Welcome
back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek
episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by
most. Once again rather than talk about a bad episode I like for some
reason, I want to talk about a good episode that seem to always fly
under people’s radars. This episode is like that, a little gem from
Season 1 TOS I have seem a million times because it’s really good if,
well, underrated. This is:
So what makes this episode so memorable? Let’s discuss it:
Plot Synopsis:
Kirk beams down with a landing party to colony on planet Omicron Cetti III. They expect to find no life, the colonists should have died shortly after arriving from a then unknown radtartion. They landing party is surprised to find out that everyone is alive and well.
While McCoy examines the colonists the rest of the landing party notices some odd things. There are no animals, at all. McCoy then reports that the health of the colonists is pitch perfect. Spock has met an old flame who reveals how they all survived, spores from some alien plants which make people very happy.
The spores thrive on the radiation and in return keep the colonists alive. Spock, and soon the entire ship, falls under their away and decide to leave the ship to join the colony and live in paradise. Kirk finally figures out the way to counteract the effect is negative emotions, and after arousing anger in Spock to free him he two manage to rig a sonic device which frees the entire planet of the spore influence.
Things I Hated:
This a beautiful story but it does have one big problem. The first half of the episode sets up a great mystery. The fact the colonists are alive, the fact the animals are not, the fact that the colony hardly grows anything, and the fact the colonists are perfectly healthy even more than when they had left Earth! The finale is pretty good to, it makes sense and is done nice and quick. They aggravate the crew members so they will shake off the spores. What’s the problem? The mystery is solved by the first quarter, leaving lots of time to fill before we get to the climax. And these involve the scenes of Kirk alone on the Enterprise. Shatner does a decent job carrying this part of the episode all by himself, but it’s still obvious filler and does tend to get draggy. It’s almost a relief when Kirk finally figures things out.
I wish the spores were explained a little more. Where did they come from? Who knows. How do they work? We know what they do, but how do they do it? The spores are obviously a parallel to psychedelic drugs but with those, the user comes down off their high and want more. In this episode the crew are confused and even begging for forgiveness when the spores are gone. It sounds less like drugs and more like straight up mind control. It’s a gray area which the episode basically ignores. The spores make you want for nothing but how come the colonists are willing to work on the farm? When Sandoval (the leader of the colony) is finally released from the spores he acknowledges the colony has done nothing in three years. What do they all do just sit around smiling at each other? I guess it’s a commentary on how drug addicts waste their lives. Kirk was really right in this one, man is meant for more than that. By the way I love that Spock even uses the word “happy pill”. When was the last time that was ever uttered?
Some of the things were used as props in various episodes speak volumes to the time they were filmed. There is one episode where Kirk is clearly using a standard microphone as a prop. Another where we see McCoy using what looks like a Windex bottle. And in fact McCoy’s medical scanners started out as salt shakers! In this episode, we get Kirk getting ready to leave the ship by packing a very standard 20th century suitcase. Seriously? To be fair future versions of Trek weren’t always perfect, just check out the eye prop Crusher used in “Lonely Among Us”
Once we again we have two strange people fighting in place of Kirk anf Spock. I guess in the 60’s creators never imagined how big and clear our TV screen’s would be fifty years later huh? Though in this episode the obviously stunt doubles are even more obvious than usual!
Things I Liked:
Of course this is Spock’s episode. Or to be more specific, it’s Leonard Nimoy’s episode. Nimoy is having so much fun playing Spock happy for once, and it shines through. He also had great chemistry with the always amazing Jill Ireland, their scenes together are simply adorable. It’s also well portrayed, when Spock is first sprayed with the spores he fights it which is perfectly understandable. Though I do have to ask, is the idea that Spick and Leila have this romantic chemistry far fetched to anyone else? I mean it’s handled very nicely, but it just makes no sense to me. I know it’s not unusual for a woman to fall for emotionless men (even Data in TNG) but I would love more details, all we get is that they met seven years ago. Anyway the scenes are nice and I always loved the befuddled way Kirk deals with his happy friend. The scene of Spock hanging from the tree is an absolute classic! And kudos for having Spock remember what happened, though it isn’t explored it could have been easy to have him not remember anything. Instead he has to deal with the fact that for once his human side was in control.
