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. I’ve talked a lot about episodes in Season 1 and 3 of the original
series, but what about season 2? Except for The Changeling and Catspaw,
not really. Today I want to talk about another episode that isn’t bad
but no one ever seems to talk about it….
Plot Synopsis:
The Enterprise arrives at lifeless planet to find that three of the inhabitants of that planet years and years ago stored their essence into orbs waiting for the day when people would come. The alien called Sargon takes over Kirk’s body and explains why they need their help.
Sargon, his wife Thalassa, and from the other side Henoch need the bodies of Kirk, Spock and Dr.Ann Mulhall so they can build android’s they would transfer into to live their lives. They promise they will only need the bodies for a short tine. Kirk convinces everyone to take the risk and the transfer goes on. While Sargon and Thalassa work on the andoids Henoch, in Spock’s body, schemes to kill Kirk so that Sargon will also die.
Then Henoch can keep Spock’s body. It almost seems like the plan gas worked when Kirk suddenly dies and Thalassa offers McCoy a chance to save Kirk if she can keep Mulhall’s body. But she decides against the idea and then realizes Sargon has survived. They concoct a plan which finally scares Henoch away and destroys him. Sargon and Thalassa consign themselves to oblivion, realizing there is no way they can fit into society any longer.
Guest Star:
Fun fact, at one point we see Henoch and Thalassa examine an android body. That was a real actor under all that makeup! Oh and Guess who the voice of Sargon was? James Doohan! Yep, he did many voices of aliens on Star Trek including the M-5 in “Ultimate Computer”, a Melkotian in “Spectre of the Gun, the Oracle in “For the World is Hollow”, and several voices in the animated series. The funny thing is Scotty is barely in two scenes in the episode.
What I Liked:
The performances here sell the episode. This episode is Diana Muldaur’s first foray in Trek, of course she could be in a 3rd season episode and season two of TNG. Her character here is kind of flat as Mulhall but she isn’t bad as Thalassa. Her best scene is when she is trying to force McCoy to help her hijack the body she’s in, before realizing that Sargon was right about the temptation of flesh. But Leonard Nimoy is simply fantastic as Henoch here. It’s amazing how he can be smiling and cheerful and yet come off sinister as hell. Especially the scenes where Henoch is controlling Chapel to keep her quiet and later trying to sway Thalassa to help him betray Sargon. Brilliant little nuances in his performance. William Shatner does a great job as Sargon too, being different enough so we know it’s not Kirk. And the voices were enhanced when possessed which helps.
The climax is simply one of my favorites in any episode. I glossed over it in the synopsis so here is what happens. When Sargon is revealed to be alive, somehow inhabiting the Enterprise, he summons Thalassa and Nurse Chapel into the room the orb’s are in. After some strange noises McCoy walks into the room and finds Dr.Mulhall back in her body, Kirk restored, and Spock’s orb destroyed. Even though Henoch was still in Spock’s body! It appears Spock is gone so they have to destroy Henoch by killing Spock’s body. McCoy rigs a poison and the three try to beat him on the Bridge where he has assumed the captain’s chair. However, Henoch has great power and stops McCoy. He tells Chapel (who he has mind controlled earlier) to take the hypo and inject McCoy with it. Instead, she turns and injects Henoch! Henoch flees but Sargon says he is gone, and he also saved Spock’s life. Where was Spock’s consciousness stored if the orb as destroyed? Inside Chapel, she had been already acting odd so her acting odd on the Bridge didn’t give away the surprise. And it’s a very sweet moment for the two characters. It’s a great scene well paced and acted that I love watching. And as a fan of Chapel I love that she got involved in the story in this one unlike most episodes where was just sort of, there.
Fun fact, at one point we see Henoch and Thalassa examine an android body. That was a real actor under all that makeup! Oh and Guess who the voice of Sargon was? James Doohan! Yep, he did many voices of aliens on Star Trek including the M-5 in “Ultimate Computer”, a Melkotian in “Spectre of the Gun, the Oracle in “For the World is Hollow”, and several voices in the animated series. The funny thing is Scotty is barely in two scenes in the episode.
I talked about this before but this episode has the most epic Kirk speech ever. It takes place in the scene where Kirk is trying to get everyone to agree to help Sargon despite the risk involved. The speach is so great, I’m going to share the clip with you:
Kirk at his best!
