THE BEST EPISODE TITLE EVER

 

Episode Title:  For The World is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky

Air Date: 11/8/1968

Written by Rik Vollaerts

Directed by Tony Leader

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     Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov                 Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel      Jeannie Malone as Fabrini Servant         Byron Morrow as Admiral Westervliet         Katherine Woodville as Natira     Jon Lormer as Old Man        

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Yonada

Planets:  none

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The episode starts right out running when the Enterprise is attacked by some atomic space missiles.  It is not much of crisis as the ship’s phasers take care of it quite nicely.  Kirk orders Chekov to tract where those warheads came from when he is called down to sickbay.  McCoy then gives Kirk the bad news that that upon examining himself he discovered he has xenopolycythenia and the condition is terminal.  Dr. McCoy only has a few months to live.

The Enterprise meets Yonada

They trace the source of the attack to an asteroid however after some observation with the ship’s sensors they discover that what they are seeing isn’t an asteroid but a spaceship that seems to be abandoned.  The real bad news is given its present course it is going to crash into the Federation colony Daran V.  They would rather not destroy it so Kirk decides to beam over with Mr. Spock and, after a request, Dr. McCoy to see if they can stop it. 

Both a bad fighter and a bad dresser!

Well, it turns out the place isn’t abandoned after all the people were just hiding underground.  Also, what is strange is this ship’s insides are made to appear as if they were on a planet.  The away team is able to fight off their attackers, Captain Kirk is one of the greatest fighters in the galaxy and the three do well, but fight ends as Natira calls it off.  Natira explains that she is the high priestess of her world which is named Yonada.  She invites her new guests down to meet the Oracle, which is their leader.  The Oracle is an AI who doesn’t realize how much of a threat it is in if it wishes to go against Captain Kirk.  In order to show their new guests what would happen if they took up against Yonada it zaps them unconscious. 

Kirk and Spock wake up first.  Spock wonders what is taking the good Doctor so long to awaken.  Kirk then confides in Spock about McCoy’s condition.  McCoy wakes up but before they can have any serious discussion a familiar looking old man walks in the room.  He gives the guests some herbs.  At which point Kirk starts to ask the man about the nature of their planet.  The man confesses that he has at times been curious about it.  Once in his youth, he climbed the tallest hill in Yonada an action that is forbidden by the Oracle.  The man started to feel pain then returned to his story.  He tells them that he discovered “the world is hollow and I have touched sky!” With that he drops down dead.  It turns out that those in Yonada have an implant that ensures obedience and if they ignore their warning signs it kills them. 

Natira appears after the death of the old man and explains things to them.  She takes a strong liking to Dr. McCoy and he to her.  Here Captain Kirk sees an opportunity.  He doesn’t know why Natira doesn’t have the hots for himself, as the women on this show naturally do, and instead has them for McCoy, as women on this show normally don’t.   However, Kirk sees the opportunity of a distraction, while McCoy is being entertained by Narita, he and Spock plan to get into the Oracle room and see what they can find. 

Yonadians being more friendly

McCoy and Natira are hitting it off extremely well and McCoy even tells her of his condition to which she responds with her intention love him as long as they have together.  She is so excited that she goes to the Oracle to ask for permission to marry him.  The Oracle says so long as McCoy agrees to all their rules and gets the implant, he is good.  However, by turning on the Oracle it senses the intruders and beings to blast them.  McCoy realizing that his friends are about to be put to death he tells Natira that he wants to stay but the only way he can do that is if he knows his friends are alright.  She agrees and will send them back.  McCoy tells the Captain he is staying.  With McCoy certainly only with months left and the people of Yonada maybe with only months left, Kirk agrees to let him stay as he and Spock return to the ship.

The Oracle!

Kirk receives orders from Admiral Westervliet that the Enterprise is being reassigned and that another Starfleet starship will take over.  On Yonada, McCoy learns of a book that contains all of the society’s secrets.  Realizing there is now a way to save his new world, as soon as his new wife leaves him alone, he contacts the ship.  Kirk and Spock quickly return but McCoy is punished by his implant and it nearly kills him for giving the information to Spock.  Spock saves him by simply removing the implant.  

