KIRK, SPOCK, AND MCCOY MEET A VERY OLD MAN AND HIS ROBOTS

 

Episode Title:  Requiem for Methuselah

Air Date: 2/14/1969

Written by Jerome Bixby

Directed by Murray Golden

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock             DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Naomi Newman as Lieutenant Rahda              Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley     Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli   James Daly as Flint           Louise Sorel as Rayna Kapec         

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Holberg 917-G

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise has a pandemic on the ship. Rigelian fever has infected twenty-six crew members and has killed three.  If this isn’t solved soon the entire crew will be infected and most likely die.  So, in desperation they head to the uninhabited planet Holberg 917-G because of its source of ryetalyn, a rare element that is the key ingredient of the antidote. 

Saved by Flint

Shortly after beaming down they are attacked by a robot that can neutralize their phasers.  An older gentleman arrives, and identifies himself by the name Flint.  He breaks off the robot’s attack and demands they leave.  Kirk explains that they really can’t leave that they need ryetalyn or they will all die.  Flint is not very sympathetic and he and Kirk start threatening each other.  This all ends when McCoy makes a reference to the Black Plague.  This stops Flint cold and, almost if recalling a memory, he talks of rats infecting people.  He apologizes and sends his helpful robot to gather the substance that the Enterprise needs.

Flint invites the three to his castle.  When they get inside the three of them, especially Spock, are amazed at his art collection.  Spock identifies the paintings by their brush stokes as works of Leonardo Di Vinci, yet these works were unknown.  Upon further observations Spock discovers sheet music that is the clear work of Johannes Brahms.  This eventually drives Spock to drink as he downs a brandy.

Nasty robot

It turns out that Flint isn’t alone on Holberg.  He introduces the three men to Rayna, who he claims to have been raising since she was a small child after her parents were killed.  The young woman is both beautiful and extremely intelligent.  She impressed Spock with her interest in science.  She also appears to have captured the heart of Captain Kirk.   Flint seems to encourage the Kirk/Rayna flirtation even arranging for them to dance.

Flint’s robot finishes the processing of the ryetalyn but it did a bad job and the stuff is now useless.  It will have to redo it; McCoy is now going to supervise but now they are pressed for time.  It is not the only bad thing that the robot does.  When Kirk and Rayna start to get too friendly it attacks only to be destroyed by Spock.  This isn’t much of a problem because Flint has spares.  

Spock suspects something is up

Rayna confronts Flint about the bad robot claiming she could not have summoned it as she was not frightened. She accuses him of trying to kill Kirk, which he outright denies and then says she needs to say farewell for the Starfleet officers will be leaving. Rayna goes to see Kirk to say goodbye, but he kisses her and asks her to leave with. Troubled she retreats insisting she loves him.

Kirk and Rayna hitting it off

The three officers invade Flint’s private lab.  In the lab McCoy finds the processed reytalyn ready to go.  It seems Flint is trying to keep them there.  They then decide to enter the room that earlier Rayna said she was not allowed to go.  Spock tries to enter himself but Kirk insists and that is when they all learn the truth: Rayna is an android.  This lab is filled with different versions of Rayna all with their own assigned number.

Growing closer

  Flint shows up and they confront him.  It turns out the man has another big secret: he is immortal.  He began life as Akharin in 3834 BC, and he lived as a solider.  In a battle he received what should have been a fatal injury but it turns out his body has amazing regenerative powers.  For thousands of years, he would adopt new identities and discard them before anyone suspected.  He knew many of humankind’s greatest figures and was others.  In his long life he was King Solomon, Alexander the Great, Lazarus, Merlin, Leonardo Di Vinci, and Johannes Brahms.  He married thousands of times but desires and immortal companion like himself.  This is the reason for Rayna.  However, he needs the three men from the Enterprise in order to help Rayna achieve her full humanity.

Yesterday's Rayna

  When they try to leave, Flint revels his power and transports the entire starship Enterprise from space to his lap shrunk down to table top size.  On the ship, Scotty and the rest see on the viewscreen what appears to be a giant Captain Kirk looking down at them.  Things are looking quite bad for the crew.

Kirk and Rayna dancing

Rayna arrives and she confronts Flint.  She proclaims that although she is grateful for what Flint has done for her in her life, she is her own person and her life belongs only to her and that means she gets to choose.  She chooses to be with Captain Kirk and she plans to leave with him.   Kirk is cheering her on and after that wonderful speech on female empowerment she promptly drops down dead.   Apparently, the agony of choosing between following her heart and going with Kirk and betraying the man who had made her thing was had caused her circuits to fry ending her life.  Or it could be she just shorted out due to a design flaw, there was a whole room full of dead Raynas in the closet, maybe they just don’t last long.  

Table top Enterprise

Everything is restored.  The Enterprise is put back into space at the right size and McCoy is able to distribute the cure to everyone in time.  We also find out that by leaving Earth, Flint left the environment that gave him his immortality. He is now slowly dying.  According to McCoy he is fine with it and will dedicate his remaining time to trying to help humanity.  The only problem is Captain Kirk, he is broken hearted over the death of Rayna.  He is so sad that Spock thinks his depression will destroy him.  So, Spock does a mind-meld to make him forget Rayna ever existed.

