SPOCK HAS SOME LOVE PAINS

Episode Title:  Amok Time

Air Date: 9/15/1967

Written by Theodore Sturgeon

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”              George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel          Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie                 Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley     Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov      Byron Morrow as Admiral Komack     Celia Lovsky as T'Pau              Frank Da Vinci as Vulcan Ceremonial Aide              Arlene Martel as T'Pring             Lawrence Montaigne as Stonn             Walker Edmiston as voice of Space Central                Charles Palmer as Vulcan Litter Bearer    Joe Paz as Vulcan Ceremonial Aide               Russ Peek as Vulcan Executioner                Mary Rice as T'Pring as Child          Mauri Russell as Vulcan Litter Bearer             Gary Wright as Vulcan Litter Bearer

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Vulcan

My Spoiler filled summary and review:  The episode begins with Dr. McCoy confiding to Captain Kirk that he concerned about Mr. Spock.  He reports that the normally stoic Mr. Spock is seemly becoming emotionally unbalanced.  Kirk can’t believe it but when they see Nurse Chapel try to give Mr. Spock some soup that he likes they become witness to Spock throwing the bowl across the room and smashing it on the wall.  When Spock makes eye contact with Kirk he makes a request for leave on Vulcan.

The Enterprise’s current mission is to go to Altair VI for an important diplomatic visit.  Altair has an inauguration for its new president and Starfleet wants to make a good impression for strategically located vital ally against the Klingons.   Kirk would like to find out what was wrong with Spock so he would stop acting weird.  When he inquires about the First Officer taking leave elsewhere Spock refuses demanding Vulcan.  Kirk decides that Spock has done enough for them over the years and orders the ship to Vulcan before stopping on Altair.

Kirk and McCoy check in on Chapel 

Unfortunately as with all the best laid plans of mice and men Kirk’s plan falls astray.  Turns out the new President of Altair wants to have his inauguration early so the Enterprise no longer has time to stop at Vulcan.  Kirk apologizes and Spock says he understands.  Later, Kirk starts to feel guilty about not letting Spock go so he calls Chekov to see if they went at maximum warp would they be able to drop Spock off and attend the inauguration.  Chekov is confused because they were already heading back to Vulcan under orders from Mr. Spock.

 Kirk confronts Spock about him changing the course of the ship to which Mr. Spock claims he doesn’t remember changing the course but thinks it is very likely that he may have given his current condition.  Kirk then orders Mr. Spock to go to sickbay.  Spock goes reluctantly and submits to Dr. McCoy’s exam under the protest of “for all the good it will do us.” Ironically it does do both of them a lot of good.  Although Dr. McCoy can’t explain it he comes to the conclusion that whatever Spock’s condition is if it’s not treated it will be fatal.  The best place for Mr. Spock is on Vulcan.  Then McCoy advocates this in front of Captain Kirk who decides to speak with Spock one more time.

Kirk sees Spock in his quarters; Spock is still hesitant to talk.  Kirk reasons with him that if he has to lose his best officer at the very least he has the right to know why.  He tells his First Officer that he will treat whatever information Spock gives him in the strictest of confidence.  Spock begins by asking him if he ever wonder how Vulcans choose their mates.  Kirk says that most assume that the choice was a logical one.  This is where explains that Vulcans are like salmon.  They have to return to the point of origin in order to take a mate and reproduce or die in the attempt.   They have a ritual called pon farr where they shroud the whole thing in ceremony.   If he doesn’t go and complete the ceremony he will die.

Kirk contacts Starfleet Command and speaks with Admiral Komack.  He tells the Admiral that they can’t go to the inauguration and he can’t tell him why but is an emergency.  The Admiral is not at all impressed and tells Kirk he better be there or else.   Kirk thinks about it and realizes Spock has saved his life so many times that if cost him his career no big deal.  Kirk orders the ship to Vulcan.

