Strange New Worlds?
by Janice L. Newman
In the first season of Star Trek, we saw the crew visit plenty of “strange new worlds”. From the rocky planet where they met The Man Trap to the caves of The Devil in the Dark to the green and deceptively-pleasant planet This Side of Paradise, they took us to places we’d never been and introduced us to thoughtful, interesting ideas. Even when sets were more familiar locales (Miri, Tomorrow is Yesterday, and The City on the Edge of Forever come to mind) the stories were usually fresh and interesting.
In the second half of the second season, we’ve been seeing a new trend, perhaps based on ideas first introduced in “Miri”: planets which have, for one reason or another, evolved to look almost exactly like Earth at some point in history. A Piece of the Action took us to Prohibition-era Chicago. Patterns of Force brought the crew to Nazi Germany. And this week’s episode took us to a ‘modernized’ version of ancient Rome.
The story opens with the Enterprise seeking out the survivors from a ship that was hit by a meteorite six years ago. They track the trajectory of the debris back to a planet and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to seek out any survivors. They immediately encounter a group of escaped slaves, members of a sun-worshiping cult, who agree to help them. Before they manage to get near the city, though, they are captured and imprisoned. They’re greeted by Merik, the captain of the lost vessel and now “First Citizen”, and Proconsul Claudius Marcus, who knows much more than he should about who they are and why they’re there.
Claudius tries to force Captain Kirk to call down the crew of his ship. When Kirk refuses, Claudius orders Spock and McCoy thrown into the ‘arena’ for a televised battle. The set is a fun merging of modern culture and ancient Roman aesthetics. As Kirk watches with helpless frustration, Spock unwillingly fights against the gladiator assigned to him while McCoy is fortunately assigned Flavius, a “Brother of the Sun” who tries to refuse violence, even as he is “encouraged” to fight by a guard wielding a whip. The “Amok Time” fight theme is well-integrated here, and it makes for an exciting scene. In the end Spock defeats his opponent and rescues McCoy by giving Flavius a Vulcan neck pinch to knock him out.
Spock and McCoy are returned to their cell, where Spock visibly agonizes over their separation, repeatedly trying the bars and looking for a way out. McCoy sheepishly tries to thank Spock for saving his life, which Spock responds to with replies clearly meant to needle and annoy the good doctor. It’s nice to see their roles reversed for once, with Spock doing the deliberate antagonizing. McCoy responds by getting in Spock’s face and hissing out a pointed jab at Spock’s vulnerabilities. Spock’s quiet response, which manages to combine acknowledgement and defiance in two words and a lifted eyebrow, is a work of art. This is my favorite scene in the episode, and one of my favorite scenes in all of Star Trek so far. All of the ‘old married couple’ arguing and mutual antagonism we’ve seen in prior episodes between the ‘heart’ and ‘mind’ of the Enterprise come together to shape this moment of intense intimacy.
Meanwhile, Kirk is brought to a luxurious bedchamber and offered the use of an eager female slave. He doesn’t refuse.
Ah, there's Roddenberry's influence
Claudius returns to Kirk a few hours later in a rather nice transition and tells him he is to be executed on national television. Scotty, who has not been idle on the Enterprise, delivers a careful blow to the city’s electrical system, blacking everything just long enough for Kirk to get away and return to the prison (where he tells his two officers that their captors ‘threw him a few curves’, haha). Merick redeems himself by tossing Kirk a communicator, and the three men beam back to the Enterprise in the nick of time, leaving the Roman planet behind.
Credit where it's due–the escape scene is masterful
And so it’s all over but the shouting, or rather, the final pun: the sun worshippers don’t worship the sun, they worship the son – as in, the son of god. Cue smiles from some of the Christians in the audience and an eyeroll or two from the Jewish and non-religious viewers.
Did I like this episode? There were many things to like, starting with the scene between McCoy and Spock, which is a five if taken by itself. There were definitely some things to dislike, such as the ‘sun/son’ setup and Kirk’s unhesitating willingness to take advantage of the attractive female slave offered to him. Overall, though, the cinematography, use of library music, and use of sets and props was a cut above the usual. The episode was well-paced and exciting, and Shatner’s acting was more understated than usual. Despite a couple of things dragging it down, I give it four stars.
The Unbroken Planet
by Joe Reid
We tend to think of heroes as powerful people who use their powers to right the wrongs of the world. Star Trek has provided us with heroes that always right wrongs. When Jim Kirk gets to a new world and finds something amiss, he will do everything possible to make sure that baddies are struck down and peace is restored. This has been especially true when the cause of the disturbance on a planet was a human, or even worse… a Klingon! This season we had two examples of Starfleet people purposefully taking control of native populations for their own benefit. In “Patterns of Force”, John Gill literally turned the inhabitants of one planet into Nazis in order to “help” them. Then, in “The Omega Glory”, we had Ron Tracey ruling over one faction of humans to eradicate another in order to gain immortality. Both stories took place on Earth-like planets which boasted histories divergent from our own. Each story ended with Captain Kirk dealing with the corrupting influence and setting the cultures back on course.
