THE ENTERPRISE MUST CHASE DOWN PIRATES TO SAVE SPOCK!

 

Episode Title:  The Pirates of Orion

Air Date: 9/7/1974

Written by Howard Weinstein

Directed by Bill Reed

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”, Lieutenant Arex, Lieutenant Kyle, Captain O’Shea, and the Orion Captain                           George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu and unnamed Lieutenant                    Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel, unnamed Lieutenant, and Enterprise computer        Norm Prescott as Orion Lieutenant and Orion Ensign

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, USS Huron NCC-F1913, unnamed Orion vessel

Planets: none

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise is on a routine diplomatic mission where they are to go to a party celebrating the opening of new Academy of Science on Deneb V.  The ship is needed to represent the Federation, because apparently the ship has nothing better to do.  It seems to me to be a case missed priorities.  The whole thing is delayed when the ship has an outbreak of choriocytosis.  Which sounds bad but really isn’t that big of deal because Dr. McCoy has it under control.  Or that is he did when it was only affecting the human members of the crew.  It appears that this thing can get real nasty when it hits a Vulcan, and it gets its grip into our most favorite Vulcan, Mr. Spock.  

Spock down for the count!

According to Dr. McCoy, Spock is dying.  He can treat it somewhat to the delay the effects but Spock has only a few days at most.  The only thing that can save the First Officer for sure is naturally-occurring strobolin.  However, the nearest batch is located four days away from the Enterprise.  The good news is their ship is part of a mighty Starfleet that has lots of ships and it would be ridiculous if they were the only ship in the sector.  So, they contact Starfleet to have them send a ship that is closer and have them rendezvous with the Enterprise.  

The USS Huron is the ship tasked with bringing the medicine to the Enterprise.  However, they are also carrying supplies of dilithium crystals for Federation ships, which makes them a prime target for space pirates.  This is exactly what happens as Orion pirates attack the poor cargo ship.  Enterprise arrives after the pirates are gone.  They aid the crew and are told that the pirates cleaned them out of everything even the medicine. 

USS Huron

Kirk is determined to find the pirates which he does fairly easily.  He then communicates with the pirates to see if they have the medicine.  When they ask what Kirk will do if they have it, the Captain informs them that they will allow the pirates to keep the dilithium they have, plus Kirk will give them some more, and they will remove any reference to the pirates in their ships logs so no one will know it was the Orions that stole them.  

Starfleet crew under attack!

Kirk’s offer is so good that the Orions feel it cannot be true. As soon as the Enterprise reports their actives here the neutrality of Orion is lost. There is only one thing to do: they must destroy the Enterprise.  They don’t fire power to outgun them but the asteroids in this belt are full of dangerous energy that could destroy both ships.  The Orions are willing to die for their secrecy.  They tell Kirk that they will accept his offer if the Captain collects the medicine in person on the asteroid below. Although Kirk expects this is some sort of trap, he has no idea that the Orions have rigged this asteroid to blow up and destroy both ships. 

Orion ship!

Kirk meets the Orion Captain on the surface and his opponent announces his intentions.  What the Orion Captain did not know is that Captain Kirk is the greatest fighter in the galaxy who fights with such speed and grace that most Orions would turn greener with envy.  However, this pirate doesn’t need to beat Kirk he just needs to press the button.  He almost does but that is when Scotty beams them both back to the Enterprise and disarms him.  Kirk tells his opponent that he is their prisoner and if his crew kills themselves now it will do them no good.  Listening to reason the Orion Captain orders his crew to surrender. Spock has been treated and is now cured.  

The meeting of Captains

Additional thoughts: Last week Spock’s Vulcan anatomy protected him from the rainbow Dramian virus and years ago it prevented the salt vampire from killing him.  Here however what in one case was an advantage is now a disadvantage.  Choriocytosis is friendly to no one but it is extra horrible to Vulcans.  It just goes to show that evolutionary advantage is very conditional.  Sometimes it is beneficial to be a Vulcan and sometimes it isn’t. 

So, what is up with the Orions being blue?  I mean it’s not too big of a deal, humans after all come in all sorts of colors. I would just prefer the Orions to be different shades of green as opposed outright different colors.  I don’t put a lot of stock into the visuals of the Animated Series as canon.  Stories yes, but visuals no.  The Tribbles were the wrong color in “More Tribbles, More Troubles,” and the deltas never point up.