So how did thy get the plants carrying the spores off the Enterprise anyway? McCoy says that they transported close to a 100! What did they use weed spray or something? All kidding aside the mutiny was handled pretty well. In these early days when they could afford extra’s the scenes of the crew beaming to the surface was handled really well. And as I said Shatner played these scenes well, as Kirk has to deal with the crew turning and deserting him! By the way you gotta love how after McCoy is infected he suddenly has a very obvious Southern accent. How cute was that?
As I said the first part is very well done, setting up the mystery very effectively. Conversely the scene at the end is pretty quick and yet effective. Obviously we’re not going to see every crew member getting aggravated but we see enough that we get the idea. And yes Kirk and Spock fight in thus one though it’s not a epic as their “Amok Time” fight. Thankfully it’s done pretty quick which is good since a drawn out battle wouldn’t have worked. The taunting Kirk gives Spock is a very good scene, again Nimoy does a fantastic job you can almost feel Spock trying not to give int o his rage. What about that final scene between Leila and Spock? Ehh I’ll get to that.
Of course, the scene of the bridge empty was recycled into the TNG episode “Relics”. And I am proud to say I knew that when I first saw that episode. I’ve onky seen this one a million times after all. This episode has one the most epic of Kirk cliche speeches:
“No, no, Bones, this time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren’t meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through, struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can’t stroll to the music of the lute. We must march to the sound of drums”
Fast Forward Moment:
That final scene between Spock and Leila is real draggy. Yeah I know it’s a romance story so we need to conclude that. But coming when it does, just when the climax of the episode is upon us, stops the main story cold so we can do this. It’s a sweet, and admittedly very well acted, scene but maybe misplaced. Though we do finally find out Spock does have a first name, it’s just unpronounceable by humans.
Final Thoughts:
A nice episode, what else can I say? Ok since I talked about an episode that’s really pretty good today, I am goingt o come back next tine with a real “underrated” episode that I like, but most either forget or hate!!!!
Plot Synopsis:
Kirk beams down with a landing party to colony on planet Omicron Cetti III. They expect to find no life, the colonists should have died shortly after arriving from a then unknown radtartion. They landing party is surprised to find out that everyone is alive and well.
While McCoy examines the colonists the rest of the landing party notices some odd things. There are no animals, at all. McCoy then reports that the health of the colonists is pitch perfect. Spock has met an old flame who reveals how they all survived, spores from some alien plants which make people very happy.
The spores thrive on the radiation and in return keep the colonists alive. Spock, and soon the entire ship, falls under their away and decide to leave the ship to join the colony and live in paradise. Kirk finally figures out the way to counteract the effect is negative emotions, and after arousing anger in Spock to free him he two manage to rig a sonic device which frees the entire planet of the spore influence.
Things I Hated:
This a beautiful story but it does have one big problem. The first half of the episode sets up a great mystery. The fact the colonists are alive, the fact the animals are not, the fact that the colony hardly grows anything, and the fact the colonists are perfectly healthy even more than when they had left Earth! The finale is pretty good to, it makes sense and is done nice and quick. They aggravate the crew members so they will shake off the spores. What’s the problem? The mystery is solved by the first quarter, leaving lots of time to fill before we get to the climax. And these involve the scenes of Kirk alone on the Enterprise. Shatner does a decent job carrying this part of the episode all by himself, but it’s still obvious filler and does tend to get draggy. It’s almost a relief when Kirk finally figures things out.