This week’s “Bread and Circuses” started off much the same as the mentioned episodes. Some Starfleet person was stuck on a very Earth-like planet with a divergent history. The crew had a similar obligation as before; to get the space people off the planet before they ruin the people of that world and pervert their development. Here is where the similarities end. “Bread and Circuses” turns that recurrent theme on its ear. Instead of the inhabitants of a planet having to contend with a strong and smart human dominating them, this time it was the weak human, Captain Merik of the SS Beagle, who was dominated by the strong and intelligent Proconsul Marcus. Marcus overpowered Merik’s mind and will, causing him to sacrifice most of his crew to gladiatorial games in order to save himself.
Puppet and master
Previous episodes on this theme had Kirk seeking to find an alien titan like himself and remove them from power. This world already had a home-grown titan, who corrupted and broke the man Kirk was looking for. There was nothing for Kirk to set right on this world. The humans were the victims, not the victimizers this time. Kirk found himself outmatched by Proconsul Marcus. He was captured, threatened, and made powerless by Marcus, just like Merik was before, although Kirk put up more of a fight than Merik did, earning some degree of respect from Marcus. Marcus was eventually going to break him, as well, given enough time. The mission ended with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy fleeing for their lives and Merik dying from a knife to his back after a last-minute act of failed heroism.
This was the one time where the captain of the Enterprise could not fix the problem on a world. It’s mainly because there was no problem to fix, at least none that he was legally allowed to fix. The society on the planet was progressing down its natural evolutionary path. Human intervention didn't topple the wagon. Humans ended up run over by the wagon, which carried on unabated. “Bread and Circuses” had a subversive twist on what had preceded it in the other episodes. It felt original, even though some themes started off appearing reused before the twist came about. In total, the costumes, acting, sets, camera work, and story were all done well. It was pretty good.
4 stars
Don't throw back the throwback
by Gideon Marcus
David Levinson, who tends to write letters in after the fact rather than contribute directly to our Trek coverage, noted recently that he was starting not to care if the show got renewed for a third season. We had run into a pretty dire patch of episodes, after all. But between last week and this week, his faith is somewhat restored.
Mine, too. I observed early on that "Bread and Circuses" felt more like a first-season episode than any of its second-season brethren. Perhaps it was the copious use of outdoor settings, or Shatner's return to first season form. Maybe it was Ralph Senensky's crisp direction (he may well supplant Marc Daniels as my favorite on the show). Maybe it was the collaboration of the two Genes, Roddenberry and Coon, who reeled in each other's excesses rather than adding to them.
I also absolutely adored the fusion of gladiatorial games and modern television. It was subtle satire in the Sheckley or even Pohl/Kornbluth vein.
Not much different from a boxing match or football game
The one missed opportunity was setting the planet on a near-Earth rather than an exact duplicate, a la "Miri." I've always liked Lorelei's idea that the galaxy is largely populated by Earth-clones (for some unknown reason) and that's why we get these close parallel history episodes. Having a completely different planet evolve humans, let alone 20th Century Romans, beggared the imagination.
On the other hand, as our newcomer, Blue Cathey-Thiele explains, maybe it's not so implausible after all…
Four stars on my end. There are some hiccoughs in the episode, but they're lumped early on, and you've forgotten them by the conclusion.
Bread, Circuses, and Laurel Leaves
By Mx. Blue Cathey-Thiele
In "Bread and Circuses", McCoy comments that the Romans had no sun worshippers. He may need to brush up on his history – or even just ship logs! Earlier this season in "Who Mourns For Adonais", the crew met Apollo on Pollux IV, and while many Roman deities shared traits but not names with their Greek counterparts, the god of music and the sun was known as Apollo to both cultures.
And this raises an interesting question: could the wayward god have stopped over at this planet on his way to Pollux IV? It would go a long way in explaining its many similarities to both modern and ancient Earth. Whether he visited alone or with the rest of his pantheon, his powers would have been enough to leave a lasting impression. A world built to suit the needs of a deity who thrived in Greece and Rome close to two millennia ago, by the time the Enterprise shows up. In fact, a better question might be, why would Apollo ever leave?
Perhaps it was not him, but one of his cohort. He was the last of his kind, and while he said that gods do not die the way mortals do, they fade. Per his account, one of the goddesses spread herself thinner and thinner until she was gone. Could some part of her have found this world and influenced its development? Remained there as things like the industrial revolution came along, the invention of television, while her diminished presence ensured that the Roman Empire kept a firm grip on society?
The ex-senator explains why he no longer worships Apollo
The inhabitants even spoke English! Having a lingual origin of Latin would greatly increase the chances of a language developing with even a slight similarity to the form of English currently spoken. Who better to serve as a source of this language than someone who was there when the people around him used it on a daily basis? Apollo (or his shadowy companion) would be a living dictionary.