Natira

Natira walks in on them and Kirk confronts her with the truth.  She rejects it but an idea is taking root in her brain.  She goes to the Oracle and confronts it with what she knows.  The Oracle is angry that she is questioning it and begins to kill her. Spock and Kirk show up however and save her the same way they did McCoy. 

McCoy finding his love

Oracle tries to kill them by baking them alive but using the book McCoy told them about they are able to take control of the ship and shut the Oracle down.  As an added bonus they discover the cure to Dr. McCoy’s condition that is stored in Yonada’s databanks.  With McCoy recovered and the truth of Yonada reveled to their people, Natria realizing her place is helping her people live their lives in truth and Dr. McCoy’s place is with the Enterprise.  With that she lets her husband go and he goes to return to his ship.  On board Kirk let’s him know that it will be possible for the Enterprise to return later this year, to see how they are doing.  This would allow McCoy to be with Natria again.

Additional thoughts: This episode hit a little too close to home for me.  In this episode a dying Dr. McCoy meets a woman who loves him for all his flaws and even though he had enjoyed his time on the Enterprise there is still a certain type of loneliness that he experiences that she ends.  The two understand each other and he is happy.  McCoy even gets inspired to search for a cure to his condition.  When he is finally cured and the planetary crisis is averted, Natria has an epiphany and shows him the door.  Well, that was a lot like my summer.  I meet someone and she was like me a bit socially awkward but willing to meet people.  We had a lot in common, large families, and desire to form our own.  A number of similar interests and differences to grow on.  We talked everyday online for over a month and went on a few dates and officially became an item.  Then one day in the middle of an IM chat she suddenly says that since no one had ever been romantically interested in her, she was just so amazed meet someone who was that she didn’t think about if she were truly that into me or not.  She decided that she wasn’t and broke it off all the while explaining I had done nothing wrong.  I was so depressed I didn’t leave my house for two days.  During that time, I watched this episode to review it, at the time I was just glad I had already reviewed A City on the Edge of Forever, but I wasn’t prepared for the emotional impact.  When it rains, it pours. 

True love!

So why did Kirk have to send to Starfleet for a new CMO?  Isn’t there any doctors on McCoy’s staff who could take over?  What about Dr. Joseph M'Benga?  He is plenty capable. When did we last see him? I just feel this should be an in-house promotion for the stake of the ship.  Someone should find Dr. M’Benga.

Learning about each other!

Well after all the episodes where they are the “only ship in the quadrant” it turns out Starfleet has some ships to put on this problem and no longer needs the Enterprise.  Where were they when the Enterprise was half broke down fighting an asteroid for months.  The one time they get relief from Starfleet is the one time they don’t want it.

Like almost every critic who has ever reviewed this episode I find myself wondering why it was exactly the founder of Yonada thought it necessary to trick their descendants into thinking they were on a planet when it was actually a starship.  What was the purpose?  Wouldn’t it be better to let them know where they were going so, they could better prepare?  I mean I understand why you make your ship look like a planet, after all you want those who would have to spend their entire lives there to be comfortable.   I also don’t understand people smart enough to build a ship like this would design such ugly hats for their people.

Poor guy he just wanted the truth!

What luck it was that Spock was able to just pick the cure right out of their databanks. One would think when righting the direction of a starship probing for unknown cures might have been the farthest from one’s mind.  Mr. Spock however is a multitasker. 