Kirk taking another captain down!

Why does the Enterprise have so much spare dilithium now?  Did Starfleet wise up after the incidents in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “Mudd’s Women?”  I hope they have it would end the annoying “oh no, we have no more crystals” plots. 

The Enterprise finding it's fellow starship in trouble

So many time the Enterprise comes up against something that is so powerful their ship is utterly helpless.  This dates all the way back to “The Corbomite Maneuver.” It is kind of refreshing to see a group of aliens realize that they are no match for the Enterprise. They come up with a trap that might have worked if this was their show and they were given enough plot armor to survive.  However, it is not their show, they are the bad guys and they get to go to jail.

Just try it we out gun you ten to one!

This whole episode the Orions are concerned with preserving their home world’s neutrality. Maybe they should stop committing crimes against greater powers?  We first saw them pull this stuff in “Journey To Babel.”  Why do we let them get away with it just because some choose to commit suicide. The Federation is somewhat at fault here for not taking a harder line against them.  If I was the Federation President, I would point out that proof beyond reasonable doubt is court standard not the requirement of a great space power defending its interest.  I would let them know that if had good reason to think they were behind something we would treat it as an absolute certainty.  Of course, with Kirk dragging them off to jail the point is kind of mute. Speaking of the end it wasn’t very dramatic, the bad guys just tried their plan and it failed.  All is well that ends well.  

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5

THERE ARE A LOT OF SHIPS IN HERE!

 

Episode Title:  The Time Trap

Air Date: 11/24/1973

Written by Joyce Perry

Directed by Hal Sutherland

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”, Lieutenant Clayton. Commander Kor, Bell, Gabler, Kaz, and Xerius        George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu and Commander Kuri              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Devna, Kali, and Megan       Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel          

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, IKS Klothos, two unnamed Klingon K't'inga-class battle cruisers, USS Bonaventure NCC-10281, and numerous other unnamed starships.  

Planets: none

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise has been sent on a mission to examine an area of space where ships are known to disappear, again.  This time however the place, the Delta Triangle, has made ships disappear a little more often than the once-every-three-decades place.  You think this is the last spot you would want to send a starship if you were Starfleet but considering how well it went last time, where the male members of the crew were almost eaten by beautiful alien succubuses before the women led by Lt. Uhura were able to save them all, Starfleet decided to press their luck and send the Enterprise.   

While there they are attacked by a Klingon ship, the Klothos, under the command of Commander Kor.  Kirk remembers Kor from his pervious encounter with him.  Spock points out that if they are destroyed this was a great place for them to attack as everyone will just assume that the Enterprise was just another ship that vanished.  However, during the battle, it is the Klothos that vanishes.  The crew can’t figure out why but they notice that there are two more Klingon ships.  The other Klingon commander, Kuri, accuses Kirk of having destroyed Kor’s ship, although if they had it would have been self-defense.  Kuri says he will destroy the Enterprise in revenge.  Outgunned Kirk has the Enterprise race to where the Klothos was and then they too disappear.

The Klothos about to vanish!

The crew finds themselves trapped in a pocket universe.  An area of space cut off from the remaining universe.  Inside they find all sorts of old starships including the old USS Bonaventure, famously missing after only its third mission.  (That interestingly enough gives it a better record than the Titanic.)  The Klothos emerges and the two ships are about to resume their battle when they are suddenly stopped and the two commanding officers are transported to the chambers of the Council of Elysia.  Elysia is what the residents of the pocket universe call it.  The council is made of the leadership of the starships trapped here over the centuries, consisting of Humans, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, and 118 others.  Their chairman, a Romulan named Xerius, explained that no fighting will be tolerated and anyone who does will see their ship’s power disabled and crew placed in suspended animation for a century.  When Kor remarks that they would be long gone it is explained that time works differently here and that everyone on the council has been alive for multiple centuries.  Both Kirk and Kor express their desire to leave to which the council tells them they are welcome to try but no one has ever succeeded.

