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[November 14, 1966] Star Trek: "The Corbomite Maneuver"

November 14, 2021 Gideon Marcus 6 Comments

A Strange Step Backward

by Gideon Marcus

With the round robin review format we've set up for Star Trek, everyone's obligations are pretty small, with the exception of the person assigned the head: the first, summarizing piece of the article. I drew the short straw this week, possibly the most challenging week in the history of this new show.

Because a summary's job is to explain what happened. And in "The Corbomite Maneuver", virtually nothing happened.

Repeatedly.

The episode boils down to this: The Enterprise travels into an unexplored area of space. An alien ship intercepts the Earth ship, traps it, and threatens to destroy it. The alien ship takes many guises — first a multicolored cube, then a giant globe of incandescent lights, then a set of glowing soap bubbles (admittedly gorgeous effects), but the scenario is always the same. The Enterprise tries to break free, dramatic music plays, people fall out of their chairs or bounce around in hallways. The navigator-of-the-week, this time a ‘Lieutenant Bailey’ (anxious, overeager, promoted too early) occasionally has a breakdown. Lieutenant Uhura says "Hailing Frequencies open" a half dozen times, looking rather bored.

"I should have stayed with Ma Bell…"

Eventually, we learn that the whole thing was a test. The alien, Balok of the First Federation (Ron Howard's little brother), never planned to destroy the Enterprise. On the one hand, I appreciate an episode without a villain, one that challenges the hubris that we are the most powerful or the kindest race in the galaxy.

On the other hand, once we know that Kirk and his crew were never in danger, everything becomes a cheat. The tension, the clever attempts to outmaneuver Balok (with warp engines or poker metaphors), all of it is meaningless.

Add to that a certain unevenness of the episode. It is pretty clear this episode was filmed before the others we've seen in the series. Spock is yelling again, is wearing his old uniform, and his haircut is more severe. Shatner has less of a grip on the Kirk character, playing him on a short fuse. As with "Where No Man has Gone Before", everything feels rawer, cheaper, more like an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Perhaps it was the consciously military mien of the scenario and character interactions.

All this kvetching suggests I didn't like the episode. That's not quite right. There are some great exchanges, particularly any involving DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy). George Takei's Sulu is a delight, with a lot of great subtle expressions. Yeoman Rand got an entire episode free of assault (though Kirk resents her existence as a woman). The special effects are really excellent, and probably the reason the episode got delayed.

That's a really big Christmas ornament…

But for the most part, I was just kind of bored. That's a new experience for me with Star Trek, which has hitherto been either great or problematic. However, if "Maneuver" really is an early episode, that means we're actually on an upward rather than a downward trend. Plus, next week's episode, which looks like it will incorporate the terrific first pilot, is very promising.

So, three stars, but I won't hold it against the show.

Zero-Sum Game

by Janice L. Newman

As Gideon notes, The Corbomite Maneuver was a, shall we say, uneven episode. The first time the ship was ‘about to be destroyed’ it was exciting. By the third time, it was definitely less impactful. On the other hand, the story had plenty of great moments. The problem was, these ended up undermining each other.

For example, Captain Kirk pulls off a wonderful bluff where he apparently convinces the enemy that destroying their ship will result in the destruction of their own vessel – the bluff being the titular ‘Corbomite Maneuver’. It’s a desperate, brilliant moment that would have made a fantastic climax for the episode. Everything, from Spock saying that it was ‘well-played’, to Bailey returning to the bridge, to Kirk’s sigh of relief when the ship is not destroyed (not to mention McCoy’s overeager offer to teach Spock the game of poker) makes for a great piece of television.

The gambit pays off.

Unfortunately, it’s not the climax of the episode – or rather, it’s the climax, but not the end. And then, when we do reach the end of the story, we learn something which by itself would have made for a clever plot twist. It turns out that the entire set of encounters were orchestrated by a single entity, a powerful being who claims that it was ‘all a test’.

This is something we haven’t seen before. Yes, in Where No Man Has Gone Before and Charlie X we had immensely powerful beings, be they humans or aliens. And in The Cage we did see powerful alien minds manipulating humans to try to get something from them. But we’ve never seen (presumably benevolent) aliens simply ‘testing’ humans to learn their ‘real intentions’. It would have been a great reversal, if only it hadn’t undermined everything which had come before. The clever parts of the story, rather than building on each other, unfortunately canceled each other out.

"Just kidding!"

Lieutenant Bailey's interactions with the captain rang an odd note in the episode. Kirk's "tough love" attitude toward him reminded me strongly of the captain in "The Bedford Incident", and I kept half-expecting Bailey to fire the ship's 'phasers' when he wasn't supposed to (instead he did the opposite, freezing in the moment of crisis).

I do want to make several notes about special effects. First, the lights making up alien ships were extremely effective (and I understand these effects were so involved that they delayed the release of this episode, which was meant to be much earlier in the line up). Second, the figure of Commander Balock that appeared on the Enterprise’s screen was an unconvincing one, yet it was plausible enough for our generation — after all, we were raised on puppet shows and other primitive special effects. The fact that the episode’s writer subverted these expectations and made the figure an actual puppet was absolutely ingenious. And third, the best special effect in the entire show had to be the dubbing of little Clint Howard with an adult’s voice.

"You Have Two Minutes Until Howdy Doody Time!"

3 stars, for the special effects, the cleverness, and the banter.

Off Kilter

by Lorelei Marcus

I enjoyed the overall message of "The Corbomite Maneuver", but I felt the episode had to make some sacrifices to get there. In particular, the atmosphere of the ship and everyone's characterizations were severely altered from what we've seen thus far. Captain Kirk seemed forced into the role of the hard-edged, authoritarian Captain. The women of the crew were more stereotypically portrayed, pushed aside even, so that the men could have their dramatic moments. Uhura looks bored. Yeoman Rand exists to make coffee and salad and annoy Captain Kirk by being a woman. All in all, the Enterprise felt much more current-day Navy in portrayal, and more militaristic in character.

"Did I say 'at ease', mister?"

The special effects were, as has been noted, a cut above. But I would have liked to have seen this story told with the same Enterprise we're coming to know and love, rather than this odd, warped one, seemingly created to fit the plot's needs.

With a mid-tier story, great visuals, and inconsistent characterization, I give "Corbomite" three stars.

by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

A Different Kind of Man Behind the Curtain

When I first heard Balok speak in this week’s episode, his voice reminded me of Frank Morgan’s booming performance in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The imagery and tactics reminded me of it as well: flowing curtains of light cascaded over Balok’s alien face, the crew of the Enterprise scrambling to bargain and trick their way out of the crisis as a seemingly all-powerful wizard holding hapless visitors to arbitrary and impossible rules.

When we found that, like The Great and Powerful Oz, Balok was a small man, pulling puppet strings to intimidate and test those around him, the twist felt familiar. But that moment was also where these two fantasies diverged: where the Wizard is venal and greedy, Balok is confident and curious. He is not a huckster, but a representative of a technologically-advanced society, able to control a vast space edifice from his tiny ship, and interested in learning the truth about the crew of the Enterprise.

While Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man beg the Wizard to make them whole and take them home, Kirk, McCoy and Bailey don’t need any such boons from Balok. But he offers them anyway, opening up the possibility of cultural exchange between his First Federation and Kirk’s crew. Bailey, who had spent most of the episode as a cowardly lion, gracefully agrees to the exchange as the episode closes.

"We're off to see the Wizard!"

The parallels are not perfect — though if Mr.Spock had filled out the boarding party in the role of the Tin Man seeking a heart he already has, it might have been — but they are productive. Like the friends of Dorothy, Bailey, McCoy, and Spock spend the episode trying to free themselves from traps and get what they think they need. And like the Scarecrow, the Lion, and the Tin Man, in the end, the powers they were seeking to work around were not what they seemed.

I liked that, in this case, the powers were greater. Perhaps, if Balok had been behind the curtain in Oz, Dorothy and company would have gotten more than toys, but the true connection and understanding they needed in their journeys. I hope that future episodes are more even in tone, but also that they continue to expand our views of the universe the way Balok will for Bailey.

Three stars.

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[November 10, 1966] Star Trek: "Dagger of the Mind"

November 10, 2021 Robin Rose Graves 12 Comments

Poetic Justice

by Robin Rose Graves

Star Trek has often been uninspiring of late — but this episode reminded me why I keep watching week to week.

The opening scene is unassuming. The Enterprise fails to transmit a delivery to the planet Tantalus. Kirk calmly reminds the transporter operator that prison colonies such as Tantalus are equipped with force fields. After receiving the needed permission from the planet, the delivery is allowed to go through, and in return, the Enterprise receives a mysterious box labeled “Do Not Open” (as if viewers don’t already have a good idea of what could possibly be inside).

"Under no circumstances are you to open this, you hear?"

Tantalus informs the Enterprise that a person is missing and could pose a danger to the crew. Unsurprisingly, the box housed the runaway. Now loose on the Enterprise, he becomes aggressive upon being discovered. He asks for asylum on the ship while holding Kirk at gunpoint. Spock subdues the man, and the Enterprise informs Dr. Adams on Tantalus that they found their runaway. Said fugitive identifies himself (with much pain and difficulty) as Dr. Simon van Gelder. A computer check reveals that he is not actually an inmate, but rather Dr. Adams’ assistant. It is at this point my interest was piqued. Why is an assistant being treated like an inmate? What led him to acting like the wild man he is now?

Van Gelder remains on the Enterprise while Kirk beams down along with the Enterprise’s psychiatrist – Dr. Helen Noël – in order to investigate Tantalus. They are immediately met by Dr. Adams and welcomed to the colony. Dr. Adams has gained celebrity for his humane rehabilitation methods on inmates. While on tour, Kirk and Dr. Noël encounter several reformed inmates, now acting as employees. Kirk notes their strange emotionless behavior. Dr. Adams shows off a device called the “neural neutralizer”, which he says he uses to calm agitated inmates. He explains that it is harmless at low increments.

Back on the Enterprise, a frantic van Gelder reveals to Spock and McCoy that it was the use of the neural neutralizer that left him in his current state. As Spock presses him further, van Gelder writhes in pain, struggling to speak (the actor’s performance makes it particularly difficult to watch). Finally, McCoy convinces Spock to use an ancient Vulcan psychic technique in order to calm van Gelder and allow him to speak freely about his experiences back on Tantalus.

The ancient Vulcan technique introduced in this episode. Remarkable for the intimacy required and the vulnerability displayed.

He explains the true nature of the neural neutralizer: that it empties the mind, leaving those afflicted vulnerable to suggestion, and that Dr. Adams has been using it on inmates and staff to gain control over them. Now understanding the danger Kirk and Dr. Noël are in, the Enterprise attempts to beam down backup, but are unable to because of the colony’s forcefield. They discover all communication with the planet is severed as well.

After voicing his concerns to Dr. Noël, she and Kirk secretly investigate the neural neutralizer. With Dr. Noël at the controls, Kirk volunteers as the test subject. She is able to alter his memory of their first meeting, converting an innocent flirtation into a more serious affair. But while Kirk is under, Dr. Adams takes control of the neutralizer, turning up the intensity. He then forces Kirk to believe he has been in love with Dr. Noël for years and being apart causes him physical pain. He is then released to his quarters along with Dr. Noël, awaiting his next treatment.

Thankfully, as we saw in Naked Time, Kirk's capacity for love is constrained to the Enterprise, and Adams' conditioning fails to take, at least not to a debilitating level. At Kirk’s suggestion, Dr. Noël escapes the room through a duct. Kirk is collected once again for his next treatment, but Dr. Noël is able to sabotage it by shutting off the power. Kirk fights Dr. Adams and leaves him unconscious in the neural neutralizer. Dr. Noël gets her own action scene when she is discovered and single-handedly takes down the guard. (It’s nice to see female characters do more than look pretty and lust after Captain Kirk). With the power now down, Spock is able to beam down to the planet. He resets the power, which activates the neural neutralizer with Dr. Adams still inside. The neutralizer, without anyone to man the device, empties Dr. Adams' mind entirely, killing him with loneliness. Poetic justice for him to be killed by the same device he had tortured countless people with.

The episode ends with Kirk looking morose. McCoy questions how loneliness is able to kill a human being, but Kirk groks, having experienced the effects of the neural neutralizer himself.

"Dagger" features some of the best performances we’ve seen so far (only matched by Leonard Nimoy’s performance in "Naked Time"). Upon meeting the blank workers of Tantalus, I was alarmed by their listless speech and stoney faces. Morgan Woodward (van Gelder) chokes on every word as he struggles to fight his conditioning through physical pain and speaks of the horrors he has been through at Dr. Adams’ hands (I clenched up in sympathy watching these scenes). So much was relayed on performance alone that no fancy looking technology was needed, and while I love a vivid set design, the comparatively plain look of this episode was fitting, allowing the acting to shine without competition.

This episode earns a five star rating from me.