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5

CAPTAIN KIRK GIVES HIS BEST SPEECH AND AN ALIEN USES HIS BODY AS A TAXI

 

Episode Title:  Return to Tomorrow

Air Date: 2/9/1968

Written by John T. Dugan and Gene Roddenberry  

Directed by Ralph Senensky

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Sargon    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock and Henoch             DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty” and the Voice of Sargon       Diana Muldaur as Dr. Ann Mulhall and  Thalassa                  George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Mike Howden as Lieutenant Rowe        Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli                        Frank Da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent       Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley      Cindy Lou as unnamed Nurse       Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel      Jeannie Malone as unnamed Nurse       Eddie Paskey as unnamed security guard                

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Sargon’s unnamed Homeworld

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise has received a strange message from an unknown source compelling them to head to a particular set of coordinates in space.  The information they needed was already entered into their systems without any of the bridge crew having to touch anything.  The whole thing is making the Captain quite a bit nervous.   As they arrive at their destination Mr. Spock observes that they have come across a planet that was once like Earth but its atmosphere was stripped away in nuclear war. 

At this point a booming voice is heard on the bridge.  According to Lt. Uhura it is not coming from any of the communication frequencies.  The voice identified himself as Sargon.  He explains that he is thousands of years old and has been waiting for someone to come along who he could communicate with.  He asks the Captain to come see him on the planet and gives the Enterprise coordinates that, according to Mr. Spock’s readings, is an underground cavern with air that humans could survive in.  Given their primary mission is exploring the unknown Kirk decides to lead a team but wants Spock to stay behind because he does not want to risk both of them.  (This is odd because that concern never stopped them before.)  However as soon as Kirk turns to leave the power of the ship goes out causing Kirk to reconsider this position and have Spock come along.  With that the power has been restored.

Kirk trying to explain the experience!

As Kirk and Spock enter the transporter room Mr. Scott and Dr. McCoy are waiting for them with the rest of the landing party.  The rest of the team consists of Dr. Mulhall and two security guards.  Dr. Mulhall doesn’t realize how she was assigned to the landing party just that she was, which Spock assumes is also the work Sargon.  Kirk doesn’t even know who Mulhall is.  (That is odd and I will talk about that more in the additional thoughts section.)  Scotty is not happy about a transporter seeming to program itself.  McCoy is naturally apprehensive as he doesn’t like transporters under normal circumstances.   The two red shirts are among the luckiest to wear that color because the transporter run by Sargon doesn’t take them at all.  

The four that made it down are fine and they find out that Sargon, who earlier claim to have been dead, is a bodiless consciousness whose entire essence is contained in an orb.  He explains that his species seeded the galaxy long ago and that they are Sargon’s people’s descendants.  Kirk and Mulhall somewhat doubt this and Sargon acknowledges he could be wrong but they should just agree to disagree.  Myself, I think gives a good explanation to why we keep finding duplicate Earths everywhere they go.  Kirk also points out that unlike Sargon’s people Earth never wiped itself out with nuclear weapons.  Sargon says they survived their early nuclear age as well but started to fight amongst themselves when they assumed the power of gods.

Kirk taken

Kirk’s body suddenly jerks and when he speaks he is speaking with an amplified voice like Sargon.  It becomes very apparent that it is now Sargon controlling Kirk’s body.  This causes McCoy to freak out and threaten Sargon/Kirk with a phaser.  Spock points out to him the uselessness of that action.   Sargon explains that it is now Kirk’s consciousness in the orb but Kirk’s mind hasn’t the power to communicate out.  He then leads them to a room with two more functioning orbs and a bunch of broken ones.  Sargon explains that these are the survivors of the final conflict 500,000 years ago.  Members of the both sides of the conflict were preserved but only two survivors besides himself.  The additional survivors are Sargon’s wife and a member of the other side.  Her name is Thalassa and his is Henoch.

Sargon explains that they just need to borrow three bodies for a temporary period of time while they use them to build android bodies that would act as more permanent vessels.  The three individuals Kirk, Spock, and Mulhall were selected because they are the most compatible.  However Sargon needs to get Kirk back into his body because McCoy points out to him that he is overheating Kirk’s physical self. When Kirk is restored he is rather philosophic about the whole experience which he thought was beautiful.  McCoy thinks that response is insane considering how Sargon pulled his mind out his body and placed it into a bottle while he used Kirk’s body and almost destroyed it.  However Kirk is fully convinced of Sargon’s sincerity and wants to help him.