The Klothos tries an escape and fails miserably.  However, their failure gives Mr. Spock and idea. According to his readings if the Klothos and the Enterprise were to combine power, they would be able to break free together.  Kirk contracts the Klingons and they arrange a meeting.  The meeting goes well in some ways a little too well with the Klingons eagerly agreeing to the partnership, which will allow both crews into each other’s engine rooms.  Spock touches one of the Klingons while thanking him, which Kirk finds weird.  Spock tells the Captain that he did so to gain telepathic knowledge of the Klingons intentions and he is sure they are hiding something.

Kirk and Kor before the Council

The Enterprise throws a party for their new friends. The former Orion slave girl, Devna, dances for Captain Kirk.  Kirk tells her although it is nice here it is not home and that is where they need to be getting back to.  The Klingons use this opportunity to plant their bomb that will go off once the Enterprise hits warp 8.  They almost blow the entire thing when one of them picks a fight with Dr. McCoy.  This leads the Elysian Council to order the Klingons to have their ship depowered and placed into suspended animation.  Kirk goes to bat for the Klingons explaining that they need them to escape.  Not wanting to punish Kirk’s crew for one of Kor’s crew’s actions.  They will allow the escape attempt to go through.

The Council 

The Enterprise and the Klothos join together in an escape attempt. At the last minute the telepath Megan realizes the sabotage and warns the Enterprise.  The crew finds the explosive in time and both Kirk’s crew and the Klingons escape from Elysia.  When they leave Kor contacts his high command to take credit for the escape, and Kirk couldn’t care less.   

The Enterprise knows how to put on a party 

Additional thoughts: This was a great episode it starts with the same premise as “The Lorelei Signal,” however the execution and overall story is much better.  This is sort of like a reverse of “The Return of the Archons” and “The Apple.”  With those two episodes it was the second episode that copied the idea of the first but poorly.  In this case it is the second story that works builds a stronger narrative. “The Time Trap” is just a better story for it is a lot more fun.  The Council of Elysia was very reminiscent to the ambassadors in “The Journey to Babel” with all the different species interacting.  All those ships in one place also added to the interesting story.

Spock getting along well with the Klingons

Correct me if I am wrong but I think this is the first time we hear about the Klingons having a cloaking device.  Up until now the Romulans had that but not the Klingons.  It does make sense that if the two are sharing technology that the Klingons might have it now. However, they didn’t in the original series and not even in the book, “Spock Must Die.” So, I think this is the first time.

We found the bomb!

Okay so what is the Bonaventure?  It clearly wasn’t the first ship with warp drive like Scotty said?  Maybe it was the first ship with a warp 6 engine?  Perhaps?  I don’t know that would make sense to me; it would have been nice to have explored it a little more.

The missing Bonaventure

Kirk’s conversation with Devna was interesting when she asked if Orion women had danced for him before.  This put Kirk in an odd position as the lost Orion woman who knew was insane and tried to murder him before she herself was killed by her own crazy boyfriend.  Kirk was polite and didn’t bother poor Devna with those not so nice details.

Her dancing can be quite entertaining.

Once again Kirk gets to encounter Kor with a possibility of matching swords when they're interrupted by a greater power.  Gee, that sounds kind of familiar.  It is like they have been down this road before.  I feel a little bad for Kor he just wants to meet Kirk in battle and powerful strange aliens keep getting in his way.  He did try to take Kirk out.  However, in the end of the day it just wasn’t enough.  Oh well, he can spin his tale to the Klingon High Council. 

Getting out of this hole together if you don't kill us first!

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5

CAPTAIN KIRK PLAYS "MEET THE PARENTS" WITH SPOCK

Episode Title:  Journey to Babel 

Air Date: 11/17/1967

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”              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie                 James X. Mitchell as Lieutenant Josephs                        Frank Da Vinci as unnamed Vulcan Aide          Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley         Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel          Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov                 Jerry Catron as Crewman Montgomery Jeannie Malone as Purple-Skinned Delegate            Mark Lenard as Ambassador Sarek                     Jane Wyatt as Amanda Grayson           William O'Connell as Thelev           John Wheeler as Ambassador Gav           Reggie Nalder as Ambassador  Shras                   Billy Curtis as Small Copper-Skinned Ambassador             Russ Peek as unnamed Vulcan Aide                        

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Galileo NCC-1701/7, unnamed Orion ship

Planets:  Vulcan, Babel

My Spoiler filled summary and review:  The episode begins with the USS Enterprise providing a ferry service to delegates that will be attending a conference on a neutral planet named Babel.  The conference is to decide the admission of the planets of the Coridan system to the Federation, which are rich in dilithium but poorly defended.  Its dilithium stuffed surfaces has led to many competing claims to these planets some of them from fellow Federation members.  Coridan itself wishes to be part of the Federation as a full-fledged members.