Additional thoughts: So, I want to start by talking about the immortal Flint.  The idea of a man from ancient times who accidently discovers he is immortal and spends his long-life assuming various identities until they ‘die,’ all while rubbing elbows with some of the most famous figures throughout history is a fascinating idea worth exploring.  Due to his long life, he has a castle with a unique priceless treasures created by humanities greatest minds.  It is a great idea.  What I don’t like however is going beyond saying that he knew great figures of history to saying he was the great figures of history and myth.  Alexander the Great, Leonardo Di Vinci, and Johannes Brahms were fascinating people in their own right and shouldn’t be cheapened by pretending they were all the same immortal.  Each came from real families, had real childhoods, and grew up to accomplished great things.  It would fine to say Flint influenced them but don’t say he was them.  I have this feeling when picking historical figures, they probably just picked the first few names that came to mind.  After all, two of the people they mentioned Lazarus and Merlin weren’t even real.  

Kirk's own true love-no mind wipe needed

       Kirk falling so hard for Rayna makes absolutely no sense what so ever and is extremely terrible writing on Bixby’s part.  He knew this woman less than four hours.  Why is so in love with her?  He spent weeks with Edith Keeler and months with Miramanee, so it was easy for me to understand Kirk’s devotion to them.  Yet what is the basis for Rayna?  I don’t see any chemistry.  Is that it though? Is Kirk being drugged again?  Like in the cases of Elaan and Nona?  That might have explained it but we didn’t see any of that.

When Kirk has lost his great loves before, such as Edith Keeler and Miramanee, he just worked to move past it.  Even while drugged he recovered by re-committing himself to his ship, as Spock pointed out, just as Elaan was forced to leave the Enterprise.   So now however Kirk is so wounded by his lost love it is feared he will never recover, (although he seems fine) so Spock decides to do an involutory mind meld and wipe out the memory of her from Kirk’s mind.  I wonder if this co-character assassination on Kirk and Spock served as inspiration of the co-character assassination on Superman and Lois Lane in Superman II.  

Chemically induced to like her but go over her by recommitting to the Enterprise

Considering Flint is a human who seems to have recently left Earth, the source of his immortality, where did he get all this cool technology?  He was able to turn the Enterprise into desktop decoration.  That is some power!  How did he get it?  At the end of the episode McCoy states that he is dedicating his life to helping humanity, well why (I am breaking my own blog rule here) do we never see this technology in Federation hands for the rest of the Star Trek franchise?   Also, if Flint wanted an immortal android companion so badly, Kirk should have just directed him to the planet Mudd.

In the end the story is a good idea: the immortal man so lonely that he seeks to create a perfect companion, but the execution falls short.

FINAL GRADE 2 of 5

FIGHTING KLINGONS WITH SWORDS

 

Episode Title:  Day of the Dove

Air Date: 11/1/1968

Written by Jerome Bixby

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock             DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Frank da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent     Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli   David L. Ross as Lt. Johnson         Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov                 Dick Geary as unnamed Security Guard         Eddie Hice as unnamed Security Guard        David Sharpe as unnamed Security Guard          Michael Ansara as Kang      Susan Howard as Mara          Mark Tobin as unnamed         Klingon solider          Phil Adams as unnamed Klingon solider             Albert Cavens as unnamed Klingon solider           Jay D. Jones as unnamed Klingon solider               Pete Kellett as unnamed Klingon solider         Hubie Kerns as unnamed Klingon solider          Victor Paul  as unnamed Klingon solider               Charlie Picerni as unnamed Klingon solider     George Sawaya  as unnamed Klingon solider       

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, unnamed Klingon K't'inga-class battle cruiser

Planets:  Beta XII-A

My Spoiler filled summary and review: Arriving at a Federation colony on Beta XII-A, Captain Kirk and his landing party are horrified to discover that the colony has been wiped out of existence.  The destruction was so through that there is now no evidence of there ever being a colony.  Kirk takes his communicator and contacts Spock on the Enterprise to report what they found.   Spock also has something to tell the Captain: a Klingon ship has entered orbit. 

Klingons vs. Starfleet

The Enterprise has it shields raised but the Klingon ship does not seem prepared for battle.  According to the Enterprise’s sensors there are numerus malfunctions all over the Klingon ship.  A Klingon landing party beams down armed with disruptors and overwhelms the Starfleet landing party.  The leader of the Klingons is the ship’s captain, Kang.  Kang and Kirk each accuse each other of attacking the other one.  Both think the other is lying.  Kang demands the Enterprise as payment for his lost vessel. If Kirk doesn’t hand it over, he will begin torturing the landing party’s members to death.  Chekov then attacks the Klingons because they killed his brother in an earlier attack some years ago.  The Klingons easily contain him and Chekov is the first “volunteer” for torture. 