I wish the spores were explained a little more. Where did they come from? Who knows. How do they work? We know what they do, but how do they do it? The spores are obviously a parallel to psychedelic drugs but with those, the user comes down off their high and want more. In this episode the crew are confused and even begging for forgiveness when the spores are gone. It sounds less like drugs and more like straight up mind control. It’s a gray area which the episode basically ignores. The spores make you want for nothing but how come the colonists are willing to work on the farm? When Sandoval (the leader of the colony) is finally released from the spores he acknowledges the colony has done nothing in three years. What do they all do just sit around smiling at each other? I guess it’s a commentary on how drug addicts waste their lives. Kirk was really right in this one, man is meant for more than that. By the way I love that Spock even uses the word “happy pill”. When was the last time that was ever uttered?
Some of the things were used as props in various episodes speak volumes to the time they were filmed. There is one episode where Kirk is clearly using a standard microphone as a prop. Another where we see McCoy using what looks like a Windex bottle. And in fact McCoy’s medical scanners started out as salt shakers! In this episode, we get Kirk getting ready to leave the ship by packing a very standard 20th century suitcase. Seriously? To be fair future versions of Trek weren’t always perfect, just check out the eye prop Crusher used in “Lonely Among Us”
Once we again we have two strange people fighting in place of Kirk anf Spock. I guess in the 60’s creators never imagined how big and clear our TV screen’s would be fifty years later huh? Though in this episode the obviously stunt doubles are even more obvious than usual!
Things I Liked:
Of course this is Spock’s episode. Or to be more specific, it’s Leonard Nimoy’s episode. Nimoy is having so much fun playing Spock happy for once, and it shines through. He also had great chemistry with the always amazing Jill Ireland, their scenes together are simply adorable. It’s also well portrayed, when Spock is first sprayed with the spores he fights it which is perfectly understandable. Though I do have to ask, is the idea that Spick and Leila have this romantic chemistry far fetched to anyone else? I mean it’s handled very nicely, but it just makes no sense to me. I know it’s not unusual for a woman to fall for emotionless men (even Data in TNG) but I would love more details, all we get is that they met seven years ago. Anyway the scenes are nice and I always loved the befuddled way Kirk deals with his happy friend. The scene of Spock hanging from the tree is an absolute classic! And kudos for having Spock remember what happened, though it isn’t explored it could have been easy to have him not remember anything. Instead he has to deal with the fact that for once his human side was in control.
So how did thy get the plants carrying the spores off the Enterprise anyway? McCoy says that they transported close to a 100! What did they use weed spray or something? All kidding aside the mutiny was handled pretty well. In these early days when they could afford extra’s the scenes of the crew beaming to the surface was handled really well. And as I said Shatner played these scenes well, as Kirk has to deal with the crew turning and deserting him! By the way you gotta love how after McCoy is infected he suddenly has a very obvious Southern accent. How cute was that?
As I said the first part is very well done, setting up the mystery very effectively. Conversely the scene at the end is pretty quick and yet effective. Obviously we’re not going to see every crew member getting aggravated but we see enough that we get the idea. And yes Kirk and Spock fight in thus one though it’s not a epic as their “Amok Time” fight. Thankfully it’s done pretty quick which is good since a drawn out battle wouldn’t have worked. The taunting Kirk gives Spock is a very good scene, again Nimoy does a fantastic job you can almost feel Spock trying not to give int o his rage. What about that final scene between Leila and Spock? Ehh I’ll get to that.
Of course, the scene of the bridge empty was recycled into the TNG episode “Relics”. And I am proud to say I knew that when I first saw that episode. I’ve onky seen this one a million times after all. This episode has one the most epic of Kirk cliche speeches:
“No, no, Bones, this time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren’t meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through, struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can’t stroll to the music of the lute. We must march to the sound of drums”
Fast Forward Moment:
That final scene between Spock and Leila is real draggy. Yeah I know it’s a romance story so we need to conclude that. But coming when it does, just when the climax of the episode is upon us, stops the main story cold so we can do this. It’s a sweet, and admittedly very well acted, scene but maybe misplaced. Though we do finally find out Spock does have a first name, it’s just unpronounceable by humans.
Final Thoughts:
A nice episode, what else can I say? Ok since I talked about an episode that’s really pretty good today, I am goingt o come back next tine with a real “underrated” episode that I like, but most either forget or hate!!!!
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