by Gideon Marcus
With two episodes under its belt, the third season of Star Trek has both disappointed and elated. The general reaction to "Spock's Brain" amongst the fan population (beyond the Journey) was universally negative. Buck Coulson of Yandro has even called for this season's producer Fred Freiberger to be ridden out on a rail. On the other hand, "The Enterprise Incident" wowed everyone. And so, we waited eagerly for Trek at 9:59 PM on a Friday night, a night when we could have been out drinking and carousing (who are we kidding—we're probably the only group for whom the Friday night "death slot" is actually perfect timing).
What we got was…well, closer to "Spock's Brain" in terms of quality. In brief:
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a remarkably Earthlike planet, complete with pine trees, honeysuckle, and orange blossom (Spock must feel left out; when's the last time they visited a world just like Vulcan?) They are on a tight deadline: a moon-massed asteroid is making its inexorable way toward a collision with the planet. While it will take two months to reach its target, the Enterprise must deflect the body now, or the ship will not be able to sufficiently perturb the colossus from its present orbit.
Why they don't do this first is not explained. Perhaps they wanted to make sure there was something to protect on the planet before they went through all the trouble.
"I guess we do need to save this planet."
There is: a race of humans on the planet. These are also familiar, exhibiting traits of the Navaho, Cherokee, and Delaware tribes in ancient America (which sounds as plausible as a mix of French, Turkish, and Finnish cultures to me, but what do I know?) Beyond this, they discover an alien obelisk, clearly not made by the present inhabitants. A door to its interior is inadvertently opened, and Kirk falls in. After an encounter with some mind-numbing equipment inside, the captain loses all of his memory. Spock and McCoy, unable to find him, reluctantly abandon him to shift the asteroid.
Kirk emerges from the obelisk and is immediately accepted as a god. It helps that he saves a drowned child with artificial respiration and has a profound knowledge of primitive agriculture and lighting techniques. Conflict arises when he is given the Medicine Man's badge of office literally from the head of the former bearer. Worse still, in his new role he is expected to man the obelisk, which is actually a deflector station, when the asteroid approaches. Of course, Kirk doesn't know how to do this. Well, let's hope the Enterprise can stop it.
"Oy. I feel like the whole Sioux Nation is tap-dancing on my head."
They can't. They burn out every circuit on the ship trying to repel the asteroid, then to destroy it. (We do learn that the Enterprise has four forward-facing phasers, which is a nice bit of trivia.) Their warp drive destroyed, the starship must limp back to the planet on impulse power, just four hours ahead of the asteroid, and try to find a way to activate the obelisk. Spock spends two months on the problem, concluding only at the last minute that the strange glyphs decorating the structure are musical notes. When recited in proper sequence, they will open the thing up.
Spock, staying up to figure out the glyphs…or perhaps he's watching Johnny Carson.
Cut to Kirk (now known as "Kirok") atop the obelisk, the trees swaying and thunder rolling from the tidal force of the approaching moon. Beside him is Miramanee, the native princess to whom he has been wed and who bears his child. And there are lots of rocks. A whole bunch of rocks. Not tossed by the wind but by angry tribesmen who are angry that the false god can't figure out the obelisk.
"Oooo, that smarts!"
Spock and McCoy arrive in the nick-o-time to save the day. Kirk's memory is restored. He gets them in the obelisk. Spock works the machine (pressing a single button), and everything is fine. Except Miramanee. Her internal injuries are too great, and she and the unborn child are doomed. Kirk is sad. FINIS.
"Your star medicine man can save me, right?" "Um…"
Boy. The biggest problem with this episode is its contrived nature. This asteroid must be in the planet's solar system, yet the Enterprise has to go Warp NINE to reach it in time, straining its engines. Last episode, Warp Nine took the starship through the entire Romulan Neutral Zone in about a minute. Then, on impulse, it takes two months to come back. In Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Doomsday Machine, Balance of Terror, and The Menagerie, it's established that impulse may be slower than warp, but it's still faster than light. Get your technologies straight!
"Whatever you do, Mr. Sulu, don't take us out of Reverse!"
I also have trouble with the length of time it takes for Spock to decode the glyphs. In prior episodes, particularly "Wolf in the Fold" and "Conscience of the King", it's been shown that the ship's computer is extremely knowledgeable and very good at coordinating facts. This should have been a trivial problem for it to solve. Moreover, why didn't Spock enlist help? After all, it's not as if there isn't anyone else on the vessel skilled at communications, foreign tongues, and music…
Did Uhura have any lines this episode? Or was it just this quick cutaway?
The episode isn't terrible. It's reasonably paced (except when scenes are padded, like when Kirk, in voiceover, tells us exactly what he just told Miramanee in person about the shipboard dreams he's been having). The score is mostly new. The special effects are tremendous. The on-location shooting is lovely, especially since we're not at the usual Vasquez Rocks location (q.v. "Arena", "Friday's Child", etc. etc. etc.)
But it could have been more. A real exploration of Kirk finally getting a beach to walk on, away from the burdens of command. Instead, between the contrived plot, director Jud Taylor's inability to restrain Shatner's innate desire to chew scenery, and the tired white-man-as-savior-to-red-savages cliché (and couldn't the show have followed the trend set by High Chapparal and cast actual Native Americans?), I can't give this tale more than 2.5 stars.