Kirk meets Spock's Mom and Dad

As the shuttlecraft Galileo drops of the Vulcan Ambassador and his human wife. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy go down in dress uniforms to meet the couple and there is a funny moment where McCoy tries to learn the Vulcan hand salute.  The Ambassador introduces himself as Sarek and his wife Amanda Grayson.  Sarek seems to rudely blow off Spock as first officer extends the traditional greeting, and refuses to have Spock be his tour guide. Kirk, taken back by Sarek’s refusal to have Spock as his tour guide, asks his first officer if he like to go down to the planet to see parents before they leave Vulcan.  Spock then informs his Captain that the Ambassador and his wife are in fact his parents.  (More on that point in my “additional thoughts” section.)

Kirk decides to give the Sarek and his wife a tour himself and in the engineering room tries to spark up a conversation between the father and son, however Sarek cuts it short.  After the two Vulcans leave Amanda explains to Captain Kirk the source of the trouble. Spock went off to Starfleet instead of his father’s chosen occupation through the Vulcan Science Academy.  Kirk tries to point out that Spock can better explore the universe in Starfleet, but Amanda says that Sarek despises the potential for violence.  So he will no longer speak to Spock.

McCoy with Spock's parents

Kirk hosts a feast in the officers’ lounge for the dignitaries and two important things happen while they are there.   The first is the Tellarite Ambassador Gav demands to know Sarek’s position on the issue of Coridan.  Sarek refuses to tell him anything to which Kirk backs him up.  Also we have Dr. McCoy meeting with Spock’s parents.  We learn from McCoy’s questions that Sarek is over 100 and retired relatively young.  More importantly McCoy learns from Amanda that Spock, as a child, had a sehlat that she describes as a type of teddy bear.  This delights McCoy until Spock informs him that these “teddy bears” are alive and have fangs. 

Sarek not getting long with the Tellarite Ambassador 

Later on the bridge, Spock discovers that the Enterprise is being followed by a mystery ship.  It matches no known configurations of anything they have seen before.   It passes them at warp 10 but does not fire.  The ship is going to become and ongoing annoyance for the rest of the episode.

In their quarters Sarek chastises Amanda for telling personal stories about Spock.  Amanda is rather pleased at Sarek’s defense of their son.  She even tells him that she believes he is now proud of Spock.  Sarek says his feelings are immaterial and logically a first officer of a Starfleet vessel is entitled to respect, regardless of their relationship.  Sarek returns to the reception where he is once again confronted by Gav, which ends in a physical altercation that Kirk breaks up. 

Sarek defending his son to Amanda's surprise

A security officer later discovers that Gav has been murdered.  The method of death was identified by Mr. Spock as tal-shaya, a Vulcan fighting technique.  Spock bases this on the precision in how the neck of Gav was broken.  Given their earlier encounters suspicion falls on Sarek.  Captain Kirk and Spock then confront Sarek.  Sarek actually agrees that he is mostly likely suspect, and he was off mediating by himself at the time.  It looks bad as Sarek has no alibi; however he then has a heart attack.

Dead

So it turns out Sarek does have an alibi and a good one.   Sarek isn’t as healthy as he let on.  He has a heart condition, hence his earlier retirement, and he off having another heart attack while the Tellarite was being murdered.  McCoy confirms this and confirms that Sarek needs heart surgery now.   McCoy can do it, in theory, but they are going to need a blood donner.  Fortunately Spock is a match but he needs to take a drug that will make him produce more blood.  This is will take Spock out of active duty for a little while almost like an organ donner.  Spock of course will do it.

