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. Ah, season three of Classic Trek. Some ideas are so silly that you
wonder what they could have been thinking. Here is a prime example :
Is it possible to take an absurd premise and roll with? Sometimes it works (green hand in space) and some times it’s just dumb (Spock’s Brain..need I say more?). Where does this one fit in?
Plot Synopsis :
The Enterprise is investigating a strange planet when all of a suddenly Abraham Lincoln appears and say he wants to beam aboard. No I’m serious.
Lincoln boards and explains that he is supposed to go down to the planet with Kirk and Spock, where they will meet another. Despite protests by Scotty and McCoy Kirk decides to go along and find out what is going on. There they find a legendary Vulcan named Surak.
An alien named Yarnek appears and announces he is pitting the four against four of the most evil beings to ever exist in a contest to see which is stronger, good or evil. The villains include Genghis Khan, Colonel Green a notorious figure from the 21st century, and the nastiest if all Klingons, Kahless. After tricking and killing Surak and Lincoln, Kirk and Spock manage to defeat the villains and are allowed to return to the ship.
Is it possible to take an absurd premise and roll with? Sometimes it works (green hand in space) and some times it’s just dumb (Spock’s Brain..need I say more?). Where does this one fit in?
Plot Synopsis :
The Enterprise is investigating a strange planet when all of a suddenly Abraham Lincoln appears and say he wants to beam aboard. No I’m serious.
Lincoln boards and explains that he is supposed to go down to the planet with Kirk and Spock, where they will meet another. Despite protests by Scotty and McCoy Kirk decides to go along and find out what is going on. There they find a legendary Vulcan named Surak.
An alien named Yarnek appears and announces he is pitting the four against four of the most evil beings to ever exist in a contest to see which is stronger, good or evil. The villains include Genghis Khan, Colonel Green a notorious figure from the 21st century, and the nastiest if all Klingons, Kahless. After tricking and killing Surak and Lincoln, Kirk and Spock manage to defeat the villains and are allowed to return to the ship.
What I Liked :
It sounds so absurd, what if the Enterprise ran into Abraham Lincoln? But you know what, somehow it actually works! A little bit. We know it’s not really him, as does Kirk even if he doesn’t act like it, and we do get some interesting scenes with him especially the one with Uhura. He calls her a negris but fears she offended her. She say he did not. Love how she points out in the 23rd century they’ve stopped fearing words. Sadly once the episode gets to the planet having Lincoln there serves no purpose and he’s killed rather unceremoniously.
Colonel Green was a pretty magnificent bastard, and maybe the only good thing in the episode. He seems to be so suave and decent, but in reality he’ll turn on you in an instant. Very well played. It was said he existed around the time that “Enterprise” was supposed take place. So give credit to the creators of that series for referencing him (and even having appear) toward the end of the run.
I get the moral they were going for, basically what is the difference between good and evil? In the end it turns out the only real difference is in their goals. Kirk and Spock were fighting to save their crew’s lives (Yarnek put the Enterprise in jeopardy to motivate them) while the villains were fighting for power and their own selfish needs.
What I Hated :
So Excalibans want to study which is superior good or evil. The evil side gets four warriors who were notorious for how tough they were. The good side get…a farmer and a Vulcan pacifist? Huh??? Yeah Lincoln was awesome but he was no fighter, he was a good speaker. Would have been better to have Grant there! And Surak makes even less sense! He refuses to fight and is killed so pointlessly. What the hell? Maybe he was there to get Spock invested, but Spock’s knows it isn’t really Surak unlike Kirk who I swear wanted to believe it is Lincoln somehow. Oh and we’re told Lincoln was always a hero to Kirk. Sing when?
The final fight is just boring. After all that buildup, the scene is just standard fight stuff. We know that none of these characters are real so there’s no investment. They don’t even fight all of them, when Green is defeated the rest all run off (which convinces Yarnek that good is better because evil are wimps). Trek is known for its fight music but even that seems bored in this episode.
Yarnek reminds of The Horta physically, The Metrons by their motives, and even the Triskelions a bit. And we’ve seen the Enterprise crew watching whole Kirk tries to beat an alien already in Arena. Having the ship in peril while Kirk is on the planet is far from new. Real original guys!