Scotty finding some weapons!

In order to save Chekov, Kirk agrees to surrender.  However, when communicating with Spock he transmits a secret code that lets Spock know they are prisoners of their “guests.”  When Scotty beams them up only the Starfleet personnel re-materialize.  Mr. Scott has the Klingons patterns in the buffer.  Kirk has the security team come in and when the Klingons are solid again, they are quickly arrested.  The Klingon ship is falling apart, Kirk has the survivors transported on the Enterprise and captured.  Among them is Mara, Kang’s science officer and wife.  With the Klingon ship leaking radiation, Kirk has it destroyed.

In short order however the Enterprise begins to experience its own problems.  The ship starts to veer off course and speed up.  Making matters worse sections of the ship get sealed off giving only forty crew members with access to the entire ship.  Kirk suspects the Klingons are somehow behind this and goes and confronts Kang.  Kang denies the charges but he is amused however.  The two captain’s argument turns physical when Kirk socks Kang for doing the same on the planet.  Then swords appear everywhere and even the Enterprise crew’s phasers turn into swords.  A great battle then erupts across the starship.

Klingons brought over from their ship!

             

Kirk confers with Spock.  The Captain blames the Klingons for this, but Spock has his doubts.  The Science Officer reasons that if the Klingons have this ability, then why do they not give themselves better weapons for which to use?  As the battle rages on neither side can gain grown.  People are getting fatal injuries but instead of dying Dr. McCoy notices they completely recover and then re-join the battle.  This makes the episode the best for red shirts, since there is no damage that they can not recover from. 

Kang and Mara

At one point Kang and his men seize engineering and shut of life support everywhere else in the ship.  However, this victory is taken from him as power and life support return saving the Enterprise crew, but no one among the crew can take credit for it.  Kirk orders Sulu to retake engineering but Chekov want to be the one to do it.  When Kirk orders him to stay at his post, Chekov raises his sword to Kirk and tells him that he won’t let the Captain stop him he must avenge Pyotr.  When Sulu asks who that is, Kirk tells him it was Chekov’s brother.  Sulu informs the Captain that Chekov is an only child.

Klingons in victory!

Spock while doing scans of the ship picks up an energy-based life form on board.  They deduce that if Chekov’s memory has been altered then the reason the landing party saw no colony is that there was none.  The distress call was fake, the knowledge of a nonexistent colony had been forced into their minds.  Kirk realizes he need to communicate with Kang.  There is a bit of a problem at first when McCoy and Spock almost turn on each other but that is short lived.

Kirk leaves the bridge to find the deranged Chekov almost about to rape Mara.  After taking Chekov down he tries to reason with Mara but it takes a while for him to get through to her.  When Kang refuses to yield over the intercom, Kirk goes to engineering himself with no one but Mara.   The two of them try to get Kang to agree to a truce.  Kang refuses again and fighting resumes.  McCoy and Spock lead reinforcements for Kirk.

Kang is awed against Kirk's speed and grace!

During the battle the entity revels itself.  Spock notices it loses power as tensions decrease, and suggests positive emotions might finish it.  Kirk and Kang team up to laugh at the entity and tease it so that it gives up and leaves.  Peace is maintained and the Enterprise will drop the Klingons of a the nearest Starbase so they can be transported home.  Until then the Klingons will be their guests.  

Kirk and Kang laugh at their enemy together.

 

Additional thoughts: When deciding what to call this review my first idea was “The Power of Plot Armor” however that might mislead some poor reader into thinking that I was going to be discussing plot armor in all TV and literature instead of just making a comment on this one.  However, if you need to have a story to explain to a person what plot armor is then you have one here.  I am sorry but the ending doesn’t make any sense.  We have the energy being that is powered by hostel emotions so its pits two powers against each other in unending conflict.  During their fight it makes sure the weapons and numbers are even and then when one side begins to prevail the entity pushes the scale in the favor of the losing side.  It even shows that it has the power to alter memories to further the conflict.  So, if it can do all that why doesn’t it just alter Kirk’s and Kang’s memories so that they can’t communicate effectively and remain at each other’s throats?

I did enjoy other parts of this episode.  I thought there was a great scene when Mara explains some of the background of the Klingons.  That their home world lacks resources and that is what drove them to become an expansionist power.  Kang also was a great antagonist for Kirk as well even if the real bad guy remained hidden for most of the episode.  I really like Mr. Scott’s creative use of the transporter in the beginning.  It shows the writers are really thinking about exploring this technology that was thought up to help with the TV budget. 

When Kang has them in the dark

 I must say my favorite image of this episode is McCoy and Spock leading a number of crewmen against the Klingons.  What makes it so funny is how they are just causally walking with no sense of hurry in them. To be fair it is not good to run with a sword in hand.

One of my favorite sights ever!

This episode really could have used more Sulu. Giving we know how much he loves swords it would have been nice to see him show those Klingons a thing or too.  You know Takei would have had a fun time.