Spock seems to calm down as the ship heads to Vulcan.  He even asks Nurse Chapel to make him some of that soup from earlier.  When they arrive at Vulcan they are received and the Vulcan government even arranges for a lady Vulcan named T’Pring to communicate with Spock.  When they ask Spock who she is he responds with “She’s my wife.”  However we later learn they are not quite married yet but they are more than betrothed.

T'Pring spoils the party

As he is about to leave Spock requests that Kirk and McCoy accompany him as it is his right to have his closest friends with him at the ceremony.  The three beam down together to the hot climate that is Vulcan.  They arrive at the ceremony and Spock has to strike a gong twice and then a parade of Vulcans arrive.  All sorts of Vulcans, some of them are very mean looking.  Among the company is a woman named T’Pau.  T’Pau is a big deal in the Federation and the only person to down a seat in the Federation Council.  Kirk is almost in immediate fanboy mode when she arrives.   He tells McCoy that he had no idea Spock’s family was so important. 

Everything seems to be going as planned until T’Pring prevents Spock from striking the gong again and demands kal-if-fee.  Kirk and McCoy are told that she has rejected Spock and demands he fight for her.  She continues to shock everyone when naming her champion to fight Spock she chooses Captain Kirk.  One Vulcan, named Stonn, objects claiming that he should be the one to fight, but T’Pau tells him to shut up.  Spock tries to get T’Pau to let Kirk off.  T’Pau gives Kirk and out but McCoy said he didn’t think Spock could take Stonn in his present condition.  Realizing that his fighting skills are supreme and famed throughout the universe, Kirk reasons he might be able to knock Spock out quickly.  If not he could just quit.  He then makes a mistake by not asking more about the rules and tells T’Pau he accepts.  Then T’Pau now decides to let him know that this is a fight to the death.

 The battle begins Kirk and Spock each fight with traditional Vulcan weapons.  Kirk’s is the greatest fighter in known universe but he is fighting with restraint not wanting to hurt Spock, while Spock is a blood lusted horny Vulcan who must kill to get laid.  In addition to that it is also very hot, so hot that McCoy is convinced that Kirk has no chance.  McCoy directly challenges T’Pau, unlike Kirk he is not a fanboy so he is not so intimidated.  He tells her that the contest is rigged without giving Kirk a chance.  She doesn’t understand what can be done and McCoy says that he can inject Kirk with medicine that will counter act the heat.  She agrees and McCoy does so.   Kirk says while being injected that he can’t believe he might have to kill Spock which was the opposite of why they came. 

  

Kirk is like "this isn't my party!"

The fight continues with Spock gaining the upper hand and strangling Captain Kirk to death.  Strangling Captain Kirk is apparently better than sex as Spock is then immediately cured.  Realizing what he has done however he is in a bit of shock.  McCoy says he is in command now and he orders the Captain’s body to be brought to the Enterprise and to have them plot a course to the nearest Starbase so he can turn himself in.

Yeah this not what Kirk thought he would be doing today!

  

Spock goes to T’Pring and demands to know why she invoked the challenge and selected Kirk as her champion.  She explains that Spock has basically become a celebrity on Vulcan because of his adventures and she did not want to be the wife of a celebrity.  In addition to that she and Stonn have fallen in love.  If Stonn had fought there was a chance he would lose and die.  By choosing Kirk she was assured that however won would be so disgusted with her that neither would have her.  Spock agrees to let her go and warns Stonn with one of Spock’s greatest quotes:

“You may find in time that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting.  It is not logical, but it is often true.”    

With that he says his good-byes to T’Pau and when she tells him to live long and prosper he responds by saying he will do neither.  He is full of guilt having killed Captain Kirk.  Fortunately for Mr. Spock his grief is short-lived as turns out Kirk is alive and well on the ship.  Turns out McCoy gave him a drug that would slow his body functions and simulate death.  Not only is Kirk alive but his career is saved as well.  T’Pau called Starfleet Command and explained that the Enterprise was at Vulcan on her request so Starfleet Command backed down and retroactively gave permission for everything that happened. 