Survivors of a forgotten war!

Kirk holds a senior officers meeting onboard ship and Scotty is just as much against this as Dr. McCoy.   The three people who are most in favor are the three selectees.  That is I suppose a good thing since it is going be their bodies.  Kirk announces that he doesn’t want to order he wants consensus.  So Kirk then gives the speech of his career that will be played on most Star Trek reunion shows, on Star Trek fan webpages, and few times on YouTube.  With Kirk’s great speech given it is decided to go ahead. To sweeten the deal Sargon will give Starfleet access to their technology that will cause them to leap frog ahead hundreds of thousands of years. 

They undergo the procedure which is quite painless.  Henoch wakes up in Spock’s body and immediately hits on Nurse Chapel, which must have made her very happy.  Thalassa wakes up and starts looking for Sargon who calls over to her in the body of Captain Kirk.   Henoch starts gloating about how awesome Spock’s body is with all its Vulcan abilities and wonders why the Vulcans haven’t conquered the humans long ago.  McCoy tells Henoch that the Vulcans are a people of peace.  Henoch brushes McCoy off and suggests to Sargon that he get to work on the sermon that will allow them to use these bodies for a longer period of time.  As the human bodies start to overheat again, Sargon agrees and Henoch gets to work with Nurse Chapel assisting him. 

Same old married couple with two new bodies

When Henoch prepares the hyprosprays with the formula to allow the entities to use the host bodies for a prolonged period of time, he hands each hyprospray to Nurse Chapel with instructions on who each was for.  Chapel notices that the one meant for Kirk/Sargon is the exact opposite of what he should be getting.  That is when Henoch pronounces that he has no intention of surrendering Spock’s body back to him and his attention to kill Kirk/Sargon.   Before Chapel can protest Henoch takes control of her using Spock’s mind meld abilities combined with his own powers.

Sargon and Thalassa are now back in their host bodies and getting to work.  Thalassa begins work on the artificial bodies they plan to live in and Scotty tries to pick her brain about their technology but is chased off when Henoch enters the room.  He teases her about how their new bodies would not be able to feel and he suggests to her that they should appeal to keep these bodies as a price for how they will advance the Federation’s technologically.  She rejects him but is clearly tempted. 

He is a bad man!

Sargon is more thinking in a half-glass full fashion.  Despite bodies that can’t feel they however are able to move among the living and that is something to look forward to.  While they are working he starts to feel sick as Henoch’s sabotaged formula is actually making him weaker.  Sargon tries to work through it but he collapses.  McCoy comes in only to find that the Captain has died and he no Jim to tell.  The Doctor does manage to revive the body however it is now seemingly mindless and they have no idea how to get Kirk back into it.   

An attempt of seduction 

Back in the lab Henoch torments Thalassa by showing her the android body that she will occupy.  The body is genderless but Henoch lets her know that they can add feminine features to the body once they get it working.  This causes Thalassa to snap and she comes to the conclusion that she wants to keep the body that she is in.  She confronts Dr. McCoy about it and tries to argue that she should be allowed to keep the body given all that she will do to help humanity.  McCoy, correctly guessing that Thalassa is trying to get him to give her his approval so she can relieve herself of some of the burden of stealing the form, proclaims to Thalassa that he doesn’t “pedal in flesh.”

Sargon?

Upon receiving McCoy’s objection Thalassa reacts with anger and uses her powers to cause pain on Dr. McCoy.  However she quickly feels guilty, relents, and asks for McCoy’s forgiveness as she lets him go.  With that she hears Sargon’s voice, he explains that he has developed powers that Henoch is not aware of.  He left Kirk's body and went into the Enterprise itself! He wanted to be sure that Thalassa would not give in to Henoch’s offer, seeing as they have been disembodied for so long he understood her temptation. 