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5

ALIENS WHO TRY TO BE HUMAN FALL DOWN

 

Episode Title:  By Any Other Name

Air Date: 2/23/1968

Written by Jerome Bixby and Dorothy C. Fontana

Directed by Marc Daniels

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock             DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura                 Carl Byrd as Lieutenant Shea                     Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant  Leslie                 Frank Da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent       Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley           Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli                Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel      Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov                Julie Cobb as Yeoman Third Class Leslie Thompson          Warren Stevens as Rojan                       Barbara Bouchet as Kelinda                  Stewart Moss as Hanar            Robert Fortier as Tomar             Lezlie Dalton as Drea               

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  unnamed and uncharted planet

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise answers a distress call on an unnamed and uncharted planet.  When they get there the landing party, consisting of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Lt. Shea, and Yeoman Thompson, have a hard time finding any survivors or a ship at all.  Then out of nowhere arrive a man and a woman who we learn are named Rojan and Kelinda.  Rojan is the leader of his group, and he thanks Captain Kirk for responding to their distress single so promptly.  With the same breath he then demands that the Captain surrender his ship to him immediately.  His directness makes Kirk think for a moment that the man is joking.  Then Rojan presses a button on a device he has which causes the entire landing party to freeze in place.

Rojan and Kelinda

Having disarmed the landing party, Rojan unfreezes them and explains that he and his crew are Kelvans.  They come from an empire that rules the Andromeda Galaxy.  It turns out that rising radiation in that galaxy will render it unable to support life.  However even though they can’t stop it, the rising radiation is happening slowly enough to make some plans.  So they sent a multi-generational scout ship on a mission to our galaxy to evaluate for conquest.  Kirk tries to offer the Federation’s help but Rojan dismisses this out of hand as, like the Greyjoys, they do not sow.  Kelvans are conquerors and if they need a new home they will conqueror for it.  However their ship was destroyed when they entered the Milky Way and passed through the barrier.  That is something Kirk understands since he had been there before.  With that the Rojan sends the rest of his people up to the ship via their own transporters that are clearly superior to the Federation as they are instantaneous.  The Kelvans quickly conquer the Enterprise with their freezing technology.

Wearing red on away mission

Despite being a generational ship they are able to get from one galaxy to another within centuries as opposed to millennia that it would take a Starfleet vessel to do so.  The Kelvans plan to modify the Enterprise with their technology to make the return trip on their planed schedule. This takes a bit of time so they hold the landing party hostage on the planet to insure the crew’s corporation.  As they are preparing for takeoff, two of the Kelvans note the strange sensations that they have in these human forms in a statement full of unabashed foreshadowing.

Vulcans are normally touch-telepaths but Kirk remembers on an earlier mission where they decided to blatantly violate the Prime Directive, Spock was able to use his abilities at a distance.  Spock attempts it again here and despite some blow back this works and the landing party gets out of their cave-like cell.  Only to be caught and frozen in place again.  The Kelvans are not happy about this and decided that punishment is in order.  They separate Thompson and Shae from the rest of the landing party because they are wearing red or it has something to do with them not having necessary skills, I forget.  Then using another button on his device he transforms the two dressed in red to from flesh and blood humans into a distilled cuboctahedron shaped form the size of a softball. 

Rojan explains to Captain Kirk that these cuboctahedron objects are his crew members and they are still alive in this state.  Then he crushes one of them and explains that this person is now dead.  Then he restores the remaining one to human form and it is Lt. Shae.  Yeoman Thompson is dead.

With the loss of one Yeoman instead of creating compliance among the Starfleet crew it just increases the urgency to do something.  They decided to get McCoy and Spock back to the ship by having Spock fake an illness.  This works but it’s pointless because the Kelvans have finished their work and Rojan brings the rest of the landing party up anyway.

A strange way to kill a person!

Spock and Scotty try to get at the source of the Kelvans technological power but when the find it in engineering they discover that the metal surrounding it makes it impossible for them to do anything. The last resort Spock and Scotty can come up with is a way to rig the Enterprise to explode the moment its hits the galactic barrier killing the entire crew and their captors.  Kirk rejects the suicide option. There is a dramatic-not-dramatic moment as head to the barrier of will he or won’t he.  However since this is an ongoing television show we were all aware that the crew the Enterprise was going to survive.   We later found out Rojan knew about and had the means to stop the suicide mission so it’s moot point.

 Now that they are out of the Milky Way the Kelvans don’t need most of the crew so Rojan and company turned all but Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty into distilled cuboctahedron balls.  So it looks like our crew is defeated fated to live out their lives as slaves to the Kelvans or as neat looking paperweights.  Or are they?  At that moment one of the Kelvans, a man named Tomar, challenges the four officers to explain why they eat actually food where pill supplements would work fine.  McCoy challenges him to try actual food and Tomar takes him up on his offer.  He orders from the processor and the four men are amazed that he practically gorges his food.  Spock notes that when his mind connect with Kelinda he learned that their natural forms were nothing like humanoid species and they have no experience with human like emotions and senses.  This will be their opening.

You don't want to challenge this Scotsman to drink!