There is just one more thing.  McCoy challenges Spock on his emotional outlet upon seeing Kirk alive, to which replies he was just showing the proper respect for Starfleet not losing such a fine captain.  So McCoy then asks if he is implying is that his response was based solely on logic.  Spock confirms it was.  As Kirk and Spock walk off McCoy says loudly “In a pig’s eye!”

Additional thoughts: Before “Amok Time” Mr. Spock was the only Vulcan fans had ever seen, and he was only half-Vulcan.  Fans often wonder what other Vulcans were like.  Well in this episode not only did we see other Vulcans but we get to go to Vulcan and see some of the inner working of their culture.  One of the major things we learn is that Vulcans are like salmon.  They are calm creatures who go crazy during mating season.  They must mate or strangle Captain Kirk, which is just as good as mating.

Our first post-Spock Vulcan is T’Pring, Mr. Spock’s intended.  Her name should be T’Prick because what a horrible person she is.  At first she seems sympathetic, she doesn’t want to go through an arranged marriage with a man who is now a celebrity and has she fallen in love with someone else.  However when she decides to pair two friends against each other in a fight to the death in order to traumatize the winner that is when she loses my sympathy.     She had other options; T’Pring could have reached out to Spock before pon farring starts and asked to be released.  Giving Spock’s high ranking family and celebrity status I think he could have easily found himself another mate. 

Everyone's least favorite Vulcans

Next we get T’Pau, the frail woman who is more powerful than Starfleet Command.  In her old age she doesn’t seem to be involved in a lot of planning ahead of things.  After all why didn’t she just tell Starfleet to bring Spock to her?  That would have avoided a lot of drama.  Also when Kirk gets invited to the challenge you think, given that Kirk is not from there, that she would have explained the rules better before he accepts.  I mean she did try to give him and out but you think she could have lead with “so you want to be in a fight to the death with your friend?”

All of Vulcan in one package!

I think a great deal of trouble could be avoided if human and Vulcan alike just learned to lie better.  If Spock has just said “I need to go to Vulcan to deal with a medical condition that only Vulcans can treat.” Would Kirk have been so hard on him?  Likely, if Kirk had said something of the same to the Admiral would the flag officer have given him such a hard time?

Spock says his good-byes and starts a tradition of Star Trek Fandom

Speaking of admirals we finally get to see one.  Another first from this to go along with planet Vulcan, Vulcans, pon farr, the Vulcan salute, and “live long and prosper;” we get our first admiral.  Up to this point every time we meet one Kirk’s Starfleet superiors it was always a commodore.  It was a good scene too, we got to see him rip Kirk a new one because Kirk can’t tell a little white lie.  Given the information Kirk was giving him I can’t blame him for his response. 

In the end everything turns out okay.  Spock and T’Pring both get what they wanted, Kirk is alive and his career is saved, and the crew of the Enterprise didn’t have to attend that boring inauguration.  All is well that ends well.

FINAL GRADE 5 of 5

KIRK AND CREW MEET APOLLO

Episode Title:  Who Mourns for Adonais?

Air Date: 9/22/1967

Written by Gilbert A. Ralston and Gene L. Coon

 

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”        George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          John Winston as  Lieutenant Kyle            Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie                 Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley     Leslie Parrish as Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas         Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli                        Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov      Michael Forest as Apollo 

              

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Pollux IV

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise is mapping planets in the Pollux system.  McCoy notices and points out to Kirk that Scotty is rather taken with young Lt. Carolynn Palamas.  McCoy is concerned because although Scotty is taken with her she doesn’t seem to be that taken with him.  McCoy predicts that the right man will come along and she will leave Starfleet for that hypothetical man.  That is a thought that really bothers Captain Kirk.

Scotty trying to flirt!