The Mythopoeia of Star Trek

by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Nine episodes into Star Trek and we’re beginning to see some of the myths that float just under the surface of this world. J.R.R. Tolkien called this kind myth-making “mythopoeia,” though it has existed for as long as storytellers have called upon “rosy-fingered Dawn” or “the evil Jinn.” The Cage had the Talos star group, named presumably for the ancient greek robot who protected Europa in Crete; Charlie X had the cargo vessel Antares, meaning “rival-to-Mars”; Where No Man Has Gone Before, had crewmember Gary Mitchell reciting “The Nightingale Woman,” which he says was “written by Phineas Tarbolde on the Canopius planet back in 1996.” Canopius is probably a mistranscription of the name of the man who steered the ship of King Menelaus of Sparta to Egypt during the Trojan war. More than just referencing the existing Western mythical names of heavenly bodies, Star Trek layers those stories onto future histories, adding meaning and depth.

When I first heard the name of the penal colony in this week’s episode, I remembered that in Greek mythology, Tantalus is the founder of the House of Atreus, and his story is one of the more gruesome in a genre often marked by gore. Tantalus wanted to test the gods’ omniscience, and so when he was a guest on Mount Olympus he killed his son and served him to the gods as a feast. For killing his child and challenging the gods, Tantalus was sentenced to starve forever in a pool of water with ripe fruit hanging above his head, the water always receding when he bent to drink, and the fruit always raising itself just out of his reach.

Tantalus, by Gioacchino Assereto (1600–1649)

These themes of taboo, hunger, challenging powerful people, consent, hubris, punishment, and abuse of power move throughout Dagger of the Mind. When I saw Captain Kirk writhing in a pool of blue light as he tried to escape torment and artificially implanted lust, it reminded me of that final image of Tantalus in his pool, trapped by forced hunger and cruel punishment.

The parallels are not perfect — Captain Kirk is a victim of Doctors Adams and Noël, not a child-killing cannibal — but mythical references don’t have to be perfectly in-tune to be resonant. They just have to tantalize us into thinking and feeling more deeply about these characters.

Four stars.

Holding out Hope

by Janice L. Newman

This episode was deeply disturbing in many ways. The idea of the erasure of memories, of self, is creepy at best and horrific at worst. It is a kind of death, for who are we without our memories?

Nonetheless, beneath the horror I found a hopeful note. McCoy, when asked if he's visited a penal colony since the Federation began following Dr. Adams' theories, says simply, "A cage is a cage, Jim." Captain Kirk immediately contradicts him, saying that McCoy is behind the times, and that penal colonies are more like "resort colonies" now. Throughout the episode, despite the horror, runs a theme that prisoners should be treated with humanity, and that the purpose of such places is not to punish, but to help.

Furthermore, the prisoners themselves are never portrayed as 'deserving' the torture and the erasure of their minds. No matter what they've done in the past, they are shown as victims of Dr. Adams' machinations. Once it is understood what Dr. Adams is doing, no one other than Adams himself suggests that the prisoners are 'better off' for having part of their mind cut away. Compare this to the practice of lobotomizing people, either 'for their own good' or for 'the good of society'. Performing a lobotomy was outlawed in the Soviet Union in 1950 on the grounds that it is "contrary to the principles of humanity", yet it is still legal in the United States. It seems to me that "Dagger" is an indirect attack on this barbaric, inhumane practice.

Dr. Adams, a latter-day Dr. Moniz.

These twin themes: that of a drive to help disturbed minds, while at the same time retaining an awareness of and belief in a criminal's basic personhood and right to dignity and self, paint a picture of a more humane, thoughtful world. Imperfect, yes, but with a determination to improve despite individual setbacks. As with "Miri", I find myself heartened by a vision of the future where punishment is no longer considered the first and best option for dealing with misbehaving people of any age.

Four stars.

Chemicals, by any other name

by Gideon Marcus

I don't know if this is a phenomenon unique to Star Trek, but I often find myself noting similarities between a given episode and previous ones, and to other stories in general. Lorelei pointed out that, once again, we have Kirk exploring an underground complex. Once again, the captain must treat with a megalomaniac scientist and his powerful device (q.v. "What are Little Girls Made of?").

But the biggest comparison I draw is to Norman Spinrad's recent story, Your name shall be…Darkness. In Spinrad's tale, an American officer is captured in Korea and subjected to a novel application of electroshock therapy. Bit by bit, his captor strips away all of his memories until all that is left is raw ego. Then his identity is restored, presumably with additional programming. We saw something like this in The Manchurian Candidate, too, as well as The Mind Benders, but Darkness feels like the closest fit. In Darkness, after his ordeal, the officer is compelled (perhaps by programming) to use the brainwashing technique to cure the mentally disturbed. He becomes a psychiatrist, one of the most prominent in his field. Essentially, he is Dr. Adams with his machine — but whether this is ultimately a good or a bad thing is left open. After all, we don't know what the officer's real mission is, or what he might be implanting in his patients.

The brainwasher from "Darkness".

Dr. Noël posits that the Neural Neutralizer is a better, more permanent solution to insanity than constant injection of tranquilizers (which is the way Dr. Van Gelder is treated by McCoy). In the end, Trek teaches us that brainwashing is not the answer either.

The episode does suggest that there is an answer, however: when Spock establishes the ultimate empathy with Van Gelder, using an "ancient Vulcan technique", only then is he able to soothe the tortured mind of the doctor. We may not have Spock's psychic powers, but perhaps we can discover a similarly effective psychotherapeutic treatment for the heretofore incurably disturbed.

Who says science fiction can't be aspirational as well as cautionary?

Four stars.

Paved with Good Intentions

by Tam Phan (Secret Asian Man)

I don't know how much more I can take from the security team. Fortunately, the predictable ineptitude of the security force on the Enterprise wasn't the cause of events spiraling out of control. I'll give it a pass this time because "Dagger of the Mind" is a bit of a return to form. I've been unimpressed by the recent episodes, but I love a good moral dilemma.

Another Tuesday aboard the Enterprise

The contrast between the affable, accommodating attitude Dr. Adams displayed, and that of his work, was eerie from the audience's perspective. We only know there's something wrong because this wouldn't be a very entertaining show if there wasn't, but Kirk's trust of Adams was only natural considering how renowned his work is. Even Dr. Noël's admiration was to be expected, and it was only McCoy's insistence of a thorough report that raised any suspicions. I wouldn't have been surprised if this operation had continued to go unnoticed indefinitely.

I hope to get more episodes like this where we are faced with the ethics of the implementation of technology in the future. How far would we have allowed Adams to turn that dial before stopping to consider how wrong it is? How far would we turn that dial if we thought we were making a positive impact? Going where no man has gone before isn't necessarily always to a physical place.

Five stars

(You don't have to wait long to see the next episode of Star Trek — join us tonight at 8:30 PM (Pacific AND Eastern — two showings)!!)

Here's the invitation!

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[November 8, 1966] Paranoia and High Treason: Space Patrol Orion, Episode 4: "Deserters"

November 8, 2021 Cora Buhlert 4 Comments

by Cora Buhlert

In Unquiet Times

Here in West Germany, October was a month of protests, some of which sadly ended in violence.

In Frankfurt on Main, more than twenty thousand people protested against the proposed emergency powers law, which would allow the West German government to suspend the constitution in case of wars or disasters. Since the emergency powers laws of the Weimar Republic are considered to have paved the way for Hitler, this is not a popular proposition, and indeed no one seems to want or need these laws except for the government.

1966 emergengy powers law protest — This protest in Frankfurt/Main against the proposed emergency powers laws drew a crowd.

Meanwhile in Cologne, the public transport authority plans a significant increase of tram and bus fares, particular for student tickets. As a result, more than eight thousand high school and university students blockaded the tram tracks on the Neumarkt in Cologne. These so-called "umbrella protests" (it was raining, so many protesters carried umbrellas) lasted for four days until they were violently broken up by the police.

Cologne umbrella protests 1966 — Students block tram tracks on the Neumarkt in Cologne to protest a fare increase.

Umbrella protests Cologne — This aerial photograph shows why the Cologne fare increase protests have been nicknamed "umbrella protests".

Umbrella protests — The police holds back student protesters in Cologne.

West Germany is not officially involved in the Vietnam war, but anti-war protests nonetheless happen a lot. In Munich, several people were arrested during an unauthorised protest against a visit by US ambassador George McGhee. And in the West German capital of Bonn, two hundred fifty Lutheran priests protested against the war in Vietnam, proclaiming that supporting the war means betraying the Christian faith.

Priests protests Vietnam war — In Bonn, 250 Lutheran priests protest against the Vietnam war.

War in Space

While the streets of West Germany were shaken by anti-war protests, "Deserters", the latest episode of Raumpatrouille: Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffs Orion (Space Patrol: The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship Orion) showed us what warfare might look like in space. Because humanity is fighting the mysterious aliens known only as the Frogs, and that war is not going well: the Frogs have developed a shield that repels energy weapons, rendering them useless.

In response, Commander Cliff Allister McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) and the crew of the Orion 8 conduct a test of the Overkill device, a weapon as impressive as its name that can blow up entire planetoids. The striking effect was created by filling a plaster sphere with pantry staples like rice, raisins, ground coffee and flour and then blowing everything out of a small hole via pressurised air. Anybody who is familiar with the writing advice of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov will know that we can expect to see the Overkill weapon in action again before the episode is over.

Orion episode 4 — Commander McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) confronts weapons scientist Rott (Alfons Höckmann).

Orion Overkill — The Overkill device in action.

Meanwhile back on Earth, the general staff is conferring, including familiar faces like Colonel Villa of the Galactic Security Service (Friedrich Joloff), General Wamsler of the Space Patrol (Benno Sterzenbach) and General Lydia Van Dyke of the Fast Space Fleet Command (Charlotte Kerr). I like that Orion makes the various generals recurring characters rather than having interchangeable uniforms issuing commands.

Orion Generals — Grimly glare the generals: General Wamsler (Benno Sterzenbach), Marshal Kublai-Krim (Hans Cossy) and Sir Arthur (Franz Scharfheitlin)

Colonel Villa and aide — More grim generals: Colonel Villa (Friedrich Joloff) and aide (Nino Korda)

The reason for the conference is that Alonzo Pietro, commander of the spaceship Xerxes, attempted to defect to the Frogs and was only stopped at the very last instant. Pietro is fully sane, though he claims not to remember why he tried to defect. However, shortly before Pietro's defection attempt, the Xerxes landed on the space station M8/8-12, a station whose human crew experienced a breakdown, went mad and were replaced by robots.

Orion Alonzo Pietro — Commander Alonzo Pietro (Wolf Petersen) under suspicion of treason.

Sparks fly in the Starlight Casino

Meanwhile, Orion security officer Tamara Jagellovsk (Eva Pflug) is relaxing in the Starlight Casino with an unnamed officer. It's nice to see the normally so uptight Tamara on a date and enjoying a life outside work. Though this will not last, for Tamara spots McLane and Lydia Van Dyke having a drink at the bar, which causes her to promptly forget all about her date and instead scrutinise what McLane and Van Dyke are doing.

Orion Tamara — Tamara Jagellovsk (Eva Pflug) neglects her date to spy on McLane.

What they are doing is discussing the attempted defection of Alonzo Pietro. McLane is friends with Pietro (is there anybody in the fleet McLane is not friends with?) and cannot believe Pietro would turn traitor. However, McLane is quickly distracted, when he spots Tamara… with a man. So McLane and Tamara spend the rest of the evening glaring at each other across the dance floor, to the amusement of General Van Dyke and the dismay of Tamara's companion. Finally, McLane disrupts Tamara's date for good by sitting down uninvited at her table and sending her would-be suitor away on a false errand.

Sparks are flying between Tamara and McLane, and I wouldn't be surprised if half the fleet was taking bets on when those two will get together.

A Routine Mission

After this interlude, the crew of the Orion 8 head for space station M8/8-12 to install the Overkill device as a first line of defence against a potential Frog attack. It's a routine mission, but we know how well those tend to go for the Orion 8 and her crew. Especially since M8/8-12 is the very space station whose crew went mad and which Alonzo Pietro visited before attempting to defect to the Frogs. Uh-oh.

Luckily, Space Fleet Command is aware of the problems on M8/8-12 and sends along a psychiatrist named Professor Sherkoff (Erwin Linder) to observe the Orion crew. McLane takes this about as well as you can imagine.

Trouble finds the Orion crew as soon as they reach M8/8-12. The robots manning the space station do not respond to hails and neither does any other space station in the area. When the Orion finally lands, one of the robots attacks McLane, even though this contradicts the First Law of Robotics (invoked for the second time in the series after episode 3). Worse, the robots were specifically deployed to man the station because they were deemed more reliable than humans. Once again, the biggest proponent of replacing humans with robots is Colonel Villa, who also happens to be Tamara's direct superior, which supports the theory that Tamara is a highly advanced android herself.

Orion robots — The Orion crew warily observe the malfunctioning robots.

Both McLane and Professor Sherkoff suspect that something is wrong on M8/8-12 . However, the Orion crew still has a job to do and proceed to install the Overkill device. Tamara was left behind aboard the Orion to watch the ship, but since she is the crewmember with the most robotics experience (maybe because she is one herself), McLane calls her in to examine the malfunctioning robots and sends Hasso Sigbjörnson (Claus Holm) back instead.