Thalassa summons Nurse Chapel and dismisses Dr. McCoy letting him know that Sargon has a plan.  An explosion occurs in sick bay causing McCoy to come running back only to find Nurse Chapel leaving looking very determined.  When he enters he finds that the orbs have been destroyed and Kirk and Mulhall have been restored to their bodies.  McCoy then asks about Spock to which Kirk informs him that he is dead.  Now they have to kill Henoch in Spock’s body and Kirk orders Dr. McCoy’s whip up a batch of enough poison in one hyprospray to kill ten Vulcans. 

Powers are useful to cover up evil

As they enter the bridge Henochis now seems virtually unstoppable.  He shuts Kirk and McCoy down with his powers quickly but ignores Chapel assuming she is under his control.  She isn’t and she hits him with the hyprospray.  Henoch is angry and tries to escape from Spock’s body and into another but his escapes attempt is foiled by Sargon.  Henoch is now completely defeated and vanishes into oblivion. 

Seemingly unbeatable

It turns out it wasn’t poison but they were all tricked into thinking it was so Henoch wouldn’t read their minds and know that Spock’s body wasn’t dying and have no need to abandon it.  Spock’s consciousness was in Nurse Chapel’s body with her.  With Henoch chased out Spock is now himself again.  Sargon and Thalassa have decided to embrace oblivion but ask for one last moment together physically.  Kirk and Mulhall lend their bodies for the moment.  They then seem shocked when they discover themselves embracing when they wake up.  So ends a conflict that started 500,000 years before any of the crew of the Enterprise were born. 

All good in the end!

Additional thoughts: Last week we meet the Kelvans, advanced aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy that could freeze people in place with a touch of a button.  They claim to be our complete superiors but their ship broke up entering the Milky Way so they need to take ours so they can get home.  Today we meet Sargon and his people, who claim to be completely superior with powers we can barely comprehend.  However they can’t put things together in their present state so in order to build themselves a new home they need to borrow our bodies for a little while.  Last week the Enterprise needs to provide the taxi service and this week human and Vulcan bodies do.  What is it with aliens who think they are so damn superior but they always need to try to hitch a ride?  I think they should be a little more humble. 

We are superior! Can we have a lift? 

I don’t really why they needed the bodies to begin with.  If they can reprogram a transporter at will and give hypnotic suggestions to people light years away why can’t they find a way to use their powers to construct what they needed?  Maybe there is just some fine toning that requires a real steady hand and they don’t trust anyone but themselves?

It seems that the actual moral of this story is: “if you are in a nuclear war don’t invite anyone from the other side in to your survival chamber.”  Sargon says Henoch was one of those from “the other side” and look who turns out to be the bad guy!  In a half million years he still hasn’t learned anything.  If you are going to destroy your whole planet in a nasty war going out of your way to include those from the other side in your survival chamber seems to miss the point of the war to begin with.  Next time remember to be a little more selfish. 

So if they were unsatisfied with the artificial bodies that they are about to build seeing as they won’t be aesthetically pleasing and will lack ability to feel, why don’t Sargon and friends have the Enterprise bring them to the planet Mudd.   The androids there are remarkably good at building android bodies that can not only house a natural intelligence that are also beautiful and can experience the full spectrum of human senses.   They are also more practical with Sargon and company can only build an android to last a thousand years, while the androids of planet Mudd can go on for 500,000 years.  That is 499 less times you need to build a new body to transfer your intelligence into.  Now to be fair we only hear the three talk about their android building skills with themselves, so it might have been possible that the crew Enterprise was not aware of how much Sargon’s android-making skills suck in comparisons with those of planet Mudd.  Therefor they would have no reason to tell the strangers.  I had little bit of a hard time watching realizing that such an obvious solution was staring them right in the face.

Not that good at making androids!

We are good!

How did Kirk not know who Mulhall was?  I realize it’s a big ship and it’s unlikely that he has every single crew member memorized especially if they just joined at the last starbase.  However she is a lieutenant commander.  The same rank held by McCoy and Scotty.  That alone puts her very high on the ship’s hierarchy.  I thought it was odd when he didn’t know who Ensign Garrovick was but such a high ranking officer I find very improbable.  As Hitchcock says it is easier to believe the impossible than the improbable.     