Then their normal survey expedition is interrupted when a giant human looking hand appears from the planet and grabs the Enterprise!  The crew reacts swiftly but they also can’t get shake the feeling of utter ridiculousness of a “hand” grabbing their ship.  Mr. Spock confirms that the “hand” is actually an energy field.   Kirk orders Lt. Sulu to try to break free but the ship can’t get loose.  Lt. Uhura reports that they are being hailed and on the view screen is the face of a human man.  The man wearing an oak leaf crown commends his “children” on their advancement.   He compares them to famous Greek heroes and wants them to come celebrate with him.  Kirk demands that he free them and even goes so far to make threats.  However the man responds by using a sonic weapon on the crew forcing Kirk to surrender.  He commands some of the crew to come down and join him but rejects Spock as one of the guests as his ears remind him of Pan.  Kirk forms an away team of himself, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Ensign Chekov, and Lt. Palamas.  Spock will assume command of the Enterprise and will lead the crew in trying to find a solution to this problem from that position.

   

Probably not what they had in mind when they went to explore strange new worlds seeking new life and new civilizations!

When the landing party arrives they find themselves in front of an Ancient Greeks style temple. Their captor appears before them and announces himself as the god Apollo.  To which Chekov then introduces himself as the Tsar of Russia.  Apollo is pleased that they have come all this way but now he wants them all to move down here and kiss his butt like the ancestors did in the good old days.  When he finds the crew unwilling he threatens to crush the Enterprise with the crew inside with his hand.  He punishes the landing party on the surface with lightning bolts from his fingertips.  The hand phasers are useless against Apollo and he destroys them easily. He also has the ability to grow large enough to make the Starfleet officers appear as if toys in front of him.

Apollo seems to get tired at times and has to disappear.  Kirk sees that as an opportunity for he clearly has a weakness.  He asks Lt. Palamas for some back ground information on Apollo and she goes on to explain the basics: that he is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, the twin brother of Artemis, and the god of light, prophecy, and truth.  Odd she neglects to mention that he is the god of the sun which is what I primarily associated him with.  Kirk then forms a theory.  Although he won’t acknowledge this man as a god, he thinks that he might actually be Apollo.  Kirk theorizes that 5,000 years ago Earth was visited by aliens who had great natural abilities and technology.  Their distant ancestors took these beings for gods.  The visitors liked this and formed a relationship with the local inhabitants.   In this relationship the humans worshiped the newcomers as gods and these newcomers helped them lay the cornerstone of Western Civilization.

This is a god sit!

Apollo develops a fascination with Lt. Palamas, and she allows him to call her Carolyn.  He transforms her uniform into a fancy dress.   Scotty doesn’t like what he is seeing and against orders tries to interfere.  Apollo pushes him aside easily enough and disappears with the Lieutenant.  Kirk is certain that Apollo must have a power source.  McCoy’s tricorder readings find that Apollo’s body can channel energy which confirms for Kirk his belief. 

On the Enterprise’s bridge, Spock also thinks there is must be a power source.  He works with Sulu and Uhura to get communications on-line and find a “hole” in the energy hand that would allow them to contact Captain Kirk and provide aid. 

Alone with Apollo, Lt. Palamas is very flattered by his attentions.  She manages to get him to answer one of the most obvious questions about himself: if he is Apollo then where are the other gods?  Apollo explains that without worshipers gods lose purpose.  The other gods expanded their forms until they completely dissipated into the air.  Hera, according to Apollo, was the first to go.  But he never gave up hope and knew that humans would come back to him.  Palamas is falling for the sun god.

Thinking about being  a god's girlfriend!

  When Apollo reappears to the rest of the away team all four men challenge him at once.   Facing demands and accusations from all sides Apollo is about to lash out and overextend his power.  However Lt. Palamas uses herself as a shield and tells Apollo that a loving parent doesn’t harm his children.  With that Apollo backs down and disappears.  This ruins Kirk’s plan. 

Kirk lets Palamas know that she had to reject Apollo that if she doesn’t he will enslave the entire crew to become his worshipers.  She is upset by this because she has seen his better side; however Palamas is convinced by the Captain that rejecting the god is what she must do.  When they are alone again, Palamas lets Apollo know that she is going to have to move on.  She was studying him as a scientist as she naturally must study all alien life forms.  This hurts and rages Apollo although he doesn’t directly harm her.