Orion McLane — McLane calls Tamara via his handy wrist communicator

Tamara Oion — Tamara conducts some tests.

A Traitor On Board

While the Orion crew installs the Overkill device, which involves a lot of silver and translucent glass baubles that look like Christmas tree ornaments, Hasso falls asleep in the command chair and is only roused when McLane calls and tells him to program the coordinates for their next destination.

Orion Maria and Helga — Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz and Helga Legrelle (Ursula Lillig) install the Overkill device.

Orion: McLane and Atan — McLane and Atan Shubashi (F.G. Beckhaus) install the Overkill device.

Orion Atan — Atan tests the Overkill device. For reasons unknown, this requires a clothing iron.

So Hasso approaches the computer – a plain egg-shaped device with one big light rather than the light-studded computer of the destroyed Orion 7. This sole light begins to pulse like a malevolent evil eye, and Hasso gets a thousand-yard stare, as he punches the coordinates into the computer.

Orion Hasso — Hasso Sigbjörnson (Claus Holm), asleep on the job

Before taking off, McLane checks the course again and realises to his horror that the course entered into the computer would take the Orion into space sector AC 1000, a sector held by the Frogs.

There's a traitor aboard the Orion, so as security officer, Tamara takes command to conduct the investigation. "This will not take long," she tells McLane, because there is only one likely suspect: Hasso Sigbjörnson.

McLane doesn't believe that Hasso is a traitor – after all, they've known each other for ten years. However, McLane isn't in charge, Tamara is. And so she proceeds to interrogate Hasso, who claims not to remember anything. Hasso Sigbjörnson truly must be the unluckiest man in the fleet, because in four episodes so far he nearly got killed twice and was accused of treason once.

Space Patrol Orion has excellent actors, and their skills are on display in this scene. Particularly, Claus Holm shines as the bewildered and increasingly defensive Hasso, who's even sweating visibly. Meanwhile, Professor Sherkoff is watching with an ever so slightly sinister smirk on his face.

Tamara proceeds to arrest Hasso and calmly informs him that regulations require that she stuns him. Interestingly enough, McLane does not try to stop Tamara. However, another member of the Orion crew intervenes on behalf of Hasso, namely Helga Legrelle (Ursula Lillig).

Orion Helga and Tamara — Helga Legrelle confronts Tamara Jagellovsk.

So far, the scripts haven't given Helga much to do except utter the occasional line of gizmo speak, but she finally gets to shine when she takes on Tamara. It's obvious that Helga doesn't like Tamara because of McLane's interest in her. However, Helga also points out one important fact: Hasso was not the only crewmember who was alone aboard the Orion and could have reprogrammed the course. Tamara was also alone on board and could have done it.

Helga Legrelle — Helga points out another suspect.

While Helga and Tamara fight it out, Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz) is watching from the sidelines, when he suddenly gets that thousand-yard stare as well. Like a sleepwalker, he begins to punch coordinates into the Orion's computer. Coordinates, which will take the Orion deep into Frog territory. When confronted with what he has just done, Mario also claims not to remember anything.

The Manchurian Mule

Before Tamara can arrest even more people, Professor Sherkoff intervenes and points out that both Hasso and Mario were standing directly in front of the computer when they suddenly felt compelled to enter the coordinates for the Frog base. The Professor then proposes an experiment and tells Tamara to stand in front of the computer. And indeed, the malevolent light starts to pulse again, Tamara goes blank and begins to punch the coordinates for the Frog base into the computer.

Orion — Tamara programs the computer, watched by Professor Sherkoff (Erwin Linden), Atan and Helga.

Since Tamara most definitely is not a traitor and neither are Hasso and Mario, the Professor explains that the Frogs are using telenosis (a portmanteau of "telepathy" and "hypnosis") rays emitted via the Orion's computer to manipulate the crew. The same thing happened to Alonzo Pietro and the M8/8-12 crew.

A note of context: The Cold War is a game of spies, some of whom occasionally change sides and defect. And indeed, there have been several high profile defections in recent years, including British double agent Kim Philby who defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.

The Cold War also breeds paranoia, including fear of perfectly loyal men and women brainwashed into unwittingly aiding the enemy. There has never been a documented case of a brainwashed agent in the real world, but they abound in fiction whether it is in spy thrillers like Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate or science fiction novels like Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17.

"Deserters" cannot be influenced by Babel-17, because the show was already in production when the novel came out. The Manchurian Candidate is a possible influence. However, I suspect that the inspiration for the Frogs and their telenosis ray is "The Mule", a malevolent mutant who uses his telepathic powers to bring the Foundation to its knees in Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire. After all, the repeated references to the Three Laws of Robotics prove that the writers have read Asimov. And indeed, the talky boardroom scenes featuring the various generals are reminiscent of the equally talky early Foundation stories.

Hunt the Orion

However, the Mule never had to deal with the Orion crew. And so McLane devises an ingenious plan. Since the Frogs clearly want the Orion to head to sector AC-1000, the Orion will go there, letting the Frogs believe that their attempts the hypnotise the Orion crew into defecting were successful. Once the Orion crew is in range of the Frogs' base, they will use the Overkill device to blow it up.

There is only one hitch. The Orion can't inform Space Fleet Command of their plan, because the Frogs might be listening. Therefore, once the Orion's unauthorised course is detected, the general staff assumes that the crew are planning to defect. General Wamsler points out that he really cannot imagine McLane of all people turning traitor, while his aide Lieutenant Spring-Brauner (Thomas Reiner) gleefully sends the entire fleet after McLane to shoot down the Orion.

The ship closest to the Orion is none other than the Hydra under the command of Lydia Van Dyke, who no more believes that McLane would turn traitor than Wamsler does. Therefore, she delays the chase, until a swarm of Frog ships forces her to return to Earth. McLane, meanwhile, manages to destroy the Frog base as well as a squadron of Frog ships with the Overkill device.

Back on Earth, the Orion crew and Alonzo Pietro, who is no longer under arrest for treason, celebrate. Tamara dances with Professor Sherkoff much to McLane's dismay.

Orion Starlight Casino — Dances in the future still look exceedingly strange.

Orion Tamara and Sherkoff — Tamara dances with Professor Sherkoff. McLane is not pleased.

Paranoia in Space

"Deserters" is a low-key episode of Space Patrol Orion, but nonetheless an effective story, which succeeds in generating a paranoid atmosphere throughout.

I have to admit that I suspected Professor Sherkoff of being the traitor from the moment he first stepped aboard the Orion. For it was obvious that no member of the Orion crew would turn out to be the traitor and Sherkoff was the only one who didn't belong. Besides, Erwin Linder's ever so slightly sinister smirk just makes him look suspicious.

This was a nice bit of misdirection, because in the end Sherkoff turned out to be exactly what he was introduced as, namely a psychiatrist supposed to examine the Orion crew, whereas the true villain was a computer with a malevolently pulsing light.

The Frogs have been hovering in the background of every single episode so far, though we have only briefly seen them twice. Personally, I like keeping the main antagonists off stage, because the unseen menace is so much more terrifying than a goofy rubber monster.

A taunt science thriller pregnant with paranoia.

Four and a half stars.

Oktoberfest 1966 — The 1966 Oktoberfest in Munich may be over, but the poster is still striking.

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[November 4, 1966] Star Trek: "Miri"

November 4, 2021 Gideon Marcus 5 Comments

by Gideon Marcus

Growing pains

On the trail of an old-style distress call, the Enterprise crew makes an astonishing discovery — a (cloudless) planet that looks exactly like the Earth! Moreover, upon beaming down to the planet, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Yeoman Rand, and two security guards find the replication goes down to the culture, language, and architecture. Indeed, where they land is indistinguishable from a town in the 1960s. Mayberry, perhaps.

But one thing is missing: people. The planet has been abandoned for three hundred years. Well, not quite abandoned. Skulking amongst the buildings are prepubescent children, dirty, careless, parentless. And there are…things. Distorted, mindless creatures that attack on sight. But Kirk and co. find a liaison of sorts, a young teenager named Miri. She is terrified of the adults ("grups") at first, recalling scenes of violence and arson, but Kirk wins her over with a tender manner and a dazzling smile.

The Enterprise crew quickly discovers that all of the adults were wiped out by an artificial virus (ironically created to extend life). It has prolonged the life of the children incredibly, but any human who has reached, or is reaching, puberty, becomes one of the monsters and dies. And all of the crew who beamed down are now infected. It becomes a race against time — Kirk vs. the disease, and the hostile youth population.

This episode is something of a head-scratcher. We have the revelatory opening, which ultimately serves just as an excuse to reuse the Desilu backlot.

The setup does not work with a three hundred year timeline. The children would be virtually unrecognizable, culturally, if they were still alive. Surely, they would not remember adults, who would only occupy, at most, a 30th of their lifespan's memories. Their food would not have lasted this long, either.

Yeoman Rand was along for this mission, but she didn't get to do much but repeat other people's lines and confess her attraction for Captain Kirk. I'm not sure I like where they're going with their relationship.

And then there's the dramatic scene, where McCoy injects himself with an untested vaccine. As it turns out Kirk convinces the children, who had stolen their communicators at a critical juncture, to give them back their talking boxes so that they can confirm the dosage and efficacy of the serum with Enterprise computers. So while the moment is interesting in terms of character it's ultimately pointless.

A pointless act, but Kelley really sells it, I have to say.

On the other hand…

I found that the episode hangs together much better if one disregards the three hundred year timeline. And indeed, Spock could be mistaken on that point. Sure, they've beamed down to a place that looks like 1960, a year three centuries in the Enterprise's past, but who's to say that the two Earths followed the exact same chronology, or started at the same point. If the children have been on their own for just, say, three years, the episode makes a lot of sense. Then, the global descent into madness is recent enough to explain Miri's visceral fear of adults. It explains why the kids still retain memory of their life as civilized children (and, indeed, why they ultimately decide to work with the adults).

And it makes the behavior of the kids, which is admittedly rather annoying, much more acceptable. These are children who watched their world end, saw their own parents try to kill them. Leaders like Jahn helped keep them alive in that dangerous transition. They may seem like they are enjoying a Neverland existence, free from responsibilities, but they are still children, and they miss their parents.

The original premise, that three hundred years had passed, could have been interesting, too, with the Enterprise making contact with a population of aliens in the form of children. But that's not what writer Adrian Spies gave us. Instead, we got an episode that fits a three-year timeline, and with that accepted, it's actually a compelling story.

Plus, we have on-location filming for the first time, and it is quite lovely. Credit goes to Vincent McEveety for some excellent direction, too. Musical cues seem to be a mix of cribbed and original scoring. It's an effective soundscape. I feel Nimoy has finally settled into the role of Spock. The exchange with Kirk when he indicates that he "does want to go back to the ship" was compelling.

So, I think "Miri" merits three and a half stars. It's better than "Charlie X" but worse than the three really good episodes aired thus far.

Child labor

by Tam Phan (Secret Asian Man)

I never seem to find child actors very convincing. Miri and Jahn were no exception, failing even to pass for teenagers, let alone children that hadn't gone through puberty yet. Beyond that, it's hard to believe that 300 year olds, even in children's bodies, would continue to act like juveniles.

13 years old?!

Despite that, the music and pacing really saved this episode. The music brought complexity to each moment, and thanks to excellent direction, even though the far too Earth-like planet made for an odd setting, each scene moved the story along convincingly. There was enough suspense that the situation felt more dire and desperate as the disease progressed. We all knew what the Doctor was going to do as soon as Spock left the room, but the music made the decision come to life.

I’m really looking forward to the episode where they get it all right because music and pacing don’t make a show. Star Trek has so much potential, but this episode falls well short of that.

3 Stars

Bang! Zoom! Right in the kisser!

by Janice L. Newman

“Miri” was a lackluster episode in many ways. But one thing did stand out to me, especially as I thought about it afterward: Kirk never punishes the children.

Twice he is attacked by the children, and we do see him twice throw one child off his perch on a desk and to the ground. But other than that, we do not see Kirk raise a hand against his juvenile attackers. He never uses violence to establish dominance over them or force them to do what he wants. Instead, he explains the situation to them, pleads with them – and shows them the same respect he would adults. He treats them as though they are capable of reason and empathy. And in the end, they are.

I usually catch the last few minutes of the cartoon version of The Lone Ranger when I tune in to Mission Impossible. The end of last week’s Lone Ranger episode had him capturing the villain, who I think was meant to be some sort of boy who never grew up, and giving him a spanking before sending him to jail. It’s clearly supposed to be a ‘funny’ moment.

In “Miri”, whether one accepts the episode’s timeline of 300 years or the Traveler’s more plausible three, the child characters are obviously meant to have the minds of children. They behave ‘badly’, mocking the Enterprise crew, stealing their communicators, kidnapping Yeoman Rand, and even attacking the captain.

It wouldn’t have surprised me if Star Trek followed a similar path to The Lone Ranger, showing the children getting punished, perhaps even spanked. The fact that the show did not take this easy way out, the fact that the futuristic society it portrays values diplomacy and reason over coercion and punishment, is something that I find tremendously heartening. I can only hope that in our future we really will learn to raise our children with respect and without violence.

Two and a half stars: two for the episode, and an extra half for the hopeful message.