Just keep taking this.

Each officer takes a Kelvan and has a mission to get their control device.  Scotty invites Tomar for a drink, in fact for several drinks.  They go back to Scotty’s quarters for some binge drinking.  McCoy gets the Kelvan Hanar to accept injections of stimulants because he maybe malnourished but all it the drugs will do is make him irritable.  Kirk decides to seduce Kelinda, which seems to be rejected at first but it turns out she likes the way he “apologizes.” This allows Mr. Spock to provoke the emotion of jealousy in Rojan by bringing up the subject of Kelinda and Kirk during a game of chess.   Rojan pretends to be unaffected but later he forbids Kelinda from seeing Kirk and that is something that Kelinda refuses to do.  

Kirk putting the moves on Kelinda

The plan works and doesn’t. They never get the devices from the Kelvans.  Scotty almost did, but after clearing out his liquor cabinet including this weird green stuff and 200-year old scotch, it causes both men to pass out.  However it is working in other ways.  Hanar can’t focus, Kelinda is chasing after Kirk for some more of that “apologizing,” and Rojan is chasing after Kelinda afraid he will lose her to Kirk.  After getting in a fight with Kirk (which is a mistake considering Kirk is greatest fighter in the known universe) and getting pinned in the process Kirk makes Rojan understand something: that in taking human form they have become human and by the time they get back to their own galaxy their descendants will be a crew of humans.  Kirk reoffers the Federation’s assistance. Rojan accepts their help.  He and his crew will colonize that world they were on and an unmanned vessel will be sent to Kelva with the Federation’s offer of assistance.  Kelinda now wants to “apologize” with Rojan now.  A happy ending for all involved except for Yeoman Thompson. 

Spock winning in chess and in life!

  

Additional thoughts: Since the Kelvans ended the episode agreeing to be friends shouldn’t the Enterprise have kept the great upgrades that the Kelvans added to their ship?  Alter all, as explorers, wouldn’t they want their ship to be able to go as fast as possible?   In my head canon I came to the conclusion that long term use of Kelvan technology was ultimately unstable and would cause warp cores to explode if kept.  They didn’t mention this is the episode because it would have killed the drama to realize the Kelvans never really could win.  This is just as well because despite the speed how good could their ships have really been?  They couldn’t go through the galactic barrier without suffering from damage beyond all possibility of repair.  The Enterprise has now made multiple trips.

Apologizing 

So I guess there were no ESPERs on the ship this time?  Last time Gary Mitchel and Elizabeth Dehner got all silver eyed and developed god-like powers.  That would have been some major shock to the Kelvans who always believe the superior should conqueror.  “Well who is inferior now?  You think you’re going to turn me into weird shaped object I am going to turn you into pea!  Then I’ll send you back to the Andromeda Galaxy to show your people what happened.”  If only we weren’t limited to an hour in each episode.

Surprise Kelvans! Just what happens when some humans go through the barrier!

Shouldn’t they do something for the crew that was transformed into cuboctahedrons instead of leaving them in their chairs and on the floor?  Leaving them there seems to invite a possible accident with someone carelessly stepping or sitting on them.  I would have placed them all in the unused beds. What did that feel like to be turned into one of those things?  I wish they had explored that a bit.  Perhaps had another scene with Shea begging not turned into one again or violently charging them instead of standing still?

It is one of those episodes with a diplomatic feel good ending.  Unless you are the family of Yeoman Thompson, then you are rather sad.  It will also become really awkward when Rojan is told apologize and he tries just like Kelinda showed him.

FINAL  GRADE  4 of 5

LOOKING IN THE MIRROR

 Episode Title:  Mirror, Mirror

Air Date: 10/6/1967

Written by Jerome Bixby

Directed by Marc Daniels

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Captain James T. Kirk        Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock and  Commander Spock                        DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones” and  Dr. Leonard H. McCoy            James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”  and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott       George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu and Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu             Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura        John Winston as  Lieutenant Kyle and Lieutenant Kyle            Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie and  Lieutenant Leslie                Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley and Lieutenant Hadley         BarBara Luna as Lieutenant Marlena Moreau and Lieutenant Marlena  Moreau        Roger Holloway as Lt. Lemli and  Lt. Lemli                       Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov and Ensign Pavel Chekov     Pete Kellett as Head of Kirk’s guard unnamed                Bobby Bass as unnamed imperial crewman          Bobby Clark as  unnamed imperial crewman          Johnny Mandell as  unnamed imperial crewman               Russ Peek as Spock's Vulcan Guard unnamed      Paul Prokop as unnamed imperial crewman                Vic Perrin as Tharn and Tharn        

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701 and ISS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Halka and Halka

My Spoiler filled summary and review: Mostly I write these reviews by myself but today I have the opportunity, seeing that this is “Mirror, Mirror,” to work with my own mirror universe counterpart who I met after an accident involving my microwave.  (It turns out in the real world you can breach to the mirror universe using microwaves.)  We have agreed that each will cover the parts that take place in our respective universes.  We will both be offering commentary in the additional thoughts section.  Be warned I find my mirror self to kind of a creep but if you can’t get along with yourself who can you get along with in that universe? 