Speaking of Mulhall what is the purpose of her character?  The show has plenty of characters who aren’t being over used.  Wouldn’t have been better to have the character’s actions be done by Lt. Uhura?  I find it odd when we get to meet members of the crew who are some cases are really interesting in other cases they are there to fill out a story plot point, but then we never see them again.  There was Dr. Helen Noel from interesting character from Dagger of the Mind that I wish we got to see more of.  Then there were characters such as Ensign Garrovick from Obsession, who has such a personal connection to Captain Kirk but then we never get to see him again.  Wouldn’t it have been better if instead of creating the character of Ensign Garrovick we learn instead that Kirk had served under Chekov’s father?  Then the regular actor that you already have in Ensign Chekov will have that personal connection to Captain Kirk that is ongoing.  In this episode you can have given the Mulhall role to Uhrua and give Nichelle Nichols something more interesting to do.  The interracial kiss could have come one year earlier and with a better reason. 

This has to be the best McCoy episode yet.  Deforest Kelley always said McCoy’s role was to be the normal person on the ship.  In this episode we see it.  I love how he needs to slap some sense into Captain Kirk and explain that “No, it’s not a good thing that an alien mind took of your body and nearly killed you."  His sarcastic “happens every day” to Kirk explaining what a normal thing mind transference is was priceless.

 FINAL GRADE  4 of 5

MCCOY DELIVERS A BABY AND THEY DODGE SOME NASTY KLINGONS

Episode Title:  Friday's Child

Air Date: 12/1/1967

Written by Dorothy C. Fontana

Directed by Joseph Pevney

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          Robert Bralver as  Lieutenant Grant            Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie                 Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley     Jay D. Jones as Lieutenant Jackson         Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov      Frank Da Vinci as Capellan Warrior                Julie Newmar as Eleen                 Tige Andrews as Kras                    Michael Dante as Maab                    Cal Bolder as Keel                             Ben Gage as Akaar              Kirk Raymond as Duur           Walker Edmiston as the voice of SS Dierdre

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, unnamed Klingon battle cruiser

Planets:  Capella IV

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise is headed to Capella IV to negotiate a mining treaty for a rare mineral that is desperately needed on many worlds in the Federation.  The good news is right before he came on the Enterprise, Dr. McCoy, spent a few months with the local population.  The Capellans are a tribal culture and are prone to violence.  They however are highly honorable people who feel individuals must always tell the truth.

Capellans with a surprise guest!

Kirk, Spock, and a security officer named Lt. Grant beam down to the surface with Dr. McCoy.  When they get there they discover a Klingon with among the Capellans.  Grant calls him out and reaches for his phaser this causes a Capellan warrior to kill him.  The Klingon named Kras points out that they are not at war and asks Kirk if it is their policy to kill Klingons on sight.  Kirk explains that his guard was young and when he saw their sworn enemy he was called to act.  The Capellans claim that the Klingon has come to negotiate and has voluntarily surrendered his weapon.   They demand Kirk and his party do as well and, following McCoy’s advice, Kirk agrees.

Reaching for ones phaser to fast!

Kirk relies on Dr. McCoy to guide him throughout his dealings, which is helpful in more than one way.  For example McCoy prevents Kirk from having to fight a duel that the Capellans “politely” offer.  McCoy’s biggest help is when they meet the High Teer of the Ten Tribes, Akaar.  Akaar is an older gentleman who has a young pregnant wife named Eleen.  Akaar is open-minded between the Klingons and the Federation.   Maab, a high ranking Capellan warrior, says he wants completion but clearly favors the Klingons.

Kirk almost gets in a "friendly duel"

Kras tries to convince the High Teer that their cultures are similar for each is warrior based.  Both believe that the weak should die and there is no point in taking care of them.   McCoy is able to outwit the Klingon by using his knowledge of local Capellan custom to dismiss Kras’s concerns as unimportant.  Kirk chimes in to remind the High Teer that Federation’s most important law is that of the Prime Directive, which states that Capella will always belong to the Capellans where the Klingons are a conquering empire who rule over subjected peoples.  To the annoyance of the warrior Maab, the High Teer seems to favor the Federation although he states he wants to think on it.  