In the corridors of the Enterprise Kirk is attacked by the Andorian aide Thelev , who we later learn is the actual murder.  He isn’t fighting an overweight Tellarite now, Thelev is combating James T. Kirk one of the greatest fighters in the galaxy.  Thelev finds himself outmatched fighting an opponent with such speed and grace that he needs to cheat.  He pulls a knife and with pure luck happens to connect and stabs Kirk right in the back.  A lesser fighter would have then fallen and been another murder victim but this is Captain Kirk.  Even with his stab wound he manages to beat his opponent unconscious and then calls for security to take him away. 

A sick Sarek, can't be the killer

With Kirk now recovering from his injury in sickbay Spock realizes that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.  With the Captain undergoing treatment it is up to him to assume command and defend the ship against the unknown attacker.  His father will therefore have to wait and that means he will most likely die. His mother tires to argue from logic which fails because Spock is already convinced of his logic.  She then tries to appeal to his emotion which is useless. 

                

Kirk and his would-be-murder

Kirk realizes that in order to save Sarek he needs to go back on duty and convince Spock that he is fine.  Kirk gets up, gets dressed, and heads to the bridge.  Spock is convinced and goes down to sickbay.  Kirk is then about to call Scotty to the bridge to take over when the Enterprise is then attacked.  Kirk decides to stay and fight wounded.  Their opponent is speedy and all the Enterprise’s phaser shots miss.  The crew learns from their security division that their prisoner is not really Andorian and has been communicating to the other ship with a device in his fake antennae.  Kirk orders him brought to the bridge, and Thelev gets to watch his side lose.  Kirk decides to play possum.  He orders the ship to cut power and act like they are dead.  As the enemy ship goes in for the kill the Enterprise launches a surprise attack of photon torpedoes crippling their opponent’s ship.   Kirk was about to have the other ship boarded but then it self-destructs.  Thelev said they were under orders to do that it was a suicide mission from the start. With that Thelev dies having taken a suicide pill from before. 

While Kirk is winning the space battle McCoy is winning the medical one

While Kirk had his impressive space naval victory, McCoy completed Sarek’s surgery all while the ship was shaking under attack. Spock uncovers that this was all an operation conducted by the Orion Syndicate trying to start a war and sell dilithium.  The reason the ship seemed so powerful is they were giving all their energy to the attacks with no attention of returning.  When all was said and done Kirk, Spock, and Sarek were all in sickbay recovering and the family from Vulcan had a fun family together, and McCoy gets to tell everyone to be quite and lay down happy with the fact that he got the episodes last word.  This is the only time in Star Trek that I can remember that a character seems to break the fourth wall when they are not doing a log entry.  I assume he was talking Chapel.     

Additional thoughts: So earlier this year the crew of the Enterprise discovers that Mr. Spock had a betrothed who he never mentioned before; and now after preparing for this conference, which must have been weeks, Spock knew his parents were coming and never bothered to tell anyone.  I am sensing a pattern.  Spock has family members that he does not want talk about or even acknowledge.  To be fair he did mention that he had a father and mother and gave their occupations however he had to work up to that.  When we first see Kirk and Spock together Spock says he had a human ancestor.  I suppose one’s parents are their most immediate ancestor but when one talks about an ancestor we assume you mean ancient grandparent with too many ‘greats’ to count.

Amanda, a surprise Spock family member and not the last

One of the great misconceptions about Vulcans is they don’t have emotions.  They have emotions they just maintain absolute control over them.  We have at this point of the series seen Mr. Spock lose control of his.  In “The Naked Time” the virus caused him to confront his guilt of never telling his mother that he loved her.  In “This Side of Paradise” the spores allow him to openly express love and infatuation.  The episode “Amok Time” his pon farr erodes his control.  

While Mr. Spock seems to display emotion only when something causes him to lose control Sarek, despite his stoic demeanor, seems to actually driven by his emotional state while pretending to driven just by logic.  For example the first thing we learn about Sarek is that he engaged emotional blackmail of his son by cutting him out of his life trying to make him quit Starfleet and attend the Vulcan Science Academy.