Child Vampires Without the Blood

by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

It’s the time of year for spooky stories and while Miri wasn’t pure horror, it had its fair share of unsettling moments: chanting children, violence in familiar settings, prosthetics designed to look like symptoms of Hansen's disease.

Horror, like science fiction, gives us a lens through which to view our own world. In most horror, creators draw from what they think their audiences are afraid of: in this case, unruly children, certain forms of disease, and growing old. As set-dressing, they can also pull ideas from the news or culture: a headline about the 1963 measles vaccine that prolonged millions of children’s lives might inspire a writer to write a story such as Miri, twining together the wonders and the potential failures of mass vaccination.

Other creators have used the fears listed above to craft stories about vampires: immortal, living outside of the bounds of human society, violent, and mercurial. With different make-up and set-dressings, this episode could have taken place in a European castle or Soviet forest, with its hidden and chanting hordes of unaging, feral children, lost to time and civilization.

But this is Star Trek, not Blood Bath, The Blood Drinkers, Queen of Blood, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, The Empire of Dracula, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, or any of the other vampire-focused horror films of the year (although, if Christopher Lee would be willing to make an appearance in a future episode, I am sure we would all welcome it). Rather than capes and coffins, we have tricorders and transporters, communicators and vaccines-on-demand. But the anxieties being addressed are still the same, and the episode gives the audience a chance to walk through our fears, reaching a satisfying conclusion.

Unlike much of the popular horror released this year, that conclusion did not involve buckets of blood; as Janice wisely notes, instead we got a hopeful vision of non-violence towards children, along with a diplomatic and science-driven solution to a centuries-long crisis. Endings like this are one of the reasons I often prefer science fiction flavored with horror over horror flavored with science fiction: I like the chance to live in Captain Kirk’s bright, utopian future each Thursday evening as the fall grows cooler and the shadows grow long.

(I can always catch Mr Lee’s latest flick if I find myself with an unholy craving.)

Happy Halloween!

Four stars.

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[November 2, 1966] An Ending? (Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet)

November 2, 2021 Jessica Holmes 1 Comment

By Jessica Holmes

Where do I begin? The latest serial of Doctor Who, penned by Kit Pedler for the first two episodes and Gerry Davis for the latter two, delivers some exciting twists and turns and real surprises, one of which may change the programme forever– or spell its doom.

EPISODE ONE

The Doctor arrives at the Antarctic base of International Space Command in the year 1986. The men inside (and yes, even in 1986 it seems rocket science is a bit of a boys’ club) take notice of the new arrivals, but there’s no time to worry about them. The latest launch has run into trouble, reporting the sudden appearance of a new planet in the sky. Worse still, their ship is losing power.

I rather liked the presentation of future space exploration as an international affair. There’s men from all over the world among the staff of International Space Command, and one of the astronauts is played by Bermudian actor Earl Cameron. Nobody can do a good fake accent to save their lives, but they tried!

The new planet looks just like Earth, but upside down. It takes a weirdly long time for people to realise that. The Doctor explains that the Earth once had a twin planet, and it has now returned. How this happened is unclear. Maybe it went on its holidays.

Things really kick off when a ship from this strange planet lands just outside the base. From it emerge men with faces made of taut fabric, bodies made of machinery, and curiously human hands.

A chill runs down the spine as one looks directly into the camera. There is something about the design of this entity that feels deeply… not just unnerving, but wrong. There’s a coldness in its gaze that penetrates the very soul.

EPISODE TWO

Here we get a name for these newcomers to Earth: Cybermen, from the planet Mondas. They were like us, once. But their race was dying, so they had to augment their bodies with cybernetics in order to survive. They kept going, upgrading every inefficiency in the human body, until there is almost nothing left but the brain– and even that hasn’t been spared some tinkering. Considering emotion and empathy to be inefficiencies, they have removed them.

The result is one of the few truly nightmarish monsters to come from Doctor Who. I think they're scarier than the Daleks. They should be naff, with their cobbled-together costumes that leave the hands visible. It’s as rough a costume as I’ve ever seen on the programme. However, every bit of it works to their advantage, visually telling the story of their cobbled-together cybernetic enhancements– you can imagine them transforming piece by piece into the horrors they are today. With their fabric ‘skin’ drawn taut over their faces, leaving them only with the suggestion of a nose, and wide, blank eyes, their visage is genuinely frightening. It’s even worse when they open their mouths, as an unnatural, almost sing-song approximation of human speech emerges from their gaping jaws.

The Cybermen tell the ground crew that it’s impossible to get the astronauts out of orbit, as the pull of Mondas is too strong. The crew don’t listen, and continue to try to no avail, as the ship explodes…for some reason.

Ben, along with Polly, a recent companion of the Doctor, has the bright idea to try nicking a gun and making a break for the TARDIS. One of the Cybermen takes the gun away and bends it in half before locking Ben in another room. Surprisingly merciful, considering they killed a couple of blokes on their way in.

The Cybermen say Earth is in danger, and to save them, they must send a message to their leaders. The energy of Mondas is almost expended, so now it’s draining the energy from Earth. Let’s not think too hard about that. It’s more magic than science.

All life on Earth will stop, but the people don’t have to die! They can go to Mondas. The implications are clear. Well, nice of them to offer, I suppose, but while I wouldn’t say no to a stronger robotic body, I draw the line at having my brain tampered with. I wonder why they bothered telling the humans, given that they have no reason to. They say themselves that everyone on Earth dying wouldn’t affect the Cybermen in any way. So why extend the invitation? Politeness?

This shot zooming out through the Cyberman's nether regions might be the weirdest I've seen in all of television.

Ben starts trying to escape, managing to kill one of the Cybermen with their own weapon. He succeeds in sneaking this weapon to the General in charge of the base. General Cutler (Robert Beatty) promptly dispatches the Cybermen holding everyone hostage. This comes as a bit of an annoyance to the Doctor, given that the Cybermen were helpfully explaining their intentions.

Still, it’s bought them some time to radio their commander in Geneva and fill him in on what happened. It’s then that they learn another astronaut was sent into orbit to try and rescue the others. It's the General’s son.

The whole team starts scrambling to get him down, but there’s something else on the radar. Hundreds of spaceships in formation, heading right for Earth!

EPISODE THREE

The whole planetary energy-draining thing hits the Doctor first, with him collapsing mere moments into the episode. He spends the following twenty minutes having a nice nap.

Desperate to save his son, General Cutler decides that the only way to save Earth is to ensure the destruction of Mondas. He will have to use Earth’s greatest weapon… the Z-bomb. A planet-destroying bomb doesn’t sound that useful to me, but I can think of a couple of countries who would probably want one.

He can’t actually get express permission to use the bomb, but apparently there are no safeguards against him using it anyway. Ben and Polly urge him to wait, as the Doctor has a hypothesis that eventually Mondas will absorb too much energy from Earth and disintegrate. However, the General is unwilling to leave it to chance, even if the blast from the bomb would also kill everyone on the side of the Earth facing Mondas. Of course, he’ll be careful to ensure his son’s spacecraft isn’t on that side.

With the General beyond reason, Ben and Polly turn to the only other authority figure on the base, the head scientist Barclay (David Dodimead). Barclay clearly has doubts about the General’s plan, and it doesn’t take long for Polly to convince him to help her. Having designed the base, Barclay is able to show Ben and Polly a convenient ventilation shaft that leads right to the missile silo. With instructions from Barclay, Ben slips into the silo and tampers with the bomb. However, the General catches him red-handed, and gives the order to launch the missile.

EPISODE FOUR

It turns out that Ben was successful in sabotaging the missile as it fails to launch. Oh, and the Doctor’s feeling better now. Goody!

The General, rather put out, pulls a gun on a defiant Barclay, but his son gets in contact before he can bark any more orders. However, when the base loses the capsule’s radio signal, the General immediately assumes the worst. Convinced that his son is dead, the General threatens to kill the Doctor for causing the delay in the launch. I suppose he missed that the Doctor was napping through that whole incident.

Luckily for the Doctor, more Cybermen burst in before the General can do him any harm, and shoot General Cutler dead.

The Doctor thanks them for saving his life, and offers them a chance to save their own. Mondas is doomed, but the Cybermen don’t have to die with it. If they ask nicely and agree not to go around shooting people, they could all come and live on Earth in peace.

Well. I think various governments might have a thing or two to say about that, but it’s an idea. The Cybermen agree to think about it, but they’d like the missile to be disarmed first, which is a fair enough request. What feels less fair is their insistence that they take Polly as a hostage, but the Doctor agrees to that too, in the interests of keeping the situation under control.

Nobody bothers to ask Polly what she thinks.

However, it soon turns out that the Cybermen have not been honest about their intentions. They’ve landed all over the world, and they’ve decided they’d rather keep their own planet. They’ll save it by destroying Earth with the Z-bomb.

Gee, who would have thought having a planet-destroying weapon could possibly be dangerous to the survival of the planet we live on?

The idea is that with Earth gone, Mondas will stop absorbing its energy, and it won’t disintegrate. I don’t suppose they’ve thought about the colossal release of energy involved in a planet-destroying explosion. The Doctor manages to warn Ben and the others, who are currently disarming the bomb, against helping the Cybermen. It’s then that Ben realises that there must be a reason that the Cybermen are using humans to handle the bomb. What if the Cybermen are vulnerable to radiation?

Aren’t we all?

Having had enough of the Doctor’s meddling, the Cybermen take him on board their ship, where his health immediately takes a turn for the worse.

Ben, meanwhile, comes up with the bright idea to use the fuel rods from the on-site nuclear reactor as a weapon against the Cybermen. And these men of science go along with it.

I’m starting to get the feeling that science wasn’t the writer’s best subject at school.

The radioactive death-stick does the job nicely, and Ben somehow gets back to the control room without coming down with a nasty case of acute radiation poisoning, managing to get rid of all the Cybermen on the base in the process.

They’re about to start luring in other Cybermen with their own communication devices, but Mondas chooses that moment to conveniently melt. With it the Cybermen also disintegrate, having been reliant on energy from Mondas.

Oh, and it turns out that the General’s son is alive after all. With the Cyberman menace gone for good, he can come back home.

Ben rushes to the cybership to rescue Polly and the Doctor, and finds the old fellow unconscious. He manages to rouse the Doctor, who seems in a bad way. Agitated, the Doctor hurries back to the TARDIS.

And then something happens.

Something weird.

The Doctor collapses to the floor as the TARDIS takes off, and the screen brightens until the Doctor’s face is completely obscured. As the light fades away, the Doctor is gone.

No, not gone.

Replaced.

There’s a man lying in the exact same spot– but it’s definitely not the Doctor.

Final Thoughts

It’s safe to say I liked this serial well enough. The Cybermen are a great enemy, but the plot doesn’t do much for me. It’s fine, I just don’t think it really uses the Cybermen to their full advantage. They feel almost tangential to the whole plot, and ultimately the Doctor defeats them by…wasting time. Not a terribly interesting resolution.

What I really want to talk about is what in the world just happened to the Doctor? I’m sure I made half the neighbourhood jump with my sudden outburst of ‘WHAT?!’ at the end of the final episode.

Where did he go? Did he go anywhere, or is that man in fact our same dear old Doc? I don’t know what to make of this development.

It’s no secret that Mr. Hartnell’s health has been rather up-and-down of late (in fact, his absence in Episode Three was due to ill health), and I had wondered how much longer he’d be up to continuing with the programme. Certainly I’d rather that he takes care of his health than continue to force himself through an intensive filming schedule. A friend of mine did find a tiny notice in the Manchester Guardian that mentioned that Mr. Hartnell was to be replaced by Patrick Troughton, and there have been rumours flying around, so I suppose the departure isn’t that much of a surprise.

I think what really flabbergasts me is the suddenness of the changeover. We’ve barely even started the new series, and the lead’s gone and vanished! If we are to assume this new man is in fact the Doctor (which seems more likely, what with the name of the programme), what does that mean for him as a character? Is he more-or-less a new person, having nothing in common but a name? I hope not.

I’ve grown attached to the Doctor as portrayed by Mr. Hartnell, and I don’t think I like the idea of him being effectively replaced and all of his character development wiped away. He’s just done such a good job! Even when the Doctor was a grumpy so-and-so, he was still fun to watch, and I loved his ability to balance the Doctor’s mischievous side with his more serious moments. There’s a warmth and wit to his portrayal that reminds me of my grandpa. It might sound childish, but I don’t want them to get rid of my TV-grandpa!

At the same time, having another actor do an impression of Mr. Hartnell’s Doctor seems sure to invite comparison, and I can’t imagine it would be favourable. I’m familiar with Patrick Troughton, having seen him on television a fair bit, but he’s a rather different kind of actor from Mr. Hartnell. A different temperament altogether. He’s younger for one thing, so will he have the same gravitas? Still, I’m not going to judge the new chap until I’ve seen him in action. I’m sure he knows he’s got some big shoes to fill.

There’s little point in speculating much about how exactly this process works within the actual story. It’ll be a weird vaguely-scientific thing I’m sure, probably to do with the TARDIS.

What does this mean for the programme, though? Will people still want to watch without the real Doctor? The new fellow doesn’t look anything like Mr. Hartnell, so the kids are surely going to notice.