We can even guess about the stirrings of the "Son (not sun) of God". Apollo stayed long enough on Earth for belief to fade in him and his fellow gods of Olympus. He would have been around to hear of an emerging belief system, particularly one that was in competition to his own status. Apollo was hardly shy about sharing his own history, and if he mentioned this Earth faith, someone, somewhere would take interest.
To this viewer, a powerful visitor leaving a lasting influence on the planet seems far more likely than running across yet another example of "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development" in such a short span of time.
4 stars.
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Cave Trek: for sure!
Wig Trek: yes
Fog Trek: nil
Doinnggg Trek: nil
Star Trek does sword-and-sandal movie in this one. But it has a clever satirical spin directed against bogus sports, and audiences that are kept pliable by addiction to TV. Pitting Dr. McCoy against a standard-issue tanned and hunky Roman gladiator was not something I ever expected to see!
This teleplay was another one to keep the accountants happy, relying mostly on costumes and props on hand (and stock photos of neoclassical buildings, including one with a French inscription). Hoo boy – how many times by now have we seen Kirk and Spock behind jail cell bars?! That jail set must have appeared in hundreds of movies and TV shows. If I had the autographs of every TV star who has gripped those bars, I could fill an album.
I wondered if NBC was comfortable with the scene involving Kirk and the blonde slave woman Drusilla. The show has had women’s costumes before from which fabric was conspicuously missing. This time the show made it clear that Kirk and the lady had relations, not just when the camera turns politely away from their embrace, but when Kirk wakes on the large bed and glances over to the side where she had been lying. At least the camera didn’t show him smoking a cigarette and her at a dressing table mirror, brushing her hair. Kirk doesn’t look too happy. If his one-night-stand violation of the Prime Directive leads to a birth in nine months, he’ll save some Latin to mull, all right: post coitum omne animal triste indeed.
As to the Sun/Son material – this too was pure sword-and-sandal, with the Son essentially a great social reformer like Dr. King, rather than the alarming figure that meets readers of the Gospels. (Novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor brings out the difference.) According to the logic of the story, the principal characters should have spoken Latin. Aside from difficulties with the logistics of a 50-minute TV sci-fi adventure story with everyone speaking Latin (subtitles in English?), Latin would not have worked for the “Sun”/”Son” twist ending. That twist will not have surprised some viewers, despite the attempt to distract viewers with the scene of the landing party and the escaped slaves walking with the camera centered on the sun overhead.
As for the 12-year-olds in the audience, this one had plenty of action. It has a nice balance of material with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura. But it seems to be a mediocre teleplay overall.
While I may have had hopes for a new season after last week, this week went pretty far to dashing them. I suppose there are enough moments here to inflate my score to a three, but just barely. And that's almost all the jail scene Janice talked about.
An awful lot of this episode was bad for my health. I was shouting at the screen that the Romans darn well did have a sun god: not just Apollo, as Blue mentioned, but also Sol, who later developed into Sol Invictus as a counter to the growing Christianity and the cult of Mithras. I rolled my eyes so hard at the pun at the end that I think I saw my brain. And every time they went to the TV studio, I was reminded of a bit by the late, great Ernie Kovacs about a Roman news broadcaster that he did both on the radio and television. Honestly, they probably owe his estate a few bucks.
It occurred to me that this week and "The Omega Glory" would have worked better if the show was set not 200 years in the future, but 2000. Set things after humanity went to the stars and then interstellar civilization collapsed. Starfleet could then be part of the effort to put things back together, and the Roman planet, the gangster planet, and the Yangs and Kohms make a little more sense.
Finally, I've hear rumors that Shatner isn't the easiest person in the world to work with. I wonder if that goes part of the way to explaining why they've had a Jewish Canadian give impassioned renditions of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Preamble to the United States Constitution and grow wistful over the burgeoning worship of Jesus.
I made a typo in my earlier comment, which should read, "If his one-night-stand violation of the Prime Directive leads to a birth in nine months, he’ll HAVE some Latin to mull."
With reference to David Levinson's comment: if the Star Trek producers are trying to get Shatner's goat, and if they want to write teleplays around historical costumes that can be used free or rented cheaply, why not have the Enterprise go to a planet where "American colonists" and "Canadians" are at war, as happened several times (War of 1812, etc.) — and require Shatner's character to side with the Americans?
But really, we 12-year-olds would rather read Landmark books or Grosset and Dunlap We Were There books for our costume adventures. Let's hope Star Trek cuts loose from these Earth-but-not-Earth stories. Any hope for next week, though, in that regard, was squelched by the coming attractions….
I was starting to wonder if I was going nuts, seeing this get four stars from everyone. For me this was middling, maybe three stars but I can't go any higher. Really it's 2.5 stars. The premise is implausible, which is not unusual for the series, but at this point I'm just tired of the "it's like Earth but X" routine. There have been quite a few episodes at this point about false gods, but this has to be most disingenuous use of that premise I've seen yet. The ending made me cringe.