                The episode begins with Captain Kirk trying and failing to win a mining agreement with the Halkan High Council.  The Halkan are extreme pacifists and they are afraid that if they let the Federation mine dilithium crystals those crystals could be used for war.  Captain Kirk, along with his landing party of Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, and Lt. Uhura, has been trying to convince the High Council that their missions are peaceful.   The Halkans agree that Starfleet has peaceful intentions but their ships still carry weapons that can be used for war.  It would be a betrayal of their principals as a people to be party to any violence even if it was justified violence made in self-defense.

                While these negotiations have been going on a severe ion storm in space is playing havoc with the Enterprise’s equipment.  The Captain sees that these negotiations are going nowhere so he calls up to the ship to have the landing party beam back aboard.  As they are transported back to the ship something goes wrong.  Those transporting feel dizzy and the transporter room appears to change to them.

                I was looking forward to watching the Enterprise wipe out this pathetic group of loser pacifists, but when our most glorious Captain emerges from the transporter something is immediately wrong.  Kirk and the landing party seem confused that everyone is saluting him.  After Spock gives Kyle a taste of his agonizer for his gross incompetence with a transporter (it was so fun to see him cry and beg) the First Officer notices something is wrong with the Captain.  When he inquires Kirk confirms dizziness and will have Dr. McCoy check them out in sickbay.   

                

               When they get to sickbay we find out what is wrong.  These four are fakes!  They are duplicates from a parallel universe where Earth is run by peaceful weaklings and humans have no Terran Empire to dominate the galaxy with!  Yet in this universe of weaklings McCoy still manages to spill acid in the same place. The Fake Kirk wants to know what the Empire wants the real Kirk to do.  One thing is clear they want to stop the crew of the ISS Enterprise from carrying out their mission and destroying the cities of Halka.  They are doing this because their Federation teaches them that it is okay for lesser spices to deny them.  (As if that was the way any universe works.) He sends Fake Scott on assignment to sabotage the phaser units.  Little does he know that Mr. Sulu’s security doesn’t let anyone mess with the ship’s weapons.  

Mice in the uniforms of giants!

       

Of all the fakes, Lt. Uhura is the only one who seems like she is worth a damn.  The way she put Sulu in his place would sure make the real Uhura proud.  Then unfortunately the fake Kirk enters the bridge and everyone salutes thinking he is their great leader.   However the fake Kirk soon shows his weakness with dealing with the cowards on the surface.  Instead of reigning good Terran Imperial hell upon Halka he actually tries to prevent the Empire’s mission.  For those of us expecting to see worthless pacifists fry in this episode we were plenty disappointed.   I thought when the fake Scott couldn’t sabotage the engines the Halkans were done for. 

Showing proper respect to the Captain

For this action Chekov gathers some men to attempt to assassinate Kirk, he has been planning this for some time, but he doesn’t know this isn’t the real Kirk.  That should make it easier but Chekov is such a loser that he can’t kill this imposter.  Chekov gets captured by Kirk’s guard and one of his own men betrays him realizing what Kirk could do for his career.   At least fake Kirk handles that right: loyalty isn’t much when it comes late.  Speaking of this fake Kirk, he does give Captain’s logs at the strangest of times.  No mention where is he recording them, our Enterprise’s computer system?   Imperial auditors will have a field day with those reviews. 

The fakes all have a meeting in Kirk’s quarters. Since they aren’t smart enough to figure out things for themselves they have the computer do all the hard work of explaining how they got to our universe and how to get back to their own.  After they make plans to head back the fake Kirk and McCoy decide to do research on “themselves” and what is immediately obvious is that fake Kirk cannot deal with the real Kirk’s greatness.   They wonder about their own weak universe and how they will handle the great Terran warriors. 

Back in our sane Star Trek universe Mr. Spock has things well in hand.  All four crew members from the evil mirror universe are quickly placed in the brig.  The alternate Kirk tries to bribe Spock with money and power.  It is quite creepy to see a version of Captain Kirk who murdered his predecessor to gain his command. 

As fake Kirk witnesses that loser Chekov being justly tortured by the Captain’s Personal Guard, he is approached by our Mr. Spock.  Spock sees Kirk act weak by releasing Chekov from the full duration of “the Booth.”  Spock expresses his concerns about the Captain’s action in not following the Empire's righteous policy.  I liked the conversation between him and Spock, but I wish Spock were saying it to the real Kirk.

Spock thinking he is talking to his captain

Fake Kirk enters the Captain’s quarters and Lt. Marlena Moreau is there waiting for him.  Fake Kirk seems surprised because apparently this Kirk doesn’t sleep with women in his universe.  Kirk and Marlena have a bit of a lovers spat, which is pathetic as he is not the real Kirk.  Fake Kirk receives a call from Spock who informs him that Starfleet has ordered him to be executed if he doesn’t end his cowardice in three hours.  Marlena laughs as she observes that Spock was so loyal it will cost him his life.  Then Marlena explains to the fake Kirk the Tantalus field, the greatest weapon of Starfleet’s greatest captain.   Fake Kirk stops her from using it on Spock, which is the only good thing Fake Kirk does.   