Meeting the High Teer

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Lt Uhura tells Mr. Scott that she is receiving a distress call from a ship called the SS Dierdre.  The freighter claims to be under attack.  Following Starfleet regulations Mr. Scott orders the Enterprise to leave the system which has the effect of leaving the away team stranded.

That night a revolt breaks out against the High Teer’s rule.  In the confusion Kirk is forced to defend himself which he does using his superior fighting skills that are famed throughout the galaxy.  Akaar is killed and Maab is proclaimed the new High Teer.  Kras finds the new leader disappointing, where as a warrior Maab was a strong ally to the Klingons now as High Teer and flushed with power he sees things “differently.”  He no longer backs the Klingons blindly.   He becomes amused by Captain Kirk and when Kirk suggests that he and Kras should fight, Maab thinks he sees fear in the eye of the Klingon. 

This is good news for the away team but it suddenly comes to a quick end when Eleen is brought in to be killed.  As she is carrying a child with a strong claim to be High Teer she must die.  The laws of Capellans give the High Teer the legal right and their cultural norms the expectation to kill her.  This does not sit well with Captain Kirk and he prevents her from being killed.  Eleen reacts as if she had just been assaulted by Kirk.  Now Kirk is sentence to be killed and Eleen’s death is delayed so she can watch him die.

Seeing fear in the eyes of a Klingon

 With Spock’s Vulcan abilities and Captain Kirk’s famed fighting skills they are able to overpower their guards.  They reason Eleen’s action might have been her delaying her own fate and offer to take her with them.  She accepts and they are all off.  While on the run Dr. McCoy spends a good deal of time with Eleen where he learns that she hates the baby inside of her.  She is initially irrational as her culture teaches her medicine is for the weak.  At one point she slaps McCoy and he slaps her back.  This strangely causes her to trust him.  In his progress report to Kirk, McCoy reports to his Captain that Eleen is humanoid not human so there are differences he medically has to factor in. 

Kras finding his ally not so reliable 

Kras keeps trying to get his weapons back from Maab but the new High Teer is being very strict about their original agreement.  They continue the hunt for the fugitives but Captain Kirk is not one to always be on the retreat.  He and Mr. Spock take their recovered communicators and rig them to set off a sonic signal that causes a rock avalanche.   In the chaos Kras recovers a Starfleet phaser being held by a Capellan warrior and kills the warrior to assure his silence.

Attempting to treat the brainwashed!

 Back on the Enterprise the crew discovers that the SS Dierdre is nowhere to be found.  Scotty is convinced that they were lured out of the system by someone on purpose.  Sulu and Uhura are not as sure.  Scotty is determined to finish the search pattern and get back to the planet to help the landing party as soon as possible.  Later when the ship is heading back to its original location they get another distress signal.  Scotty takes responsibility and ignores the signal.  He reminds the crew of the old saying “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”  Chekov immediately recognizes that as a Russian saying, as he finds everything to be.

  

Scotty does not like being made a fool

 Back on the surface McCoy learns from Eleen that children belong to the mother’s husband not to the mother.  McCoy is irritated by that cultural tradition and also convinced that is the source of her detachment to the baby.  In the most hilarious part of the episode McCoy tries to get her to take ownership of the child and wants her to say “the child is mine.”  This backfires spectacularly leading Eleen to think McCoy is making a claim.  This wins her over and she proudly proclaims that the child belongs to Dr. McCoy.  By the time the baby arrives she is now referring to it as “their” child.  This is an improvement but it causes some confusion with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.  When McCoy says he can explain, Spock says he expects that to be most entertaining.

Getting ready for a fight!

