar... ah, High Advisor of Ardana. Corey was a splendid character actor, and his sheer presence does a lot to lift up a badly flawed episode. His Plasus is stubborn and prejudiced, but he never comes across as either weak or stupid. He is convinced that he is in the right, and he realizes that his entire way of life depends on that conviction - which means he won't tolerate criticism from outsiders who "don't understand." As a side note, having watched the superb Babylon 5 episode, Z'ha'dum, in which he guest starred as the human voice of The Shadows, it is very difficult to watch him playing an administrator who is calmly convinced of the rightness of his very wrong actions without thinking of that character and performance... which is certainly not to this episode's advantage.

THOUGHTS

The Cloud Minders is, at the very least, an improvement over The Lights of Zetar. Director Jud Taylor uses some intriguing camera angles and effective mattes (even in the original version) to good effect. It's still cheap-looking, but in this episode the director is stretching his thin resources to make it as polished as possible, rather than just pointing the camera and shooting.

Unfortunately, it still isn't very good. From the moment we see Jeff Corey booming, "Troglytes, surrender!" it's pretty clear where this episode is going. The first 15 minutes, on Stratos, is slow and talky, and passes up no opportunity to hammer home that Plasus and his daughter (we see no other representatives of their society) are massively prejudiced against the Troglytes. Just in case we fail to get the point, a Spock voice-over is tossed in there to make sure we understand that This Is Wrong.

Things do improve in the second half, when Kirk attempts to make an alliance with Vanna and ends up being forced to work in the mines for his trouble. I also like that Plasus remains bitter toward both Kirk and the Troglytes at the end. It is left clear that this situation is far from over ("These are just the beginning of our demands"). But having read writer David Gerrold's summary of his own draft, it is clear that this is a heavily watered-down version of what might have been a much stronger episode.

Not particularly bad, but not particularly good, either. This is one of the handful of episodes I have no previous memories of. Nothing came back to me while watching, either. This was an episode where not a single thing stuck in my memory. And having watched it now, I'm not particularly surprised by that.

Rating: 4/10.

Next Episode: The Way to Eden

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