On the Enterprise the bridge crew scrambles to help those on the surface.  Uhura has fixed the communications system from Apollo’s inference allowing them to again communicate with the away team.  The rest have managed to find a weakness in the force field and Mr. Sulu has located the source of power.  That source of power is Apollo’s own temple.  Under Captain Kirk’s order they clear the area and the Enterprise fires its phasers and destroys the temple.  With that the hand completely disappears and Apollo is de-powered.

Breaking up when your boyfriend is a god

Depressed Apollo talks with Captain Kirk one last time. Kirk tells the defeated god that humanity has outgrown him.  With that Apollo grows giant once more and calls out to his former comrades to take him.  Apollo disintegrates into the air to join his fellow gods.  In reflecting on the value of Greek Civilization to humanity Kirk asks if maybe they should have gathered a few laurel leaves.

Additional thoughts: Ancient Aliens is the main reason I stopped watching the History Channel, although they may have won be back with Grant.   However as a source of science fiction it is a great concept.  How many of our other gods were in fact advanced life forms from afar?

This episode begged a lot of questions.  We did get to find out what happened to Apollo’s fellow Olympians: that they voluntarily dissipated after a long existence without worshipers.  However, if gods need worships to the point that Apollo says they do then why did they leave Earth?  Were they driven out?  Did they need to return to their power source?  Why didn’t they come back?  Also Apollo confirms the legends that he was born of normal Earth woman.  This means like, Mr. Spock who he rejected, Apollo is an alien/human hybrid.   Unlike Mr. Spock, Apollo was born upon Earth.  It was the first home he knew.  I think it would have been nice if that were explored a little more.

I don’t know why they neglected to mention that Apollo was the god of the sun and not just light.  In myth it was believed he pulled the sun up at dawn with his chariot.  Yet when he fights he shoots lightning bolts from his hand like Zeus.  Now I know he is Zeus’s son, but it would have been nice to see natural powers more associated with him. 

 

Game over for Apollo!

In the end it is James Kirk who mourns for Adonais.  That leads me to wonder: did it have to be this way?   Instead of fighting directly with Apollo could they have tried to reason with him more?  Apollo said he needed worshipers and that is why he wanted the crew of the Enterprise.   However there are tens of billions of humans who live in the Federation.   I am sure some of them wouldn’t mind to come to form a community with Apollo.  I bet historians who specialize in Greek antiquity would be tripping over themselves to get a crack at him.  There may even be people who still follow religious Hellenism, who already worship Apollo.  I think he may have pulled the plug too soon.

I think James Doohan missed an opportunity here.  When Apollo blasted his phaser with lighting hurting Mr. Scott's hand he should have held his hand up and said "Ah, my finger!" and that could have been the in continuity explanation to why Mr. Scott was missing a finger.  That way Doohan would not have had to hide his hand all the time. 

  

Take that phaser and finger!

Another thing I enjoyed about the episode is the use of the crew as a whole.  Every character had an important part to play.  Lts Sulu and Kyle developed a way to penetrate Apollo’s force field, Lt. Uhura was able to reestablish contact with the surface by rewiring her communications station, and Ensign Chekov acted as the science advisor in place of Mr. Spock who commanded the bridge.  I prefer this approach as opposed to just Kirk, Spock, and the disposable crew member of the week.

 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

KIRK, SPOCK, AND MCCOY MEET THE FATHER OF WARP DRIVE AND FORGET TO BRING SCOTTY

Episode Title:  Metamorphosis

Air Date: 11/10/1967

Written by Gene L. Coon

Directed by Ralph Senensky

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          Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie                 Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley     Glenn Corbett as Zefram Cochrane         Elinor Donahue as Assistant Commissioner Nancy Hedford           Elizabeth Rogers as The Companion