  Kirk and Spock build some bow and arrows for the purpose of mounting a defense.  Eleen knocks McCoy out and sneaks off to her people.  While there she confides to the Maab that she had killed the baby and the Starfleet officers.  Kras demands that she prove it.  However as a wife of a High Teer she is not to be questioned.  However as soon as Eleen accepts her fate the Klingon causes a battle to occur between the Capellan warriors against Kirk and Spock, with the two Starfleet officers more than holding their own.  Kras at this point reveals his treachery and uses his phaser that he stole against both Starfleet and the Capellans. 

In space the Enterprise is intercepted by a Klingon battle-cruiser and Scotty is not backing down.  Fortunately for the crew the Klingon ship uncharacteristically yields.  I imagine the Klingon ship’s captain recognized the Enterprise as the ship that so easily destroyed their sister vessel in “Errand of Mercy” that he didn’t want to take his chances.

 Now fully aware of how badly he misjudged the Klingon, Maab tells Eleen her life is hers again and it is his that is forfeit.  Maab calls out to the Klingon who vaporizes him with the phaser.  Kras’s attention to Maab gives Kirk and Spock an opening.  They kill Kras with that opportunity.  With Kras’s death things quiet down and McCoy emerges with the baby.  Shortly after McCoy returns Scotty arrives with a security team.  All is well that ends well.

Back up on the Enterprise we learn that Eleen, now the regent for her son the new High Teer, has signed the mining treaty.  The Doctor and the Captain are quite pleased with the new monarch’s name: Leonard James Akaar.  Spock is now concerned about the ego of his two shipmates spiraling out of control.

Additional thoughts: Okay these Capellans are big and tall alright but it looks like they are still in tribal stages of their existence, I am not sure they even have the wheel. Isn’t the Federation not supposed to be interacting with these pre- warp societies?  I suppose it’s one of those situations where they came across a primitive culture that was already interfered with by others.  I would guess the Klingons made an earlier appearance on this world.

So the Klingons find a culture that is very much like their own and they screw up by sending the worst Klingon they possibly could to handle this.  Somehow I think this would have been a different story had Commander Kor been on the other side.  Between Kras and the battle-crusier running off with its tail between its legs: it was not a good day for the Empire.  I did feel a little for Kras for I do think Maab was going back on his word once he became High Teer.

 

This was such a great episode for Dr. McCoy.  From guiding Kirk and Spock through Capellan culture, to all his scenes with Eleen, and him almost becoming a daddy, it was a treat to see the good doctor take center stage.  I much prefer this than to him being so lovesick in “The Man Trap.” Some modern viewers might have an issue with him “forcing” treatment on Eleen without her consent but in my mind Eleen had so brainwashed into thinking she had to kill herself that her refusal of treatment wasn’t being made of sound mind and body.

   

I also enjoyed Scotty’s B-plot of having to outsmart the Klingons in space.  Not only did it help Scotty but the bridge scenes allow for some great screen time from the more supporting characters of Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov.

Personally I think Lt. Grant’s death was his own fault and Kirk was being kind of a dick about it.  Yes, no captain wants to lose a crewman but he pulled a phaser on the Klingon who was standing next to their escort.  What do you expect was going to happen?  If the shoe was on the other foot what would they have done?  I am sorry the Capellans haven’t developed enough technology to have stun setting.  Next time teach your man to keep his head and he won’t lose it.

 I wish Dr. McCoy had time to explain the government of the Capellans.  So the High Teer is their monarch which as a position seems hereditary.  Akaar states that is marriage to Eleen was arranged so he could produce an heir, and the little guy is High Teer by the end.  However Akaar is overthrown by Maab.  My question is do they Capellan as a culture recognize that sort of thing as valid?  Or would they all regard him as some sort of usurper?   Are Maab and Akaar related or can anybody go for the position of High Teer?  If the High Teer can be overthrown for being weak doesn’t that leave the baby High Teer in some sort of very vulnerable position?  Or do child Teers get a pass?  What is the final fate of High Teer Leonard James Akaar?

FINAL GRADE 4 OF 5