That's better than Margaret Armen's first essay into Trekdom, "Gamesters of Triskelion", but that's damning with faint praise…
Cosmic Implications
by Lorelei Marcus
I cannot deny that this episode is severely flawed in many aspects, and I think that is important to highlight. But I would rather devote my piece to the interesting universal implications brought on by the existence of "The Preservers".
As Spock explains in the latter half of the episode, the Earth ecology and Indian tribes appear to have been seeded on the planet (rather than having evolved there) by the same advanced race that left the obelisk. His theory is that this alien race sought out dying civilizations and relocated them to inhabitable planets to preserve them.
Per McCoy's following off-hand observation, this becomes an easy explanation for many, if not all, of the humanoids scattered across the galaxy.
Previously, I theorized that the Star Trek universe actually comprised many alternate Earths in a sort of condensed multiverse, leading to a vast array of inhabitable planets and human-like aliens. With the addition of the Preservers, I think this theory is still viable, but now under the assumption that the many Earths were created to seed human communities. Indeed, perhaps even the moon-massed asteroid was placed around the planet to simulate our own moon.
This raises the question whether all the Earthlike worlds, from the one in "Miri" to pre-contaminated Sigma Iota 2 to the Roman world of "Bread and Circuses", were Preserver colonies. The over-controlling computer in "Return of the Archons" may have been a Preserver artifact left to regulate the colony. "Patterns of Force" even has two planets of humanoids next to each other. Maybe the Zeons were originally rescued Jews from 1940's Europe, explaining their overly apt names so similar to Isaac and Abram.
Theorizing aside, two major questions remain surrounding the Preservers. First, who are they? We've thus far encountered quite a few super powerful races who could fit the bill, but I think the technology level and the musical basis for communications suggests a less advanced level than, say the Organians (who presumably are beyond such things).
My first thought was the Greek Gods in "Who Mourns for Adonais", but the implication is that Apollo and the other Gods were stranded on their planet after one trip to Earth, making it impossible for them to seed multiple colonies. A more likely candidate is Trelane's race. The obsession with and research of human cultures, the machine that can turn a hostile world into a clement one, and even the knowledge of music—Trelane has a harpsichord in his living room—all make the adults of Trelane's race a leading candidate. Trelane himself may have been studying an old human civilization to locate and preserve future ones.
This leads me to my second question: why are the Preservers obsessed with humans in particular? We have seen there are more intelligent aliens than just humans, with their own rich civilizations and history. The Vulcans are the prime example of this. Could the Romulans have originated from a Preserver colony seeded from Vulcan? It seems quite likely, particularly if the colonists were obtained during or shortly after Vulcan's warring period.
Could this mean there are also rogue Klingon colonies evolved separately from the main empire? Did they exist once but were subsequently captured and incorporated? If the Preservers did not single out humans for preservation, perhaps the reason human settlements are so often found by the Enterprise is that the Preservers seeded them close to Earth for Terrans to find.
As my compatriots and I have mentioned, this was not a great episode. However, it kept me entertained nearly to the end, and its premises create vast implications about the Star Trek universe. For that, at least, I give it three stars.
Pilgrim's Regress
by Amber Dubin
After fans fought tooth and nail to prevent the series's cancellation, you'd think the episodes in season 3 would reflect the very best writing Star Trek has to offer. Instead, for episode 3, we have writer Margaret Armen, author of "Gamesters of Triskellion," who has not yet proven herself to be the show's best and brightest. I can't imagine the way this episode turned out was entirely her fault, however. I sense the pitch for this episode went somewhat like this: "Hey Margaret, we have this leftover set from a Western near a lake that we can use for this episode. We can only spare a couple regular staff members for the field shots so make sure at least half of the episode takes place on the ship. Oh, and Shatner's been complaining he hasn't had enough space to spread his wings so make sure this one's especially Kirk-focused. Make it happen."
I imagine the resulting scramble was: "uh, ok.. Western themes.. uh, Pocahontas.. and the rest of the crew was separated by .. uh.. an asteroid! and it's Star Trek because of.. ancient alien technology! Phew, I did it!" The resulting episode feels rushed, uninspired, and at times as frustratingly offensive as I find nearly all Westerns.
They get all the creativity out of the way at the beginning of the episode when they describe the planet as earth-like but entirely crater-free, and an advanced alien obelisk is introduced that Kirk accidentally opens with a series of tones. The fact that he gets amnesia by accidentally activating a booby trap, I found pretty creative as well, even though Shatner's delivery of the moment of shock leaves much to be desired.