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Galileo NCC-1701/7

Planets:  The Companion’s World

My Spoiler filled summary and review:  The shuttlecraft Galileo is on route to rendezvous with the Enterprise.  The Galileo is transporting Federation Assistant Commissioner Nancy Hedford to the ship for medical treatment.  On this mission are Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy.   The Commissioner has been infected by Sakuro's Disease, a rare but potentially fatal illness but one perfectly treatable.  The treatment does require a Starfleet medical facility such as a ship or starbase. The Commissioner is part of a team of diplomats that are currently working to end a violent conflict elsewhere in the galaxy; she is infuriated that she’s had to leave this assignment to seek treatment.  She blamed Starfleet Medical for not inoculating her against this illness to which Dr. McCoy and attempt to defend his colleagues states the chances of somebody getting such condition were literally billions to one.   The Commissioner is nevertheless irritable and rude.  It is unclear if this is the way she just normally is or the pressure of having a potentially fatal illness is causing her to snap.

Nancy Hedford, not well

However just then, as the plot would demand it, the shuttlecraft is pulled off course.  The Captain and Mr. Spock try to figure out what is happening and although they can identify the location of the source of the problem what it is leaves them baffled.  Kirk and Spock are able to manage a soft landing and after some quick sensor readings discover that the planet, although unusual for its size, is fully capable of supporting life.  As the party exit the shuttlecraft they hear a “hello” being shouted at them. 

They are found by another shipwrecked human, he introduces himself as “Cochrane.”   Cochrane shakes hands with all of the crew members and identifies Spock as a Vulcan.  When he sees Commissioner Hedford he proclaims that the sight of her is “food for a starving man,” then corrects himself after he sees how negatively she took that comment.  He becomes fascinated with their shuttlecraft and its propulsion system.  Cochrane talks a lot but doesn’t say much and for some reason Kirk thinks he looks very familiar.

Cochrane treating his guests

Cochrane invites them all over to his house a small comfy place where his tools and equipment are to Mr. Spock antiques.  Hedford complains about the heat while everyone else is comfortable at 75 degrees.  This is a sign that her sickness is starting to come on strong.  Cochrane goes onto explain to his guests that he has been marooned on this planet for 150 years and he was an old man of 87 when he arrived.   Kirk is taken back pointing out to the man that he is not over 35.  Cochrane explains that he was restored to youth and health by the Companion.  The Companion is the energy creature that runs this place and gives life to this otherwise small little planet.  He lets them know that it was the Companion that brought them here.  It did so to keep him company.  Cochrane can communicate with it in a strange way and he let it know he was lonely.  The Companion reacted by finding other humans to be with, even through Cochrane himself did not order it to do so.

  

Not just a Cochrane, he is the Cochrane!

If that wasn’t shocking enough when Cochrane’s identity was revealed that was equal to everything else that he said.  For he is Zefram Cochrane the man discovered warp drive for humanity, the one who made first contact and the first human to set foot on planets in the system of Alpha Centauri.  This was the equivalent to crashing into an island in the middle of the ocean and finding Albert Einstein still alive and living there.  It takes Kirk everything he has not to channel his inner fanboy. 

Cochrane communicating with the Companion

He quickly requests that Cochrane use his contact with the Companion to see if it can cure the Commissioner.    Cochrane gives it a shot and the trio gets to see how it is that Cochrane communicates with the cloud of energy.  Basically the cloud envelops him and they communicate through feelings.  Unfortunately for plot convenience the Companion can’t help the Commissioner.  This increases their need to get off planet and fast.  While Spock is trying to fix the shuttlecraft, which is problematic because while nothing works nothing is actually broken, he is then attacked by the Companion.  He survived and came to the conclusion the Companion was primarily electrical and could be overloaded.

The Companion attacks Spock

Cochrane had expressed feeling that he was a prisoner in a gilded cage so they wanted him to act as bait in a trap they built to overload the Companion.  Cochrane starts to have second thoughts; he thinks about all the good things that the Companion has done for him.  Kirk has to talk Cochrane into it explaining how interesting the universe now is and how Cochrane doesn’t want to spend eternity as the creature’s pet.  Cochrane reluctantly agrees complaining the whole time calling himself a “Judas goat.”