Sarek a Vulcan led by emotions that he pretends is logic

Being driven by his pride and emotions isn’t something that Sarek has limited to his son, but he also applies it to his career as well.  He undertakes this mission to Babel knowing that he is very ill. Yet because of his pride and desire for privacy, he does not bring a Vulcan physician that would be familiar with condition, nor does he bring a backup diplomat who could take over if his health becomes an issue.  Even worse when suspicion falls upon him for potentially being the murderer of Gav, instead of informing Kirk and Spock that he was off having a heart attack at the time of the murder that Dr. McCoy could probably verify with a quick exam, he lies and says he was meditating in private.  Instead of admitting weakness he allows himself to continue to be a suspected murder, slowing down the potential of catching the real killer who was still on the loose at this time.  Not to mention failing to get justice for the family of Gav.  Then it all became pointless because he had a heart attack right in front of everyone so his privacy didn’t even last long enough to justify the deception assuming you ever could.

This episode was particularly insightful to the inside workings of the mind of Mr. Spock.   Throughout the series we have seen Mr. Spock a challenge by various members of the Enterprise crew on his outsider status of being a Vulcan. Sometimes is done playfully like with Mr. Spock’s rivalry with Dr. McCoy, conversations with Captain Kirk or even Lt. Uhura.  However there are other times where it’s more of insidious attack like Stiles in “The Balance of Terror ” or Boma in “The Galileo Seven.”  In this episode however we learn through his mother that when he was a child he was harassed by other Vulcan children for being half human.  Not only was he verbally harassed but he was often bullied and beaten by his classmates.  Since Vulcans control their emotions as adults he does not have to worry about unapologetic harassment and humiliation, however there is always the lingering thought that they do not truly accept him.  We learned in “Amok Time” that Mr. Spock in his voyages on the Enterprise has become something of a legend on Vulcan. 

The irony is that it took him leaving Vulcan to truly become accepted amongst his people.  That probably was not part of the plan but for it was also how he became accepted by his own inner psyche.  As a child Spock was labeled a human by Vulcans and as an adult when he surrounds himself with humans he is labeled a Vulcan.  This is the reason why he left Vulcan and this is the reason why he chooses to be among humans.  In “I, Mudd” Mr. Spock told Dr. McCoy that he didn’t know of any other place in the universe where he was much more needed than on a starship full of irrational humans.  However it is not their need to why he chose to be there, but his own.  Only in being surrounded by humans can he ever feel Vulcan.  

In this sense Spock always wins his conflicts with Dr. McCoy.  For whenever Dr. McCoy starts on his whole teasing of Mr. Spock on his Vulcan characteristics he only pleases Mr. Spock in ways that he can't understand.  Mr. Spock must get in the small arguments with Dr. McCoy on purpose for his own psychological therapy.  No one makes Spock feel more Vulcan than Dr. McCoy.

                    On a side note this is a great Captain Kirk episode as well.  We could see Kirk engage in hand-to-hand combat with the assassin and win despite the fact that the assassin stabbed him with a knife.  We could see a weakened Kirk take control of the bridge when the ship is under attack by a strange and foreign adversary and prevail in that situation as well.  Kirk kicks butt all the way through.

Kirk to take command despite injury

Despite the fact that he’s talked about a lot Mr. Scott never makes it apparent since entire episode.   To be fair there wasn’t much for him to do; they were only going to a conference there were no great feats of engineering that needed to be done on screen.  However I could see a fan forgetting and thinking he was in this episode is seeing how often his name is dropped.

When I was watching this once with my father, who himself has had two heart surgeries, he found McCoy’s describing the condition and necessary steps to fix it absurd.  Particularly, the part about needing so much blood.  I tried to explain to my father that they are aliens so it is probably different.   He is probably right about the show’s writers not really researching the subject.

Meeting the many aliens of the United Federation of Planets

This episode has long been a fan favorite and he can easily see why there a lot of fun and interesting things that happen.  This is an episode that truly begins to explore what it means to be in the United Federation of Planets.  We meet all sorts of different aliens for the first time and we get to watch them interact amongst each other.  As Star Trek grows this is something we see much more of but the foundation is here.   And of course that final scene is one of the great scenes of the franchise.  With Kirk, Spock, and Sarek all laid up in sick bay and McCoy trying to control everything so his patients can focus on getting better. There is a Star Trek novel I once read that took place shortly after this episode and scene with the three patients was continued.  I can’t remember which book it was however.

FINAL GRADE 5 of 5