It's all downhill from there, however, as the very premise for why the three bridge officers are exploring the planet is completely absurd. It's ridiculous that they would be casually exploring an imperiled planet, 30 minutes before their last opportunity to deviate the oncoming asteroid's path. It's silly that Kirk wanders off by himself without telling anyone what he's doing, and even more absurd that Spock has to explain to McCoy with rocks why they have run out of time to recover their captain when he gets lost. The resulting tension on the ship is painfully contrived, as not only is it revealed that they're so far from the asteroid that they have to speed at warp 9 for so long that they burn out the engines, but they also are immediately out of options when two rounds of phaser fire seems to have no effect. It's also silly that Spock would make the decision to limp back to the planet on impulse power, directly in the path of the asteroid and it's sillier that it takes him almost that entire two months to decode the music-based glyphs on the obelisk, when it has been well-established how well-versed the half-Vulcan is in musical pursuits.
The plot on the planet is not much more cogent than on the ship. The brain-damaged Kirk immediately woos and falls in love with the chief's daughter, because all red roads lead to Pocahontas. I cannot even bother getting offended by how many times the Native Americans are referred to as "primitive," even though it's more than infuriating that the longer Kirk spends with the tribe, the more broken and rudimentary his speech becomes (although this could have been Shatner more than enthusiastically taking advantage of an opportunity to talk more slowly). The part I get most offended by is a white savior bringing with him the innovative concepts of food preservation and lamps. Native American tribes were famous for their food preservation techniques! Moreover, the concept that indoor lighting had to be introduced to Native Americans is beyond insulting. Even cavemen brought torches into their caves! How primitive are they claiming this tribe to be? Also, I simply cannot abide the idea that an entire space-faring medical team could not heal Kirk's wife's mortal wound that could only have been inflicted by a maximum of two rocks. It was obvious the character had to die so that Kirk didn't look like a monster for abandoning his family on a backwater planet, but I think it's a mark of bad writing when I can so blatantly see the intention behind weak plot points.
Overall, this episode plays very much like a holiday special. It's the type of episode to be watched when you're stuffed as a tick after thanksgiving dinner and don't feel like getting up to change the channel. It's not particularly exhausting, but it's also neither memorable nor good. Someone did spend quite a lot of time making that cloak and obelisk look beautiful, though, so for that I give the episode..
2 stars.
"We can fly! We can fly! We can fly!"
[Come join us tomorrow night (October 11th) for the next thrilling episode of Star Trek! KGJ is broadcasting the show live with commercials and accompanied by trekzine readings. You won't want to miss it…]
Here are my field notes.
Wig Trek: abundant
Cave Trek: yes – the interior of the obelisk
Fog Trek: no
Doinnggg Trek: No
See below for a fifth category.
Who’d have thought a Star Trek teleplay from early in the new season would remind you irresistibly of the Cowsills’ annoying bubblegum song from a few months ago, “Indian Lake”? But the opening of tonight’s show does just that!
You take a bus marked "Lakewood Drive"
And you keep on ridin' 'til you're out of the city
Where the air is fine with the sweet smell of pine
And the countryside's pretty
After the camera moves past the lakefront that opens the show, McCoy exclaims over the pines (never mind that the trees seem to be firs). It’s Indian Lake! There they are just across the water.
Indian Lake is a scene you should make with your little one
Keep it in mind if you're lookin' to find
A place in the summer sun
You can swim in the cove, have a snack in the grove
Or you can rent a canoe
At Indian Lake you'll be able to make the way the Indians do.
Captain Kirk loses his memory and makes the scene with his little one, in this case a tall Indian princess. He makes out with her the way the Indians do. But it all seems phony, as if the teleplay was sold to the producers because the costumes would be from stock on hand. The obelisk is presumably made of plywood. I found myself wanting to write new lyrics to the Cowsills’ tune, for a Star Trek song written specially for this show, “Indian Fake.”
Star Trek revived a familiar plot idea for this one: once again a stable culture that is guided by a computer (“Return of the Archons,” “The Apple,” and “Spock’s Brain” just a couple of weeks ago).
The plot doesn’t hang together. The “asteroid” that threatens the planet is so far away that the Enterprise must rush to it at warp 9 (!), yet every minute counts. Distances are vague, but if the ship has to zip along at warp 9 to get to it in time, the “asteroid” must be way out there in the distant stars. Did the producers think no one would be paying attention?
The producers must have thought that the Kirk-Miramanee romance would hold the interest of audiences. Maybe it worked for some viewers. Though I’m often forced to put up with romance subplots when watching this series, they’re not what draws me to science fiction, and there’s no chemistry evoked between Shatner and guest star Sabrina Scharf.
But perhaps we need a fifth category for classifying Star Trek teleplays now that this season has begun, given the suggestion of something romantic between Spock and the Romulan commander last time, and the Kirk-Miramanee thing this time. So –
Love Trek: yes
Did Mack Reynolds write this episode? All right , I know he didn't, but it certainly fits right in with the ham-fisted, overly stereotyped way he usually writes about Native Americans.
I was also deeply annoyed at the dilemma of searching for Kirk or stopping the asteroid. They could easily have done both. Just leave McCoy and a handful of others — some security guys, maybe an anthropologist — on the planet with some supplies and tents while Spock takes the ship to stop the big rock. Problem solved and Miramanee doesn't have to die.
The season is 1-2 right now, and next week's episode looks like it's going to be on the bad side, too. Yuck. (I'd say "Ugh" but not after this episode. Somebody might get the wrong idea.)