Spock’s claimed to Cochrane that their device could not fail but confides to Kirk there was a chance of failure as Cochrane sat out there in the middle of the trap.  The Companion arrives to communicate with Cochrane, Spock pulls trigger and Cochrane gets knocked out but the Companion just gets mad.  The white cloud turns red, flies into the room, and starts killing Kirk and Spock.  Fortunately, Cochrane wakes up and gets the Companion to break off.   

While this is all going around Scotty is command of the Enterprise and he is leading the crew trying to figure out where the Galileo went.  With no apparent breakup of the shuttlecraft Scotty begins a planet by planet search for their missing companions.  This could have qualified as a solid sub-plot like in “The Galileo Seven” but the episode doesn’t spend much time there.

 Since trying to kill the Companion didn’t work, Dr. McCoy encourages a different approach: just try to talk to it.  They grab one of their universal translators from the shuttlecraft and make their approach.  Cochrane summons the Companion and it arrives.  Kirk tries to talk to it with the translator and gets through.  The Companion is beyond impressed as no one had tried to communicate this way before.  The Starfleet trio is surprised to learn that the Companion is not just an entity but she is female.  They learn that she greatly cares for Cochrane who she calls “The Man” and wants to make sure he continues.  She says he needs company to continue or he would be lonely.  Kirk tries to appeal about their dying member but the Companion only cares about “The Man” and can’t let them go.  

The Trio find a way to talk with the Companion

After their first conversation with the Companion Cochrane wants to know why they gave her a female voice, to which Spock replies they didn’t, the computer reads her as female and she loves him.  This makes Cochrane angry, he comes to see his bonding with the Companion was some sort of sexual thing he didn’t consent to and starts to react like he had been slipped a roofie.  The Starfleet trio tries to convince him that it is not like that and to view his experience with the Companion as one that is very positive.  It probably doesn’t help Cochrane that these same men were trying to convince him that the Companion had to be destroyed only a short time ago.  

As Cochrane goes off to sulk Hedford starts to sink into a depression.  As her own life is drawing to a sudden end she starts to reflect on her past and finds that she was so obsessed with her job that she neglected her personal life and was sad over that lack of love and family.  Her rantings kind of remind me of the drugged Captain Kirk in “The Naked Time.”  When she hears Cochrane push the Companion’s love, a creature who nurtured him for 150 years, away like it was nothing she grows angry at the foolish Cochrane wishing that she could be loved like him. 

In Captain Kirk’s continued talks with the Companion he tries to appeal to her love and show her that if she truly loves someone she will set them free.  Kirk does put an idea in her mind but not the one that he intended.   The Companion disappears and the Commissioner comes out fully restored, referring to herself as “we” she explains that the Companion and Nancy Hedford have become one.  The unified Companion-NH approaches Cochrane, explains her feelings, and lets him go.  She can’t go back with them as she is tied to the planet but her impressive powers are gone, she will age normally and Cochrane will too.  She lets them know they all can leave and she wouldn’t be able to prevent them leaving if she wanted to.   Companion-NH is sad to be seeing them go but through her Hedford side she understands the human need for freedom and must be willing to let those she love move on even from her.  However Cochrane is in love with Companion-NH and he decides to stay!  He asks Kirk not to tell the galaxy about him and Kirk agrees leaving the two lovers (or is it three?) with their happy ending. 

     

The Companion-NH

Additional thoughts: Poor Scotty!  Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all get to meet the Father of Warp Drive while he is stuck on the bridge of the Enterprise scanning uninteresting planets one at a time.  What you think is the first thing he did when Kirk told him?  Yes, I know Kirk promised he was a going to tell anyone, but seriously could you not tell Scotty that you met the guy who made warp engines possible for humans?  I imagine as he greeted his crewmates as they returned to the ship in the shuttle bay, as soon as Kirk and McCoy blabbered about their encounter I imagine you see Mr. Scott run to the intercom as fast as he could to call the bridge and demand Mr. Sulu turn the ship around.  In my Head Canon I like to think that they did talk Cochrane into accepting this one visitor.