Honestly, I’m at a loss. I don’t know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Will this open up new avenues for the Doctor’s story, or is it doomed to failure?

I’m sad to see William Hartnell go, most certainly, and I wish him the very best. Thank you, Mr. Hartnell, for three years of being our Doctor.

Still, I must admit…. I’m incredibly curious to see what comes next.

5 out of 5 stars

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[October 26, 1966] Star Trek: "What are Little Girls Made of?")

October 26, 2021 Lorelei Marcus 6 Comments

Fun with Binary!

by Lorelei Marcus

I'm loving this new show called Star Trek. From innovative effects to nuanced plots to interesting characters, Star Trek has often been raising the bar for television's best from week to week. Sadly, I missed the past two episodes due to scheduling conflicts (catching up through our fanzine's weekly episode recap and review). But this week, I ensured that my sacred viewing time would not be overtaken by any babysitting jobs or midterm study sessions.

I sat down in anticipation, the dark viewing room hushed despite the several people who had joined me to watch. Excitement thrummed through me as the thrilling, other-worldly theme started to play…

And in the end, "What are Little Girls Made of?", the seventh episode of the new show Star Trek, was a complete DISASTER!

…but I liked it anyway.

If you happened to miss the broadcast, I will do my best to recount the episode's plot for you, even though it is already rapidly receding from my memory:

Opening on the bridge of the Enterprise, Captain Kirk and Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett), whom we first saw in Naked Time, stare worriedly at a blue planet. We are informed that Dr. Roger Korby (Michael Strong), Chapel's fiancé, has been trapped on the planet for the past five years, presumed dead because the planet's surface has become too cold to sustain life (the system's sun is dying).

Shortly after this remark is made, Korby's voice comes over the radio, requesting that Captain Kirk beam down to the planet, alone, to witness an amazing discovery he's made! Who could have foreseen this?

"Can Nurse Chapel come too?" "Christine? Oh sure. She's a recurring character; that should be fine."

Kirk and Chapel are beamed down into an underground tunnel system where Korby has apparently been living. Yet Korby is nowhere to be found, so Kirk orders down two security guards and heads off with Nurse Chapel to find her fiancé.

"Hey Matthews, you think anything bad will happen to us?" "How could it? My retirement's next week!"

Before long, they run into Korby's assistant, Dr. Brown, who decides that the most effective way of introducing himself is by standing in front of a giant stadium light. This is one of the many instances of odd editing. Brown turns off his giant headlight, Chapel recognizes him (now that she can see again) and Brown offers to take Kirk and Chapel to see Dr. Korby. Oh, and Guard #1 (Matthews) mysteriously falls off a cliff in the hall and dies. Who could have foreseen this?

Dr. Brown in front of the Bat Signal.

After a brief interlude where security guard #2 dies to a hulking alien creature (that looks like it just finished washing dishes at the Addam's house), we finally get to meet the man of the hour, Dr. Korby. What proceeds is a grueling back and forth that consists of Korby rambling about how he must show and explain his discovery to Kirk, followed by continuous worried glances exchanged between Kirk and Nurse Chapel.

So what is Korby's amazing discovery that the whole episode has been building up to?

Completely lifelike androids!

Meet Andrea, one of Korby's androids, whose purpose is a complete mystery and not at all obvious.

For someone who has an important point he wants to explain, he sure takes a long time getting to it.

It turns out Korby's assistant has been an android all this time. (Maybe he was standing in front of the headlight to recharge?) In a sudden scuffle with Kirk, he is shot by a phaser, exposing his circuits.

Korby doesn't seem too perturbed at the loss of his assistant, though. He has Ruk instead (played by Ted Cassidy). Ruk is an even more advanced android built by the old aliens who left the android-making machinery Korby's been studying and using for the past five years. And not just to make sexy secretaries. He can even entirely replicate a human being! And he's going to show Captain Kirk how it's done.

Cut to Shatner lying completely naked strapped to a turntable.

"Good thing I wore my tear-off uniform today. It made this transition much faster!"

If my summarization seems a bit disjointed or abrupt, it's because this is an absolutely faithful rendition of the pacing of the episode. Anyway, Korby's experiment succeeds, creating an exact copy of Kirk, one that obeys Korby's orders. Copy-Kirk beams up to the Enterprise to take control of the ship.

At this, you may gape. What? The kind, not-suspicious-at-all Korby had ill intentions all along?

The plot runs deeper. Korby explains to Kirk that he has the technology not just to copy a person, but to transfer their soul into an immortal mechanized shell. A shell that can be programmed and controlled to perfection, Kirk points out, refusing to help Korby with his plan. Korby's plans rapidly fizzle out anyway. When Kirk's mind was being transferred into copy-Kirk, he'd recited to himself a message he would never say: "Mind your own business, Mr. Spock — I'm tired of your half-breed interference, do you hear?" It is delivered at the first encounter between copy-captain and First Officer.

Spock, a veteran of dealing with duplicate captains at this point, gets the message loud and clear and beams down to the planet's surface…with armed escort.

Ah, there's an evil duplicate of the captain on the ship? It must be Tuesday."

Finally, we hit the climax. After seemingly failing to win Andrea as an ally with a kiss, Kirk convinces Ruk to disobey his programming and attack Korby. The doctor, without a second thought, zaps his thousand year old android with a phaser, poofing him from existence. Then Andrea zaps copy-Kirk because he won't kiss her like real-Kirk did, and he disappears. Then Kirk tries to wrestle the phaser from Korby and accidentally shoots Dr. Korby's hand, revealing him to be…an android all along! Who could have foreseen this??!

Andrea walks in and kisses Korby. The doctor, horrified that he has become more machine than man, and that Andrea has become more woman than machine, zaps both of them from existence.

The end.

Well, that was an experience. The editing, pacing, and writing for the episode were a complete mess. Still, there were elements that I absolutely loved. The costuming and sets were gorgeous. An expert combination of clever camera angles, colorful pink and purple lighting, and creatively designed walls really made you feel that the characters were in an otherworldly cave.

Everyone on the planet's surface shared an interesting motif in their clothes, and Andrea's outfit was so daring, I wouldn't be surprised if they needed a censor on set while filming! Still, my favorite costume was Ted Cassidy's — between his ominous makeup and his puffy sleeves and high collar, he really felt like something alien.

I also appreciated the acting, even if the actors didn't have much to work with. All of the android characters had a slightly flat affect to their deliveries that made them seem not quite human. Cassidy, as always, did a fantastic job. Shatner was weaker without any of his crew members to play off of, but he still did well differentiating between real Kirk and android Kirk.

Finally, the special effects were topnotch as always. We got the transporter effect and a few phaser beams, which never fail to amaze me, but we also got some incredibly effective split screens which actually made me forget the two Kirks were played by the same person!

So overall, I would say that this episode wasn't just bad, but hardly really felt like an episode at all. The premise and logic were completely internally inconsistent, and the main plot points don't hang together at all. However, I still enjoyed the show, because though the parts refused to fit together properly, they still had a lot of value on their own.

Three stars.

Wasted Potential

by Janice L. Newman

This episode was all over the place in terms of pacing. First, the mad scientist teases Kirk (and the audience) with some grand revelation, then the episode cuts directly to Kirk spinning naked on a giant turntable. Kirk’s message to Spock is cleverly done (and one of the best parts of the episode), but in the end, it makes no difference: Kirk convinces the androids with ‘logic’ and they mostly destroy each other after that point before Spock and his team can even arrive.

It’s a shame, because robot stories have a lot of potential. Between Asimov’s Robot stories, the recent deconstruction of same in Lester Del Rey’s A Code For Sam, and the use of robots in one of the current Space Patrol Orion episodes, metal men are a hot topic right now. Some of the nuanced takes from the early Star Trek episodes would have been interesting and welcome. For example, are the androids capable of independent thought and emotion? What are the moral implications of killing the androids, especially Ruk, who has been on the planet for centuries and is the last representative of a dead race? The androids’ plan to replace humans was obviously not desirable, but could the technology have been repurposed and used to better humankind?

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any thoughtful questions like these. Instead, we got a story in a traditional pulp mold with a newish villain: no bug-eyed aliens, but instead sinister machine-men. I can’t help but hope that the writers go back to storytelling that focuses on the gray areas instead of slam-bang black and white.

Two and a half stars.

Same ol', same ol'

by Gideon Marcus

I think my biggest problem with this episode is that we've seen so much of it before. Eccentric scientist on a remote planet shacked up with an alien being who doesn't want to be found? Check. Two Kirks? Check. A bleak, frigid planet festooned with styrofoam rocks? Check. Even the score seemed largely recycled from previous episodes. Added to that, the clunky pacing and the shallow treatment of potentially thought-provoking topics really dragged this episode into the lower tiers. It's not offensive, it's just not very good.

Kudos where they are deserved: lovely costume design (though I kept expecting Hoss Allen to come out and host The Beat!!! what with the blue and green motif.

The split-screen effects were particularly good, especially with the slanted table. Patty Duke could learn a thing or two (oh wait — she's been canceled).

Ted Cassidy was quite effective as Ruk, easily the most interesting part of the episode. Though I did keep expecting him to give his signature, "You raaang?" when he appeared. And I appreciated how quickly Spock deduced an imposter was on board. Coming on the heels of "The Enemy Within", there really would be no excuse otherwise.

So, better than "Mudd's Women", which I would have rated two stars. Let's call it two and a half, on par with "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Distinguishing Features

by Erica Frank

In this episode, we see alien fashion disasters, two crewmember deaths, and a return of Shirtless Kirk. (Hurray!) We also get android love (or at least android emotions; it's all very confusing) and the continuation of the " barren landscape; underground dwelling with lumpy stone walls" motif for alien planets.

Let's make sure we cover the important parts of the episode.

My observations from this episode: Nurse Chapel seems like an open-minded, free-love kind of woman. Just a few episodes ago, she was declaring her deep and sincere love for Mr. Spock, and now we discover she's been engaged — and searching for her fiancé — this whole time! If Spock had been part of the landing party, she might've had some very interesting conversations with the both of them.

We did, however, get double shirtless Kirk. Double naked Kirk, in fact, when Doctor Korby throws him into the Carbon-Copy-o-Matic android machine and makes a copy of him, right down to his thoughts and memories.

Which one is the android? Spock will need to know; I'm not sure I care.

Other people have spoken about the plot, the characters, the pacing… which leaves me to mention the lighting, which was excellent, and the fashion choices, of which I have already provided the best in the show.

The lighting and scene direction was clear, showed faces well without obscuring the underground facilities, and made it very easy to follow what was happening. This is a nice change from episodes where it's either pulled back so far that you can't tell where the action is, or focused on two heads that might be anywhere, or dim and shadowed so you can't tell what's going on. The cinematography was excellent in this episode.

The costuming, though… Now I know why the crew members' uniforms change all the time. (Uhura's in red this week.) Obviously, the Terran government is trying to avoid whatever pitfalls destroyed the long-extinct alien races, and while they can't be certain that the aliens' taste in fashion was part of their destruction, they are taking no chances.

This, THIS, is supposed to be a representative of a race that conquered the very building blocks of matter and thought? They could create a whole society of whatever skills, talents, and physical abilities they needed, and this is how they chose to dress them?

Ruk's outfit isn't the only problematic one on the planet. Andrea-the-android was presumably clad to appeal to Dr. Korby. She wears a blue-and-black dress (if that's the word) that barely covers enough body parts to be legal to show on television. Really, this should've been the Enterprise crew's first clue that something was very wrong: unless they were sweltering in their uniforms, she should've been uncomfortable with that much skin showing.

Since it turned out the Korby we met was an android who cannot feel love or baser human urges, this must've been a remnant of the original Korby's interests.

Once we're all done reeling from the… interesting… clothing, we get to deal with the rest of the plot: they're all androids; Korby's gone mad and wants to take over the universe with more androids; Andrea's developing an unseemly level of emotions; Ruk is chasing Kirk through the caverns with intent to kill him, as he did with the two unsuspecting red-shirted crewmembers at the beginning of the episode.

Kirk hids from Ruk while holding a makeshift, err, weapon he's found in the caverns.

In the end, Kirk charms Andrea into turning on her associates; the power of Kirk Kisses is apparently stronger than android programming. Spock, of course, quickly identifies Robot Kirk and incapacitates him. By the end of the episode, all the androids are gone, and for reasons unknown, the Enterprise leaves with no mention of either acquiring or deliberately avoiding the amazing copy-android technology.

I would expect them to report the discovery to Earth to be studied by people less prone to become megalomaniacs. Even if the process cannot create a "soul," I would expect many people in similar circumstances to Korby — near death, badly injured or disabled — to have an interest in technology that could give extended life to their thoughts and memories. If nothing else, it would allow people to record their memoirs, complete their research projects, give messages to loved ones, and so on. I was surprised Kirk abandoned the machinery; I can imagine many good uses for such a device, and I expect that's exactly the kind of thing his "five-year mission" is intended to discover. Perhaps it was reported, and another crew, more scientifically oriented than set on exploration, will return to the planet to find out if it can be used without succumbing to the temptation to take over planets.