The romantic stuff is just boring. Unlike The Side of Paradise the scenes between Sargon and Thalassa just feel like they go on forever. I am not sure it’s Shatner or Muldaur’s fault, maybe it’s bad writing or maybe it’s that awful music they play through those scenes or maybe it’s because I simply don’t care about their romance. The first act kind of goes on long too. In fact, it isn’t until the second act that we finally find out why Sargon needs their help. By the time William Shatner finally stops all his mugging after Sargon takes over Kirk’s body. It’s typical Shatner stuff, I love how when Muldaur is later taken over she tries the same thing but it’s much more underplayed than what Shatner gives us. The same at the end of the episode when Kirk and Mulhall are in pain Shatner is doing his thing while Muldaur just sort keeps up the best she can.
Kirk dies three times in Star Trek. “Amok Time”, “Enterprise Incident”, and here when Henoch betrays him so he can keep Spock’s body (he controls Chapel to give an incorrect metabolic injection which burns the body up). The worst part of this is that the syndicated version cuts the log by McCoy where he explains that while Sargon is most likely dead Kirk’s body is being kept alive by artificial means, they just don’t know how to transfer Kirk’s soul back from the orb without Sargon. With this edit, Kirk dies at the end of act 3 and then is suddenly back to life in act 4 with absolutely no explanation. The funny thing is Spock also “dies” in this episode. Weird.
Finally, Sargon does a lot of things which are just hard to explain even with the excuse that they were “supremely powerful beings”. How did he alter the transporter so it could beam the four down? Where did he go when Kirk “died”? It was established they need the orb to transfer into so how did he survive? All we get is that he has “power even Henoch doesn’t suspect”. Where do Kirk and Mulhall go in the final scene when Sargon and Thalassa take over their bodies one last time? Why in the world did Sargon think he could trust Henoch? Was Sargon just being dramatic in the opening scene, he makes it sound like if they don’t survive all mankind will perish, yet by the end of the episode that’s no longer a concern?
Fast Forward Moment:
The whole scene where Kirk and Thalassa discus things before “Kirk” dies is real slow and, in the end, kind of pointless. As I said, the romance stuff in this episode is boring and it basically stops the story every time they do it which is annoying.
Final Thoughts:As I noted, this is a good episode even if it doesn’t all quite work (or make sense). But you know, it occurs to me this series is supposed to be about hated episodes that I love for some reason. Ok, next time a Trek episode I kind of like that is so “underrated” that even the creative team who worked on it hated it! Stay tuned for that one.
This episode fascinates me because it has some really awesome things
in it, while at the same time it is boring and just damn slow at times.
How can an episode do both things at the same time? Let’s take a look
Plot Synopsis:
The Enterprise arrives at lifeless planet to find that three of the inhabitants of that planet years and years ago stored their essence into orbs waiting for the day when people would come. The alien called Sargon takes over Kirk’s body and explains why they need their help.
Sargon, his wife Thalassa, and from the other side Henoch need the bodies of Kirk, Spock and Dr.Ann Mulhall so they can build android’s they would transfer into to live their lives. They promise they will only need the bodies for a short tine. Kirk convinces everyone to take the risk and the transfer goes on. While Sargon and Thalassa work on the andoids Henoch, in Spock’s body, schemes to kill Kirk so that Sargon will also die.
Then Henoch can keep Spock’s body. It almost seems like the plan gas worked when Kirk suddenly dies and Thalassa offers McCoy a chance to save Kirk if she can keep Mulhall’s body. But she decides against the idea and then realizes Sargon has survived. They concoct a plan which finally scares Henoch away and destroys him. Sargon and Thalassa consign themselves to oblivion, realizing there is no way they can fit into society any longer.
Guest Star:
Fun fact, at one point we see Henoch and Thalassa examine an android body. That was a real actor under all that makeup! Oh and Guess who the voice of Sargon was? James Doohan! Yep, he did many voices of aliens on Star Trek including the M-5 in “Ultimate Computer”, a Melkotian in “Spectre of the Gun, the Oracle in “For the World is Hollow”, and several voices in the animated series. The funny thing is Scotty is barely in two scenes in the episode.
What I Liked:
The performances here sell the episode. This episode is Diana Muldaur’s first foray in Trek, of course she could be in a 3rd season episode and season two of TNG. Her character here is kind of flat as Mulhall but she isn’t bad as Thalassa. Her best scene is when she is trying to force McCoy to help her hijack the body she’s in, before realizing that Sargon was right about the temptation of flesh. But Leonard Nimoy is simply fantastic as Henoch here. It’s amazing how he can be smiling and cheerful and yet come off sinister as hell. Especially the scenes where Henoch is controlling Chapel to keep her quiet and later trying to sway Thalassa to help him betray Sargon. Brilliant little nuances in his performance. William Shatner does a great job as Sargon too, being different enough so we know it’s not Kirk. And the voices were enhanced when possessed which helps.