Finally, what’s the explanation of how these people could be here? It’s pretty vague, we get that their created by the Excalibans but, how? How did they know their personalities? I mean I get Lincoln and Surak are from Kirk and Spock’s memories, but what about the others? Heck the three are so unknown Yarnek has to explain who they are. Ok Kirk knows about Green from history but the other two? Where did they come from, do they live on the planet? McCoy says Lincoln reads as completely humanoid, how? How in the world did Lincoln make the projection in space which greets the ship in the opening? How come only Green and Kahless have lines? Yeah this episode is very loose in the “explaining” department.
Fast Forward Moment :
Scotty and McCoy’s bellyaching about Kirk seemingly believing its Lincoln and agreeing to go with him to the planet is awful to the point of being out of character. Did they forget that whole “risk is oue business” speech Kirk once gave? Heck Kirk even warns them that they are being insubordinate at one point! What is it with these guys, they once met Apollo and recreations of the Earp’s and Clanton’s! I get worrying about their safety but even I get that Kirk is just appeasing the alien till he finds out what is really going on. Heck even Spock seems out of character at parts, as if Leonard Nimoy was totally disinterested in this one. Did I mention this was one of the last episodes ever made?
It sounds so absurd, what if the Enterprise ran into Abraham Lincoln? But you know what, somehow it actually works! A little bit. We know it’s not really him, as does Kirk even if he doesn’t act like it, and we do get some interesting scenes with him especially the one with Uhura. He calls her a negris but fears she offended her. She say he did not. Love how she points out in the 23rd century they’ve stopped fearing words. Sadly once the episode gets to the planet having Lincoln there serves no purpose and he’s killed rather unceremoniously.
Colonel Green was a pretty magnificent bastard, and maybe the only good thing in the episode. He seems to be so suave and decent, but in reality he’ll turn on you in an instant. Very well played. It was said he existed around the time that “Enterprise” was supposed take place. So give credit to the creators of that series for referencing him (and even having appear) toward the end of the run.
I get the moral they were going for, basically what is the difference between good and evil? In the end it turns out the only real difference is in their goals. Kirk and Spock were fighting to save their crew’s lives (Yarnek put the Enterprise in jeopardy to motivate them) while the villains were fighting for power and their own selfish needs.
What I Hated :
So Excalibans want to study which is superior good or evil. The evil side gets four warriors who were notorious for how tough they were. The good side get…a farmer and a Vulcan pacifist? Huh??? Yeah Lincoln was awesome but he was no fighter, he was a good speaker. Would have been better to have Grant there! And Surak makes even less sense! He refuses to fight and is killed so pointlessly. What the hell? Maybe he was there to get Spock invested, but Spock’s knows it isn’t really Surak unlike Kirk who I swear wanted to believe it is Lincoln somehow. Oh and we’re told Lincoln was always a hero to Kirk. Sing when?
The final fight is just boring. After all that buildup, the scene is just standard fight stuff. We know that none of these characters are real so there’s no investment. They don’t even fight all of them, when Green is defeated the rest all run off (which convinces Yarnek that good is better because evil are wimps). Trek is known for its fight music but even that seems bored in this episode.
Yarnek reminds of The Horta physically, The Metrons by their motives, and even the Triskelions a bit. And we’ve seen the Enterprise crew watching whole Kirk tries to beat an alien already in Arena. Having the ship in peril while Kirk is on the planet is far from new. Real original guys!
Finally, what’s the explanation of how these people could be here? It’s pretty vague, we get that their created by the Excalibans but, how? How did they know their personalities? I mean I get Lincoln and Surak are from Kirk and Spock’s memories, but what about the others? Heck the three are so unknown Yarnek has to explain who they are. Ok Kirk knows about Green from history but the other two? Where did they come from, do they live on the planet? McCoy says Lincoln reads as completely humanoid, how? How in the world did Lincoln make the projection in space which greets the ship in the opening? How come only Green and Kahless have lines? Yeah this episode is very loose in the “explaining” department.
Fast Forward Moment :
Scotty and McCoy’s bellyaching about Kirk seemingly believing its Lincoln and agreeing to go with him to the planet is awful to the point of being out of character. Did they forget that whole “risk is oue business” speech Kirk once gave? Heck Kirk even warns them that they are being insubordinate at one point! What is it with these guys, they once met Apollo and recreations of the Earp’s and Clanton’s! I get worrying about their safety but even I get that Kirk is just appeasing the alien till he finds out what is really going on. Heck even Spock seems out of character at parts, as if Leonard Nimoy was totally disinterested in this one. Did I mention this was one of the last episodes ever made?
Final Thoughts:If it didn’t feel so damn recycled this could have been a decent episode.
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