I agree with the comments above that say the episode was scattered. The action scenes were well-done, but the overall story and pacing jumped around too much. However, it was visually stunning, didn't involve evil mind-control, and brought up some interesting questions about the nature of humanity and the mind. Four stars: Three for the plot, characters, and direction, plus half a star for each naked Kirk.

(Join us tomorrow at 8:30 PM (Pacific AND Eastern — two showings) for the next exciting episode of Star Trek!)

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[Oct. 20, 1966] Crimes against Humanity (Star Trek: "Mudd's Women")

October 20, 2021 Erica Frank 14 Comments

My kind of scoundrel

by Erica Frank

Let’s start at the beginning: the Enterprise is pursuing a smaller ship as it careens into an asteroid field. Captain Kirk orders his crew to protect the ship, burning out nearly all of their lithium crystals, and then beam the crew onboard. Mister Scott first beams over a man who initially introduces himself as "Leo Walsh". Then Mister Scott beams over three women — Eve, Ruth, and Magda — who pose elegantly on the transporter pad.

"Walsh" shows up wearing some kind of swashbuckler's outfit with a bejeweled earring just a little smaller than a golf ball. He says the three lovely women he's escorting are not his crew but his "cargo." He quickly explains: he's delivering them to their husbands-to-be on a mining colony.

Introducing: Leo Walsh, matchmaker from the stars

Right away, we can tell there's something sketchy about him. He smiles too widely, brushes aside questions, and tries to sneak away to talk with the women. They're all terrible liars, so it quickly comes out that his name is not "Leo Walsh" but Harry Mudd… in more ways than one.

Mudd's got a rap sheet: He's wanted for crimes like smuggling and counterfeiting, not for anything violent. He lies; he cheats; he steals; he runs away and does it again at the next port. He swindles people out of money, but he's not trying to ruin lives; he's just trying to enjoy his own.

Sure, he's trying to scam the potential husbands for the three ladies he's escorting (more on that shortly), but the women are planning to be good wives, to be partners and helpers to the men they marry, and they're willing to live in a very isolated place for that.

Eve, Ruth, and Magda, wearing the only clothes they own after being rescued

While Mudd and "his" women are involved in some kind of scam that the crew is trying to figure out, the ship itself is having problems. It's out of lithium crystals and can't travel faster than a slow crawl. Fortunately, there's a lithium mining planet with — as luck would have it — exactly three men, all single and desperate for wives. The three women immediately agree to abandon their former betrotheds (whom they'd never met) to latch on to these new, closer, wealthier strangers.

By the middle of the episode, we have a tangle of conflicting interests. Mudd wants to get paid (needs to get paid; his spaceship was destroyed) and would really like to stay out of prison. The three women would like husbands who can keep them in the type of luxury they'd enjoy. The Enterprise needs crystals or it's dead in space. Captain Kirk would like to know what the scam is so he can deal with his prisoner appropriately. The miners would like wives, and would be especially happy with beautiful, alluring wives. Doctor McCoy would like to know why every man on the ship (except Spock) acts like they're being enthralled. (This is difficult when he himself is subject to their charms.) The cops presumably would like Mudd behind bars for his past crimes.

I was worried this was yet another "mind control powers" episode, and was delighted to discover it was not. Mudd's been giving the women "the Venus Drug" which makes them beautiful and sexy. All three women are homely, unable to find husbands because they are so ugly. Their plan was to get married on a remote planet; by the time they ran out of the drugs, their husbands would be stuck with them and Mudd would be long gone.

As you can see, his name really is Mudd.

Kirk throws Mudd in the brig while he tries to figure out what's going on. However, in accordance with standard Enterprise security, the women are free to come and go as they please, visiting officers at work, breaking into Kirk's cabin, and coordinating to help Mudd. Mudd can't leave the brig, but they can not only visit him, they can bring him a communications device. He contacts the miners and arranges a deal for his own freedom.

The lithium miners must have a powerful union, almost as strong as the fashion industry: Mudd, not Earth (or starship command, or whomever Kirk reports to), tells Kirk that he's not only to be set free, but delivered safely to another planet after the women are settled. Presumably, Kirk verifies this with his superiors instead of just taking Mudd's word for it, but I'm never sure how much anyone on this ship pays attention to chain of command.

The crew beams down to the mining planet. Even when the plot is hokey, Star Trek's visual impact is breathtaking.

Eve has second thoughts about the whole thing. She runs off into a sandstorm, gets rescued by the head miner, and winds up telling him the whole truth. At first, he rejects her because she's ugly; eventually, after some shenanigans between Kirk and Mudd, both she and the miner realize that the drug isn't (entirely) what made her enticing — it may have removed a few wrinkles and added a bit of sparkle, but it's her own actions that made it effective: She was beautiful because she believed she was.

Kirk tells her: "There's only one kind of woman–" Mudd interrupts him to say, "–or man, for that matter," and Kirk finishes with, "you either believe in yourself, or don't."

Childress, the head of the mining colony, and Eve, the woman too ugly to find a husband on her home planet

They decide to make a go of it, and so do the other women, thus avoiding the likely violent reaction to the truth if the change had happened without giving them a choice. Hurray. The women get husbands who are willing to accept them as they are; the men get wives who are willing to put up with the isolation of a mining planet; the Enterprise gets the crystals it needs to function; and Harry Mudd gets a presumably fair trial.

Harcourt Fenton Mudd is obviously a conniving, selfish liar and con artist, but he's not trying to hurt anyone, and he's devoted to a life of leisure and flamboyance. That's hard to manage as the captain of a tiny ship drifting between the stars. It's not mentioned in the episode, but he must spend some of his time managing the ship and addressing its technical needs, and much of the rest looking out of viewports into the inky blackness of space.

Would you buy a used spaceship from this man?

Mudd's a ruffian, a scalawag, a scofflaw: a criminal to his bones… but he's relatable (we all know someone like him) and has managed to stay mentally sound, to be optimistic even, in a setting that could drive men mad. Humans are social creatures; we need each other to survive. Any sailor will say that ocean life is lonely; a starship is even more isolated — and yet Harry Mudd rejects companionship on his journeys.

It takes a strong will to maintain enough social skills to wheel and deal with those who are planetbound — and an even stronger one to be a maverick, obviously not following society's rules or moral standards, but in a way that says "I'm a rebel outlaw" rather than "I've been living alone for so long I've forgotten which fork is used for ice cream."

I don't know that I'd like Harry Mudd in person, but I am certainly entertained by him at a distance. I admire his dedication to his chosen lifestyle, and the skills and mental strength he must have to pull it off.

Three and a half stars. It would be four, but there are no shirtless men in this episode.

The Message

by Robin Rose Graves

The introduction to "Mudd’s Women" is ripe with promise. Action and intrigue. How did these three otherworldly attractive women end up traveling with a space pirate like Mudd? And what makes them so irresistible that even a crew of professional men can’t help but gawk? These questions ensnared my initial interest, filled my head with theories. I was ultimately let down.

“Confidence is beauty” is the moral of the story upon the revelation that the pills did nothing to change the normal human girls’ appearances, but instead gave them confidence, leading to them being perceived as supernaturally beautiful. While I don’t disagree with the message, I was nonetheless disappointed. Confused, even, at how the show decided to depict the beauty of the women. Under the influence of the Venus pills, the girls have glamorous makeup and clothes. Once the pills wear off, the women are stripped of their make up and they, along with those around them, act as if they are appallingly homely looking. Otherwise, they appear the same as before, particularly to me, who still found the actresses chosen to play the parts to be attractive.

Disheveled, maybe… but ugly?

The overall message feels out of place in a science fiction world. It’s one that felt unchallenging compared to the better episodes we’ve seen thus far. The final act of the episode feels as if it could have happened in any mundane situation comedy program. I’m not opposed to science fiction tackling issues of our society (in fact science fiction at its strongest does) yet I felt this episode didn’t go far enough. Compare it to a favorite Twilight Zone episode “Eye of the Beholder” where the plot differs greatly, but the question answered remains the same – “What is beauty?”

“Eye of the Beholder” subverted expectations. The episode built you up to expect the main character to be as ugly as everyone around her treats her, only to reveal her face looks like ours but everyone around her has large noses, sunken in eyes, and puffy lips – what is considered attractive in their universe. Twilight Zone went to greater lengths than “Mudd’s Women” to challenge the beliefs of their viewers, and six years before Star Trek. I expected more from a show that has at its best moments challenged modern television programs, and the way the episode began promised more than what was delivered.

3 stars.

Clear as Mud

by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Many moments in "Mudd’s Women" beg us to ask: are Eve, Ruth, and Magda property or people?

The episode follows a fairly simple structure: a chase, passengers rescued at great cost to the Enterprise necessitating an emergency refueling using fuel which Captain Kirk can only attain by trading the passengers’ lives, which he does. Or does he trade valuable cargo to the lithium miners of Rigel 12, with the cargo's willing consent?

The women explain what drove them from their home planets: hardship, unequal treatment, and a lack of hope for a real future. But we are not getting the whole story:

We discover that Mudd is supplying them with “Venus drugs,” that seem to alter the women’s appearances and charisma for a short time. Or do they? Towards the end of the episode, Kirk gives Eve a placebo pill without her informed consent and it has the same effect as the real thing. We are left to wonder: were the women’s transformations like those in The Man Trap, where Nancy Crater’s face aged depending on point of view? Or were these women actually aliens with a natural talent for appearing, as Erica described it as we watched, to have undergone a four hour hair and make-up treatment within moments of downing a sparkling pill?

Setting aside for a moment these mixed-up metaphysics, Eve, Ruth, and Magda clearly believe they need the drugs that Mudd controls access to. There is a harrowing scene where he goofily searches for more pills as the women rot and wither around him, bodies wracked with discomfort and with physical changes they believe they are powerless to control. This desperation and enforced dependency must color every other statement we hear from them about their consenting to their impending futures.

On Rigel 12, Mudd offers to trade Eve, Ruth, and Magda for his own freedom and crystals to fuel the Enterprise. What follows are several deeply upsetting scenes where Captain Kirk first refuses, and then — without any on-screen consultation with Eve, Ruth, or Magda — agrees to Mudd and the miners’ demands. Kirk transports them down to the mining camp to become wives of the miners. On the surface, we see a party where Magda asks a man to dance and men fight over her; a man asks Eve to dance and she says no, after which he publicly shames her for not consenting. Furious and distraught, Eve shouts: “Why don't you run a raffle and the loser gets me?” before running into a deadly sandstorm, with men baying after her.

Seven hours later, the miner who tried to shame Eve has her in his cave, where she is cooking for him. They fight, and he lays hands on her, only to growl: “I didn't touch her” when Captain Kirk and Mudd materialize, looking for lithium crystals. Moments later, Kirk gives Eve the placebo. Then he lectures her on womanhood and the importance of self-confidence before leaving.

“I didn't touch her.”

The episode ends without us seeing what became of Magda or Ruth. But we do see Kirk abandon Eve on a remote mining post with a violent man, taking Harry Mudd along with him for trial.

If Eve, Ruth, and Magda are “cargo,” then there is nothing wrong with Captain Kirk, Harry Mudd, or the miners’ actions. You cannot bruise a sexy automoton. Its tears have no meaning. It has no will or sense of adventure or right to privacy. It cannot yearn for freedom. But if Eve, Ruth, and Magda are people, then Mudd was cruel to withhold medical care they believed they needed; Captain Kirk was cruel to trade their bodies and lives for fuel; and the writers are cruel for writing a narrative that expected us to go along with it.

All in all, the metaphysics and the intended humanity of the women in this episode were as clear as mud.

One star.

(Will the next episode be better? Join us tonight at 8:30 PM (Pacific AND Eastern — two showings) to find out!!)

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[October 19, 1966] Routine Missions and Asimovian Robots: Space Patrol Orion Episode 3: "Guardians of the Law"

October 19, 2021 Cora Buhlert 4 Comments

by Cora Buhlert

A Routine Mission

After pulling out all the stops in episode 2, what would Raumpatrouille Orion do for an encore? Well, instead of threatening the entire solar system this time around, writer Rolf Honold and W.G. Larsen have opted for a more low-key adventure for the Orion 8 and her brave crew.

And so episode 3 "Hüter des Gesetzes" (Guardians of the Law) opens with that most routine of situations, namely a robotics training course for Space Fleet personnel, including the Orion crew. The Orion crew seems bored, but my interest perked up once robotics specialist Rott (Alfons Höckmann) mentioned the Three Laws of Robotics. Yes, Isaac Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics exist in the Space Patrol Orion universe.

Space Patrol Orion Rott — Rott (Alfons Höckmann) is lecturing.

Space Patrol Orion — The Orion crew is bored by the class.

The Alpha CO work robots seen in this episode are a far cry from the clumsy humans in spray-painted cardboard boxes that we have seen in so many science fiction films. These robots are curious floating (thanks to the magic of bluescreen technology) ovals with multiple arms equipped with tools, among them an ice cream scoop and a forceps, so the robots can both serve ice cream and deliver babies. The fact that these robots don't even look remotely human imbues them with a subtle menace.