Marlena goes to another room to change and Fake Kirk is contacted by Fake Scotty, Kirk tells him they have a three hour deadline and the chief engineer responds with actually a half an hour.   They have one shot to get home and if they miss it they’re done for.   For the first time I am cheering for the fakes I can’t stand to deal weakling characters anymore it is time to send them home. 

Sulu contacts Spock excited to get rid of Kirk who is now openly a coward.   It is too bad that Sulu doesn’t understand that this isn’t the real Kirk.  Spock blows Sulu off and the two exchange small threats.  Spock is however beginning to suspect that something is up beyond just Kirk disobeying orders.  He notices Kirk is not the only crew member behaving oddly, the strange behavior is displayed by almost every member of the landing party.  He also discovers that Kirk and Scotty are working together on a project in secret. 

Fake Kirk has never seen such beauty

The fake Scotty and McCoy are making their adjustments to the Enterprise’s systems in order to make their escape.  While they are doing this Uhura, the only fake worth anything, begins seducing Sulu so he won’t see what has happened.  When they are done she slaps him and uses her dagger to get away from him and off the bridge.  

The group of fakes meets up in sickbay but they are surprised by Mr. Spock.  The fakes may have the hearts of cowards but they can fight.  They manage to not only defeat Spock but seriously injure him in the process.  This is the price Spock pays for not bringing his Personal Guard and trying to solve everything himself.  I always knew he would pay for that one day but he is saved by his enemy’s weakness.  Realizing Spock will die unless they do something, they decide to risk returning home in order to save him. 

Sulu looking to take command

While the fakes are trying to save Spock, Sulu shows up with the security team looking to kill them all and make himself Captain of the Enterprise.  He might have succeeded if Marlena Moreau hadn’t chosen now to strike.  With his men disappearing into thin air the fakes take Mr. Sulu down easy.  The fake McCoy remains to take care of Spock while the others head to the transporter room. Marlena meets them there and lets them know that she is also a coward and wants to leave with them. Fake Kirk  tells her that is not possible for only the four can change places with their real selves.

Spock trading losers for warriors

 Spock wakes to fine that the fakes are weaklings who grant mercy.  He does a force meld on McCoy and the fake learns what a Spock interrogation feels like.  Spock cuts the power to the transporter which scares the fakes and the fake Scotty and Kirk argue of who should sacrifice himself to the stronger universe.  Mr. Spock arrives at the transporter to help the fakes leave our universe and get our heroes back.  Before he leaves fake Kirk gives a stupid speech, Mr. Spock tries to tell him his idea is dumb but gives up. 

Back home in our regular universe Kirk and McCoy muse with Spock listening that they may have preferred Spock with a beard.  They asked him how he was able to see through the doppelgangers and Spock says it was easier for the civilized to appear savage then the savage to appear civilized.  However he did feel that their counterparts represented at type of pure humanity that was most refreshing. 

Additional thoughts: Wow what an episode!  Sorry for those of you who don’t like my mirror universe self.  To be frank, I don’t like him either.  He is a piece of work and he will be back but I want to reflect on the episode myself and give everyone my thoughts.

Setting a Mr. Sulu for a fall

My first thought is about those wacky transporter accidents.  If there is a little thing wrong such as strange yellow dust the transporter it splits the Captain into two different people.  This time passing through an ion storm causes a malfunction that makes the away team gets transported into a parallel universe.  Not only do they get transported to the parallel universe but their clothes don’t, those still head home to their proper destination.  However, rather than leave them naked the away team is conveniently placed by the transporter into the clothes of their doppelgangers.  This also happens vise-versa.     

Mirror Spock sitting next to the throne

Speaking of clothes I really like the mirror universe uniforms they look really cool with their belts and ceremonial daggers.  Good idea having all their badges appear on the other side.  The women are really sexy, I don’t know if there is a man on this Earth who enjoys the exposed mid-rift on attractive woman more than myself.  It’s lot of skin but at the same time no naughty bits.  Uhura and Moreau are really rocking it.  

Wow!

We now have returned the same strange Captain’s Logs that we saw in “The Squire of Gothos” during the duel scene and almost all throughout “The Arena.”  “Excuse me Mr. Chekov before you assassinate me you will please allow a moment record my thoughts in a Captain’s Log?”  Also, as my counter-part pointed out, where is he recording these things, in the computer system of the ISS Enterprise?  Imperial Starfleet Command must have had quite the shock when they audit those logs.

"You want to get cut"

I have stated in the past that when I review these episodes I try not to take into consideration what comes later, because I want to review the episode in its own merits not judge what future writers add.  However I will note that I think it’s an absolute shame that Star Trek: The Next Generation never had a Mirror Universe episode.  There was of course there was that great book by Diane Duane, but really wish that had been a multi-part episode.  Episodes we do get in the later series are okay but most fail to truly embrace that magic that this episode provided.