The climax is simply one of my favorites in any episode. I glossed over it in the synopsis so here is what happens. When Sargon is revealed to be alive, somehow inhabiting the Enterprise, he summons Thalassa and Nurse Chapel into the room the orb’s are in. After some strange noises McCoy walks into the room and finds Dr.Mulhall back in her body, Kirk restored, and Spock’s orb destroyed. Even though Henoch was still in Spock’s body! It appears Spock is gone so they have to destroy Henoch by killing Spock’s body. McCoy rigs a poison and the three try to beat him on the Bridge where he has assumed the captain’s chair. However, Henoch has great power and stops McCoy. He tells Chapel (who he has mind controlled earlier) to take the hypo and inject McCoy with it. Instead, she turns and injects Henoch! Henoch flees but Sargon says he is gone, and he also saved Spock’s life. Where was Spock’s consciousness stored if the orb as destroyed? Inside Chapel, she had been already acting odd so her acting odd on the Bridge didn’t give away the surprise. And it’s a very sweet moment for the two characters. It’s a great scene well paced and acted that I love watching. And as a fan of Chapel I love that she got involved in the story in this one unlike most episodes where was just sort of, there.
Fun fact, at one point we see Henoch and Thalassa examine an android body. That was a real actor under all that makeup! Oh and Guess who the voice of Sargon was? James Doohan! Yep, he did many voices of aliens on Star Trek including the M-5 in “Ultimate Computer”, a Melkotian in “Spectre of the Gun, the Oracle in “For the World is Hollow”, and several voices in the animated series. The funny thing is Scotty is barely in two scenes in the episode.
I talked about this before but this episode has the most epic Kirk speech ever. It takes place in the scene where Kirk is trying to get everyone to agree to help Sargon despite the risk involved. The speach is so great, I’m going to share the clip with you:
Kirk at his best!
What I Hated:
The romantic stuff is just boring. Unlike The Side of Paradise the scenes between Sargon and Thalassa just feel like they go on forever. I am not sure it’s Shatner or Muldaur’s fault, maybe it’s bad writing or maybe it’s that awful music they play through those scenes or maybe it’s because I simply don’t care about their romance. The first act kind of goes on long too. In fact, it isn’t until the second act that we finally find out why Sargon needs their help. By the time William Shatner finally stops all his mugging after Sargon takes over Kirk’s body. It’s typical Shatner stuff, I love how when Muldaur is later taken over she tries the same thing but it’s much more underplayed than what Shatner gives us. The same at the end of the episode when Kirk and Mulhall are in pain Shatner is doing his thing while Muldaur just sort keeps up the best she can.
Kirk dies three times in Star Trek. “Amok Time”, “Enterprise Incident”, and here when Henoch betrays him so he can keep Spock’s body (he controls Chapel to give an incorrect metabolic injection which burns the body up). The worst part of this is that the syndicated version cuts the log by McCoy where he explains that while Sargon is most likely dead Kirk’s body is being kept alive by artificial means, they just don’t know how to transfer Kirk’s soul back from the orb without Sargon. With this edit, Kirk dies at the end of act 3 and then is suddenly back to life in act 4 with absolutely no explanation. The funny thing is Spock also “dies” in this episode. Weird.
Finally, Sargon does a lot of things which are just hard to explain even with the excuse that they were “supremely powerful beings”. How did he alter the transporter so it could beam the four down? Where did he go when Kirk “died”? It was established they need the orb to transfer into so how did he survive? All we get is that he has “power even Henoch doesn’t suspect”. Where do Kirk and Mulhall go in the final scene when Sargon and Thalassa take over their bodies one last time? Why in the world did Sargon think he could trust Henoch? Was Sargon just being dramatic in the opening scene, he makes it sound like if they don’t survive all mankind will perish, yet by the end of the episode that’s no longer a concern?
Fast Forward Moment:
The whole scene where Kirk and Thalassa discus things before “Kirk” dies is real slow and, in the end, kind of pointless. As I said, the romance stuff in this episode is boring and it basically stops the story every time they do it which is annoying.
Final Thoughts:As I noted, this is a good episode even if it doesn’t all quite work (or make sense). But you know, it occurs to me this series is supposed to be about hated episodes that I love for some reason. Ok, next time a Trek episode I kind of like that is so “underrated” that even the creative team who worked on it hated it! Stay tuned for that one.
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