That menace becomes not so subtle when Rott makes a robot go berserk and trash the classroom, before fixing it with a small adjustment. At this point, the Orion crew are called away for what turns out to be a dull routine job retrieving readings from space probes.

Once the Orion 8 reaches its area of operations, Atan Shubashi (F.G. Beckhaus) and Helga Legrelle (Ursula Lillig) get into a Lancet for the first work shift. Meanwhile, the Orion receives a message from the ore freighter Sikh 12 under the command of Commodore Ruyther (Helmut Brasch), an old friend of McLane's. Ruyther has a problem. The Sikh 12 is supposed to haul ore from the asteroid Pallas to Earth, but upon its last trip the sealed ore rockets turned out to be filled with spoil instead. Furthermore, the miners on Pallas are not responding to Ruyther's calls. Ruyther reported this, but true to form Space Fleet Command only cares about the missing ore, not the miners.

Space Patrol Orion Commodore Ruyther — A call from Commodore Ruyther (Helmut Brasch)

It doesn't take long to convince McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) to head to Pallas to investigate. Security officer Tamara Jagellovsk (Eva Plug) unsuccessfully tries to overrule him, but gives in, when McLane points out that human lives might be in danger. Once again, McLane violates regulations and ignores orders and once again, he does so to save lives. I'm sensing a pattern here.

So far, most interactions between McLane and Tamara consist of arguing and sniping, but you can see the growing respect between these two. And the knowing grins on the faces of Hasso and Mario show that they know that McLane and Tamara will kiss before the season is over. Helga Legrelle knows it, too, and is less than happy about it.

Tamara also points out that if Space Fleet Command finds out that the Orion 8 has left its area of operations, McLane will be in trouble once again (apparently, gratitude for saving the Earth wears off fast). However, McLane has the perfect solution to this problem, namely an old spacer's trick named "Laurin" after the dwarf king with the invisibility cap from medieval legend. And so McLane orders Helga and Atan to project an energy field the size of the Orion with their Lancet to fool sensors, while the Orion leaves for Pallas.

Orion Does Asimov

The Orion lands on Pallas (portrayed by a pitch coal mine in Preißenberg, Bavaria) and cannot hail the miners either. So McLane, Tamara, Hasso Sigbjörnson (Claus Holm) and Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz) explore the mine and find it deserted, the crew gone.

At last, they encounter signs of life, two Alpha CO work robots like the ones in the opening scene. However, these robots are armed – with ray guns, not ice cream scoops and forceps. They capture and disarm the Orion crew and take them to the mines, where they finally find the miners, held prisoner and forced to work. The Three Laws of Robotics forbid robots to harm humans, so what is going on here?

Space Patrol Orion robots — The robots hold the Orion crew at gun point.

From this point on, "Guardians of the Law" plays out very much like Isaac Asimov's stories about Dr. Susan Calvin or robot troubleshooters Powell and Donovan from the 1940s. A robot is misbehaving in dangerous ways, so our heroes try to figure out what has gone wrong and how to fix it. The answer usually lies in the Three Laws of Robotics.

And this is exactly what happens. McLane and Tamara, who displays a surprising amount of knowledge about robotics, question the miners and learn that the robots malfunctioned after they witnessed a shoot-out between the miners and drug gang. Humans shooting humans caused a conflict regarding the First Law of Robotics and fried the robots' brains.

Unfortunately, the resident robot specialist was killed in the shoot-out, so the miners have no one to solve the problem. Tamara thinks she can reprogram the robots, but first she needs to get close to them. So McLane devises a plan to lure the robots into the mine and cause a cave-in to immobilise them long enough for Tamara to reprogram them. The plan is successful, too. The reprogrammed robots return the Orion crew's weapons, which they use to shoot the remaining robots. This part is very reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's 1944 Powell and Donovan story "Catch That Rabbit!"

Tamara was sidelined in "Planet Off Course", but she gets plenty to do in this episode (ditto for Helga) and her robotics experience saves the day. There are also more hints that Tamara might be a robot herself, when she responds to Hasso and Mario's jokes by telling them that she is a sophisticated Epsilon android. So is Tamara just pulling their legs or is she telling the truth?

The New Yardstick for Spaceship Captains

Meanwhile, a different drama is unfolding in space. For the "Laurin" illusion that Atan and Helga are projecting is draining the shuttle's energy reserves. Atan has absolute faith that McLane will return before their energy runs out. Helga has faith in McLane as well, but points out that the crew might have run into trouble, because McLane takes too many chances. And so she wants to deactivate the Laurin illusion and head for Pallas to see if the rest of the crew need help. Atan eventually agrees, but it's too late. The Lancet's energy reserves are used up and their shields and life support are failing.

Luckily, the Orion shows up in the nick of time. Helga has passed out and Atan is babbling incoherently. McLane first makes sure that Helga gets medical attention. Then he turns to the incoherent and understandably angry Atan and he asks him why the hell he didn't switch off the Laurin illusion. "I didn't have an order to switch it off," Atan replied, whereupon McLane tells him not to wait for orders, but use his own damned brain. McLane even uses a strong swearword – not aimed at Atan, with whom he's uncommonly gentle, but referring to the Laurin illusion – I have personally never heard used on West German TV to date. I predict complaints and angry letters.

After three episodes, I am liking McLane more and more. Yes, McLane may be a maverick, he may occasionally act like an anti-feminist towards Tamara and he may be overly emotional at times, but he clearly cares about people and breaks rules and ignores orders to save lives. Nor does McLane expect blind obedience from his crew, but wants them to think for themselves. The Orion crew may be fanatically loyal to McLane, but he has earned that loyalty.

Science fiction is full of spaceship captains, but McLane is quickly becoming not only my favourite, but also the yardstick against which all other captains shall be measured. I'm pretty sure that I will ask myself, "What would Commander McLane do?" for a long time to come. For example, imagine how different Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" would have played out with McLane in charge.

Back on Earth, Colonel Villa and General Wamsler investigate the mystery of the missing ore shipments and finally decide to do something about it. Wamsler wants to hail the Orion and send McLane to Pallas, whereupon his aide Lieutenant Spring-Brauner (Thomas Reiner being delightfully swarmy once again) confesses that he has mislaid the Orion and can't hail her. Unlike Spring-Brauner, Wamsler knows the Laurin trick and also lets McLane know that he knows, but is willing to cover for him.

Space Patrol Orion Wamsler and McLane — Wamsler lets McLane know that he, too, knows the Laurin trick and has seen through him.

"Guardians of the Law" does not have the edge-of-your-seat suspense of "Planet Off Course", but is nonetheless another excellent episode of Raumpatrouille Orion with a plot straight from an Asimov robot story and lots of great character moments for both the crew and supporting characters like Villa and Wamsler.

After three great episodes, I can't wait for what the final four will offer.

Four stars

Bremer Freimarkt 1960er — Balloon and toy vendor at the 931st Bremer Freimarkt.

Bremer Freimarkt 1960s — The popular Calypso ride at the Bremer Freimarkt.

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[October 18, 1966] Moral Dilemmas and Earth in Peril: Space Patrol Orion Episode 2: "Planet Off Course"

October 18, 2021 Cora Buhlert 6 Comments

by Cora Buhlert

Critical Voices

Last month, I wrote about the premiere of Raumpatrouille: Die Phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffs Orion (Space Patrol: The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship Orion), West Germany's very first science fiction TV show. Since then, two more episodes have aired. But before we get to that, let's take a look at some reactions to the show, courtesy of both TV critics and viewers.

So far, science fiction had had no presence on West German TV, so professional TV critics were mostly baffled, to put it politely. The Berlin tabloid B.Z. called Orion "pseudoscientific nonsense" set in a "brainless utopia". The magazine Kirche und Fernsehen (Church and Television) lamented that the dialogues were too complicated for the viewers to understand, at least viewers not used to science fiction and gadget speak.

Hörzu October 1966 — The latest issue of the Tv listings magazine Hörzu

Letters to the TV listings mag Hörzu show a range of audience reactions. Rolf Sch. from Bad Homburg declares that Orion is more suspenseful than Alfred Hitchcock and The Fugitive. Sebastian T. from Hamburg called Orion a milestone in the history of West German television and notes that Germany has not produced anything comparable since Fritz Lang's Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon) in 1929.

Horst B. from Hamburg and O.R. from Constance both lament that a TV show set in the year 3000 still focusses on war and military themes, since they hope that humanity would have overcome its destructive impulses by then. Gerhard B. from Heilbronn correctly points out that according to current demographic trends, it's extremely unlikely to have an all-white spaceship crew in the year 3000 AD. Peter H.R. from Ottenbronn complains about scientific issues and notes that faster-than-light travel is not possible and that the Orion crew is unaffected by zero gravity.

Letters to Hörzu — Hörzu readers comment on the first episode of Space Patrol Orion

Dieter L. from Neuhede believes that science fiction is only suitable for children and Heiner S. from Bielefeld calls the series a waste of money. For Jupp W. from Degerloh his dislike for Space Patrol Orion at least has a silver lining, namely lots of time to read. We here at the Journey certainly have some recommendations for him, though I suspect he would not like them.

A Thriller in Space

Episode 2 "Planet Außer Kurs" (Planet Off Course) opens with my favourite supporting character from episode 1, General Lydia Van Dyke (Charlotte Kerr) in deep trouble. Her spaceship, the Hydra, is battered by a magnetic storm and has just made an alarming discovery. A planet that has been thrown out of its orbit and is now headed straight for Earth. The footage of the fiery rogue planet, supposedly a ball coated with fire gel and set alight, is certainly impressive. Unfortunately, the script proves Hörzu reader Peter H.R. from Ottenbronn right and insists on calling the rogue planet a "supernova".

Space Patrol Orion rogue planet — The rogue planet on the Hydra's viewscreen

The Hydra crew intercepts a transmission in an unknown code. Turns out that the Frogs, those dastardly aliens from episode 1, are back and busily hurtling random planets at Earth. In the first episode, "Frogs" was a merely nickname that Hasso Sigbjörnson and Atan Shubashi gave the aliens, but by episode 2 the moniker seems to have been universally adopted. General Van Dyke manages to send a warning to Earth, before contact breaks off.

General Lydia Van Dyke (Charlotte Kerr) aboard the Hydra

While his former superior is fighting for her life aboard the Hydra, Commander Cliff Alister McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) of the Orion 7 is relaxing in the Starlight Casino and showing off his chest hair, when he is summoned to a meeting with the Supreme Space Authority.

Shirtless Commander McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) is summoned to a meeting with the Supreme Space Authority

Space Patrol Orion kids — These two little moppets in their miniature spacesuits only make a brief cameo appearance in this episode, but they're certainly cute.

Military Men and Moral Dilemmas

The various high-ranking military officials we met in episode 1 are arguing what to do about the rogue planet headed for Earth. For there are not nearly enough spaceships available to evacuate the population and besides, an evacuation would cause panic. Not that it matters much, because the civilian government, represented here by an official named von Wennerstein (Emil Stöhr), has no intention to evacuate Earth, even though the government itself is relocating to Mars.

Space Patrol Orion Generals — The Supreme Space Authority holds a tense meeting.

These moral dilemmas are familiar from works like J.T. McIntosh's 1954 novel One in Three Hundred or the 1951 movie When Worlds Collide, but there are real world parallels as well. Space fleet commander-in-chief Sir Arthur's comment that "Politicians will always find something to govern, even if everything is already gone" brings to mind that – should there ever be a nuclear war – governments will hide out in their bunkers to rule over a nuclear wasteland, while the population burns. The flat-out refusal to evacuate Earth in the face of overwhelming peril is also reminiscent of the final months of World War II, when the Nazi government forbade the evacuation of civilians from regions like East Prussia and Silesia, which were about to be overrun by the Red Army, because they wanted to keep the roads clear for military operations.

As for how the Frogs managed to establish a base and throw a planet out of orbit under the very noses of the space fleet, Colonel Villa of the Galactic Security Service (Friedrich Joloff) points out that a committee of scientists and military officers was formed to analyse the alien threat, but was way too smug and convinced of human superiority to achieve any results. I can't help to wonder whether Villa's remark isn't a barb aimed at John W. Campbell of Analog and his insistence on human superiority at all times. Especially since episode 3 shows that the writers are familiar with Astounding/Analog.

The civilian government is portrayed as cowardly and inefficient in this episode. However, when Sir Arthur (Franz Scharfheitlin) wonders whether it's time for a military coup, Colonel Villa promptly informs him that this is not only treason, but also not the solution to their problem. Even though the focus of Space Patrol Orion is on the military, the show is nonetheless committed to democracy.

More Moral Dilemmas… in Space

The assembled generals finally decide that the best course of action is to locate the Frog base and destroy it. Two hundred ships are dispatched, including the Orion 7.

The Orion crew detects the Frogs' signal, but can't triangulate the location of their base without another signal. This is supplied by General Van Dyke aboard the stricken Hydra, once the Orion manages to hail them.

This leads to another of the moral dilemmas so beloved by philosophy undergraduate classes, for McLane wants to rescue General Van Dyke and the Hydra crew before destroying the Frog base. General Van Dyke, however, orders McLane to destroy the base, because the fate of Earth outweighs that of the five people aboard the Hydra. The interactions between McLane and Lydia Van Dyke (with whom he is on a first name basis) suggest that their relationship more than just professional.