Speaking of Zefram Cochrane what is up with his request for Kirk not to tell anybody he’s there? That didn’t make sense with everything that had gone on in the rest of the episode.  He speaks about being lonely and he was interested to see what the rest the galaxy looked like, I understand he wants to stay behind with Companion-NH but why the request for no visitors?  It was completely off of his character arc. 

I hope Kirk didn’t take their request too seriously frankly any request from him too seriously, for emotionally he seemed to be all over the place.  At first is excited to see new people and then he’s secretive with them.  He originally clearly appreciates everything the Companion had done for him, and then suddenly feels like a prisoner, but when they want to move against the Companion he resists.  Then later he becomes irrationally angry before deciding to commit the rest of his life to this new unified being.  I clearly get the he is found love but you think he would appreciate if you platonic friendships as well?  How about another couple to get to go on a double date with or stay up one night playing The Settlers of Catan?  Granted I understand him not wanting mobs of people to show up and get all crazy about celebrity resulting in them tearing this place apart, but couldn’t Starfleet help regulate the amount of people to come visit him at any one time?  I think the couple (or trio) might benefit greatly from interaction with others.

Now the story of Nancy Hedford was shielded by a lot of plot armor.  The Companion can’t cure her illness directly but can do so by bonding with her?  I’m assuming that her importance in her diplomatic team was not as great as she tried to make it seem.  Maybe she is a type of person who is always overstating or overestimating her own importance.  Kirk didn’t seem too concerned about the conflict she was helping reside and states that Starfleet will probably just find another woman to help end that war, that makes me feel that she was not really that much of a force as far as those negotiations were concerned.  She may have been a great researcher and was able to add value to her team that way but she didn’t seem to have any diplomatic skills that I could see. 

I did feel for her during her breakdown though.  Is completely natural if you feel like your life may be suddenly coming to an end and look back on it to find your regrets start to pile up real high. This then combined with the realization that you can’t do anything about them.  As I stated in the summary it reminds me a lot of Captain Kirk’s breakdown when infected by the naked virus in the episode “The Naked Time.” **After writing the initial draft for this review I myself was involved in a serious accident where I feel down my basement steps and shattered the lower half of my left leg.  I spent the next few weeks in the hospital regretting my accident and many other unrelated decisions.**

  

I do want to point out that I really love the scene when the combined being Companion-NH was having some downtime with Cochrane and she attempts to look at him through her veil recreating her view of him when she was the cloud creature.   With this great ending it in a way reminds me of the ending of “The Devil in the Dark” when the Enterprise encountered a new life form that was threatening some miners and was able to come out with a solution that benefited all parties.

When I was a kid I used to read a book called The Giving Tree.   Actually, hated it and I still do. It is a rather messed up story about a sentient tree that’s in love with “The Boy” and sacrifices everything about itself its leaves, branches, ultimately its very body to “The Boy’s” happiness.  The problem is “The Boy” is such a self-centered jerk who never once even seems to appreciate the tree for all it is doing for him that he becomes impossible to like. The story is supposed to represent a mother’s love but instead the tale comes off as this very unhealthy one-sided relationship.   This story could have ended up like that particularly after the way Cochrane acted when he discovered that the Companion was female.  This resolution was much nicer with the two of them (or three) coming together to form a real relationship in which they both (or all) benefit.  It left me with a much warmer feeling than I ever got with the other story.

A messed up story

One final note when they find out the Companion was female they instantly assume that she has romantic feelings for Cochran that they didn’t assume before.  Okay this assumption turned out to be correct but weird assumption to be making.  It’s right up there with Ned Stark coming to the conclusion on Joffrey’s patronage because of hair color.  It turns out he was right but the thought process was logically wrong.  I thought the first time I saw this episode that the Companion was keeping Cochrane as some sort of pet.  If I met a woman who had a pet and I discovered that pet was male I wouldn’t conclude that the two had a romantic relationship or that she thought of her pet in any other respect but it just being a pet.  

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5