What this episode gave us was not just the run of the mill parallel universe but a mirror universe.  However the mirror being used is not regular one but one from a fun-house.  In one universe humanity is united and peacefully co-exists with other worlds under the banner of The United Federation of Planets, where in the other humanity is still united but violently conquerors worlds into their oppressive Terran Empire.  Such differences and similarities that exist between the Federation and the Empire can’t be explained by simple alternate history.

For example when a drugged up Dr. McCoy accidentally goes back in time in “The City on the Edge of Forever” he alters history in such a way that the landing party near the Guardian of Forever is marooned as the universe around them changes.  In the universe where Hitler won World War II there was a never Federation, Starfleet, or starship Enterprise.  Yet in mirror universe although everything is different everything is also the same.  Captain Kirk is still the Captain of the Enterprise, Mr. Spock is the first officer, and McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura are all in the same positions in both realities. There is a slight change with Mr. Sulu as having the additional job of being head of the ship’s Gestapo.  However even the transporter chief is the same and Captain Kirk’s predecessor on both universes is Captain Pike.  Also both Pike’s careers meet rather violent ends, although ours doesn’t die.

Besides people there are other things.  Scotty notices that in both universes the Enterprise has the same level of technology; the only difference is the mirror Kirk’s primary weapon the Tantalus field, which isn’t even Terran technology.  (Speaking of which, shouldn't mirror Kirk have a lock or password on that device?  It seems strange he would allow it to be used by anyone who could find it.)  The two starships are on the exact same mission at the exact same time.  Other missions seem also identical with exceptions to Imperial brutality.  The spot where Dr. McCoy spilled acid happened in exact same place in both universes.  When they are trying to go home at no point are they able to communicate with our universe and tell them what the plan is.  It just develops on the other side naturally.   Just as our landing party is coming home, our Mr. Spock is there to help send the other party back.

Another important part I would like to make before my counterpart takes back over.   In the mirror universe, as it is presented in this episode, only the humans/terrans are different.  The Halkans are exactly the same in both universes: pacifists who will die before aiding terrorists but would also not help like-minded peaceful people because they may use violence in self-defense.   The characters of Mr. Spock are both identical the only difference is the mirror Spock is doing his best to survive and prosper in this horrific environment created by the Terran Empire.   

From a different universe

“Mirror, Mirror” has long regarded as one of, if not the, worst episode of the franchise. It was banned almost immediately after it aired.  I had to get special permission to view it and now that I have seen it I almost wish I hadn’t.  Impostors from a non-imperialist universe show up and outwit the officers of the Emperor’s finest starship?   Seeing it for myself I have to say that I don’t blame Roddenberry for having Gene L. Coon and Jerome Bixby shot one month after the episode’s first and last showing.

I can think of no greater betrayal of Roddenberry’s vision than this episode.  One has to go back to where we were in the 1960s.  After Emperor John I of House Kennedy destroyed Cuba after the Bay of the Pigs with the new sub-nuclear weaponry (all the fire power but none of the background radiation) and allowing Turkey to invade the Ukraine, the power of the Soviet Union was broken and humiliated on the world stage.  These early victories showed the world that best power on Earth was Imperial States of the American Empire. 

Then out of almost nowhere a TV writer showed up with a dream.  In the past science fiction always showed aliens conquering the Earth’s people until one powerful empire purged itself of weakness and made them leave.  Roddenberry had a different idea: imagine an Empire like ours that unified the Earth and brought our special brand of fascism to the stars.  Thus the show Star Conquerors was born and the world was never the same. 

This loser couldn't kill a fake Kirk

The worst part of this episode was the fake Kirk trying to talk Spock into betraying his Captain.  See this episode in a vacuum makes you think he might do it.  However the title says “Star Conquerors starring William Shatner” the Captain isn’t going anywhere.  We have this season and the next to finish before making cartoons and six great films.  After “Star Conquerors VI: The Discovered Country” a film that was made to celebrate our final conquest of the Soviet Union under the combined military leadership of Field Marshall Ronald Reagan and Fleet Admiral George H.W. Bush, Emperor John I himself said that we owe a special thanks to show Star Conquerors and if Emperor Abraham of House Lincoln hadn’t unified North America in the 19^th century we might not have William Shatner to play James T. Kirk.  William Shatner lives in what was once Canada, now just the Canadian region.    

Watching a worm squirm 

The only good thing that came out of this episode was I got to find out the in canon reason for Chekov’s execution and stuffing of his remains in the next episode.  Chekov was always there to show how useless Russians were but having his body stuffed and on display did that far better than when he was alive.  After the final Klingon surrender in “The Discovered County” it was funny to see stuffed Chekov in the room where the surrender was being signed.  Star Conquerors is always great for metaphor.

In closing the mirror universe is a scary place.

FINAL GRADE 5 of 5

FINAL JUDGEMENT 0 OF 10