Space Patrol Orion General Lydia van Dyke — General Lydia Van Dyke orders McLane to save the Earth rather than her.

Because McLane will never listen to just one woman, Tamara Jagellovsk also orders him to forget about the Hydra and destroy the base. In order to emphasise her words, she even pulls a gun on McLane. McLane isn't really the type to be intimidated either by guns or by Tamara, but he eventually relents. The fate of Earth really does outweigh that of five people, even if McLane is close to one of them.

This tense moment not only gives Dietmar Schönherr and Eva Pflug the chance to show off their acting skills, but it also demonstrates that McLane's emotions are both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Because McLane cares about people and will not casually abandon them. During the meeting with the generals, McLane is the only one who actually seems to care about the fate of the Hydra.

Try, Fail and Try Again

The Orion fires at the Frog base and manages to destroy it in another impressive special effect. However, it is to no avail, because the rogue planet is still headed for Earth. So the Orion crew decide to destroy the rogue planet with antimatter bombs, a risky manoeuvre which might get them all killed.

After some calculations made on a futuristic Etch A Sketch type writing tablet, the crew get to work. However, the engineering and weapons consoles explode, wounding chief engineer Hasso Sigbjörnson (Claus Holm) and weapons officer Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz). As a result, Mario releases the bombs too late and the explosions fail to destroy the rogue planet.

There's only one course of action left. Crash the Orion into the rogue planet. So the Orion crew pile into the two Lancet shuttles and watch as their ship explodes in a fiery inferno along with the rogue planet. The Lancets are too small and underpowered to reach the nearest starbase, so they try to make it to the damaged Hydra.

Space Patrol Orion episode 2 — Atan Shubashi (F.G. Beckhaus), Mario de Monti (Wolfgang Völz) and Helga Legrelle (Ursula Lillig) aboard Lancet 2

Space Patrol Prion episode 2 — Hasso takes a spacewalk.

They find the Hydra without power and not responding to hails, so Hasso takes a risky spacewalk and manually engages the Hydra's landing clamps. However, Hasso passes out before he can complete the manoeuvre, so McLane has to race through the airless and overheated ship without even a spacesuit, as Hasso is wearing the only one they have. Since McLane is the hero, he succeeds and also rescues the General Van Dyke and the Hydra crew, who had retreated to the ship's cryogenic chambers.

Space Patrol Orion Hasso and McLane — Hasso has passed out in spite of his spacesuit, so McLane has to finish the job – without a spacesuit.

Back on Earth, the assembled generals are overjoyed that the rogue planet has been destroyed, though they assume that the Orion crew perished in the process. The only ones who seem to be bothered by this are General Wamsler (Benno Sterzenbach), McLane's direct superior, and Colonel Villa. Meanwhile. characters like Sir Arthur and Marshal Kublai-Krim (Hans Cossy) bring to mind World War II generals who happily sacrificed thousands of lives for questionable victories.

The episode ends with McLane signing paperwork regarding the destruction of the Orion. We also learn that the ship's designation was Orion 7, because this was already the seventh Orion, suggesting that McLane has already trashed six previous ships.

I loved the premiere of Space Patrol Orion, but episode 2 managed to be even better, a taut thriller that alternates between the tense general staff scenes on Earth and the equally tense scenes aboard the Orion and Hydra. Besides, you have to admire the guts of a show, which almost destroys the Earth and blows up the titular ship in the second episode.

Five stars

Stay tuned for my review of episode 3 "Hüter des Gesetzes" (Guardians of the Law) coming tomorrow

The impressive Sputnik ride on the Bremer Freimarkt

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Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV

[October 12, 1966] Inside Out (Star Trek's "The Enemy Within")

October 12, 2021 Janice L. Newman 8 Comments

Two for the Price of One

by Janice L. Newman

Some stories become seminal. They are told and re-told, with additions and variations, but always at heart recognizable. The heartwarming tale of A Christmas Carol, the story of Frankenstein, the great, sweeping drama of Romeo and Juliet – elements of each of these have become embedded in our culture and our consciousness.

Tonight’s Star Trek episode drew from one such cultural touchstone: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You can already guess, just from knowing that much, what it’s about. But is it well done?

The episode begins with the transporter being used to ‘beam up’ one of the ubiquitous extras from a planet which, we are told, gets very cold at night. There’s some sort of malfunction with the transporter, and when Captain Kirk is beamed up next, he sways as though faint. Scotty escorts him to sick bay, leaving the transporter room empty when it activates again and beams in…another Captain Kirk?

It’s immediately apparent that something is off about the second Kirk. He rushes over to Sick Bay to demand alcohol from Doctor McCoy, yells at crewmates, and in a deeply disturbing scene, menaces and attacks Yeoman Rand. (Is it just me, or does it feel like Yeoman Rand’s only purpose aboard the ship is to be menaced and attacked? We’ve seen it happen in the past three episodes: Charlie in "Charlie X", a random infected crewperson in "The Naked Time", and now the captain himself.)

Fortunately, Rand manages to get away, and afterward the ‘good’ Captain Kirk insists that he didn’t attack her. Particularly interesting to me was Rand’s reactions as the captain and Mr. Spock talk to her about what happened. She is far more traumatized than in previous episodes, weeping and saying, “I didn’t know what to do…He is the captain.” When she says that she scratched her attacker and Kirk points out that he has no scratches, she begins to second-guess herself. “I was frightened…maybe…” In a particularly poignant moment, she adds, “I can understand. I don’t want to get you into trouble. I wouldn’t have even mentioned it.”

There is a wealth of meaning in those few lines. In the futuristic society of "Star Trek" women may have something closer to equality than we have now, but a crewmember is still afraid to tell her captain ‘no’, and even after an attempted rape, says that she wouldn’t have said anything about it to avoid getting him into trouble. It says a lot about their society, and also about our world here in 1966, that those lines feel shockingly real and believable.

The ‘bad’ Kirk is eventually caught, but something interesting happens to the ‘good’ Kirk. At first, he seemed mostly unaffected by the transporter incident, but as the episode goes on, we see him beginning to waver, distracted and nervous. He increasingly has difficulty making judgement calls, until it culminates in a moment where he begs, “Someone make the decision.”

It turns out that the two Kirks aren’t ‘bad’ Kirk and ‘good’ Kirk, so much as the one driven by passion, lust, and the baser emotions, versus one motivated by compassion and logic. Both sides are necessary for Kirk to function as a full person and an effective leader.

This was a really interesting take on the Jekyll and Hyde cliché. As with several of the episodes preceding it, there wasn’t a clear-cut ‘bad guy’. And the solution wasn’t to kill a monster but to heal one, to comfort the fears and soothe the rage of Kirk’s id until he agreed to rejoin with his other half, even at the risk of his life. For all that it’s a premise we’ve seen before, the story was fresh, interesting, and very well-told indeed.

Five stars.

The Flip Side

by Gideon Marcus

It's always nice to see Richard Matheson's credits on a show (well, except for The Twilight Zone's "Third from the Sun", where it was a disappointment.) "The Enemy Within" is a beautifully crafted exploration of humanity's noble and bestial qualities, well portrayed by William Shatner as Captain Kirk.

Indeed, while the episode mostly focused on "Good Kirk" and his mission to be reunited with his other self, I found myself increasingly interested in "Evil Kirk" as a character. After all, he's as much "the real" Kirk as his other half. We got to see Spock fall apart last episode, and here we get to delve into what makes Kirk tick.

In "The Naked Time", Kirk lamented that he could never get away from his command, "no beach to walk on…" The first time we see "Evil Kirk" after he steps off the transporter, he runs to the transporter, grinning with glee. I think I understand what's going on in his mind — no more pesky conscience to restrain him. He's utterly free for the first time in his life. Of course he runs off to indulge in his basest desires: drunkennness, rape, violence.

Here's a question: are these desires always tempting Kirk, just as Spock is always wrestling with his human side? Or would any person with his superego removed develop the same urges? Are there people for whom splitting in two would result in less dramatically altered personalities?

Obviously, it's not an experiment that can be ethically run, but it is fascinating. And if I seem insensitive to what Kirk went through, understand, it's the way I am.

I will say that the assault on Janice was particularly difficult to watch. The betrayal she must have felt, particularly by someone she trusted, admired, and possibly has (had?) a romantic interest in, cuts deep and resonates with a situation so many women deal with. Spock's comment at the end, indicating he is aware of Rand's feelings for Kirk, and that she might have, deep down, enjoyed the assault was almost as painful as the assault itself, though perhaps it is consistent with his earlier insensitivity. Perhaps they'll cut that bit in the summer reruns. It really doesn't need to be there.

Four stars.

A Color Theory of Good and Evil

by Jessica Dickinson Goodman

Like I did last week, I’d like to zoom in on one particular detail of The Enemy Within: the set design. Specifically, how the comparative dominance of blood red lighting or jade green uniforms give us hints as to which incarnation of Captain Kirk holds the upper hand in a given scene.

These colors are what Bauhaus artist Johannes Itten would call complementary, since they they appear on opposite sides of his 1961 color wheel:

Near the middle of the episode we see the lower decks where red lights glow through jade green filigree screens as the violent part of Captain Kirk hunts Spock and his jade-shirted other self. Contrast this with the touching final moment on the transporter pad, where the peaceful Captain Kirk holds his counterpart close, their green uniform shirts filling the medium shot, with only a hint of red in the ceiling lights just before they are recombined:

These complementary thematic colors add a layer to Commander Spock’s assessment of Captain Kirk:

“[W]hat is it that makes one man an exceptional leader? We see indications that it's his negative side which makes him strong, that his evil side, if you will, properly controlled and disciplined, is vital to his strength.”

Complementary colors, when combined with artistic discipline, are greater than the sum of their parts. There is a buzz to the places where they touch, a neon inner life. Pop art leaders like Miriam Laufer, Sister Corita Kent, Marisol Escobar, Evelyne Axell, Sturtevant, and the recently late Pauline Boty wield that intense, almost painful complementary contrast, to produce strong, commanding statements about the world as they see it.

Pauline Boty, Colour Her Gone (1962)

In this episode, the contrast between Captain Kirk’s two selves is also intense and painful, particularly to those who his violent side hurts or his peaceful side fails to protect. But for Kirk, his good and evil sides are complementary: they allow him to be greater than the sum of his parts.

Director of Photography Jerry Finnerman, Art Directors Roland M. Brooks and Walter M. Jefferies, Set Decorator Carl F. Biddiscombe, Costumer William Theiss, and their team members represented by the I.A.T.S.E. labor union must have worked together tirelessly to provide us this episode’s visual metaphor; I look forward to continuing to enjoy their teams’ skillful use of color theory to mirror and elevate the stories of these familiar, far-off characters.

Four stars.

In the picture

by Tam Phan (Secret Asian Man)

Spotlighting Shatner’s double-faced role in "The Enemy Within" was a bold move, especially after Nimoy’s "Naked Time" performance. Shatner's turn might have been less nuanced than Nimoy's; nevertheless, if the writing continues to be this good, this show might propel itself into the history books.

Contrasting "Charlie X" in pacing, this week’s episode moved when the scene was over. I was on the edge of my seat hoping for them to resolve the transporter issue so they could save Sulu and his crew of scientists. As for Takei, after last week’s exciting display, his role in "The Enemy Within" might have been small, but it was powerful.

As much as I appreciate proper pacing, ambience and music were the heroes of "The Enemy Within". Kirk’s sadness and despair are my own and the music confirms it. The soundscape transports me to the Enterprise: The soft beating of the monitor in Sick Bay, the beeping of the consoles on the bridge, and even the trill of the transporter are such distinct sounds that there’s no mistaking where I am. The whooshing of the sliding doors tells me I’m about to leave a room. The sounds and ambience make me feel like I’m part of the crew. The music draws me into the scene so seamlessly that at times, I don’t just hear it, but feel it. I can’t wait to familiarize myself with new parts of the ship. With what I’ve heard so far, it should be a delightful experience.

4 Stars

(You too can be in the picture: join us tomorrow night at 8:30 PM (Pacific AND Eastern — two showings) for the next episode of Star Trek!)

Here's the invitation!

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Galactic Journey

Category Archives: TV

[November 14, 1966] Star Trek: "The Corbomite Maneuver"

[November 10, 1966] Star Trek: "Dagger of the Mind"

[November 8, 1966] Paranoia and High Treason: Space Patrol Orion, Episode 4: "Deserters"

[November 4, 1966] Star Trek: "Miri"

[November 2, 1966] An Ending? (Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet)

[October 26, 1966] Star Trek: "What are Little Girls Made of?")

[Oct. 20, 1966] Crimes against Humanity (Star Trek: "Mudd's Women")

[October 19, 1966] Routine Missions and Asimovian Robots: Space Patrol Orion Episode 3: "Guardians of the Law"

[October 18, 1966] Moral Dilemmas and Earth in Peril: Space Patrol Orion Episode 2: "Planet Off Course"

[October 12, 1966] Inside Out (Star Trek's "The Enemy Within")

55 years ago: Science Fact and Fiction