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.Today we’re going back to the original series for an episode that
I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time. And it’s one I’ve seen a
million times even though it may not be the most popular or even liked
by most. Hey….
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This is another episode, like “Defiant”, that I mentioned on a list of honorable mentions for the top 50 episodes of all time. As I said there it came at the point in Trek when every episode was great. So when you get Doomsday Machine, Amok Time, Journey to Babel and Mirror, Mirror it’s easy to forget this one. So what makes it so great? It’s thought provoking and I love watching it. Let’s discuss:
Plot Summary:
When a giant hand stops The Enterprise from leaving a planet they were surveying, it turns out that the hand belongs to Apollo from the classic Greek myths. Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov beam down leaving Spock on the ship (because he looked like Pan and Apollo didn’t like Pan)
As Kirk and crew try to get down the truth, Apollo reveals that they will not be allowed to leave. They are to stay on the planet and worship him as their forefathers did a millennia ago. Apollo takes a shine to Lt.Palamas, and tries to court her much to Scotty’s objections.
After an aborted attempt to defeat Apollo fails Kirk convinces Carolyn that there only hope is for her to spurn him. She does, though it breaks her heart, and Apollo flies into a rage. The Enterprise has figured how to negate the force field and manages to destroy Apollo’s temple. Apollo leaves, om tears, to rejoin the fellow god’s.
Guest Star:
Michael Forrest is pitch perfect here, selling every scene and even stealing a few of them. You feel his confidence and power in the start, and his heartbreak at the end after his temple has been destroyed (go ahead and not cry, I dare you)
Episode Pro’s :
The giant green hand that stops the Enterprise in the opening is cheesy 60’s Trek, and yet it works somehow (by the way the enhanced effects make this episode even better). The same for the effect of Apollo standing as a giant over the crew. It’s so fake and yet so…awesome! The set is pretty good, obviously indoors and yet beautifully made.
I love the way the problem is worked out, by discussing and analyzing the situation. This was one of the first time all the characters got a hand in the solution rather than just have it be Kirk and Spock going back and forth. Everyone contributes, even a young Chekov who was fairly new in the episode. He was already fitting in well and manages to provide helpful insight twice and even get a funny exchange with Kirk regarding his age. Same with on the ship as they work on the force field keeping communications cut off. Spock has some great scenes including one wonderful moment where he compliments Uhura on her skills as a communications expert. I always like showing that just because Spock is logical doesn’t mean he’s heartless (something later episodes will forget).
As I said this is an ensemble episode but Kirk still gets some decent action and overacting in when Apollo strangles him. He has two notable speeches, the one where he convinces Carolyn to spurn Apollo is very well said. He basically points out that Apollo isn’t human, they are. And then there’s the “Mankind has no need for god’s line” which can be interpreted a few ways. But I like it. And I like the theory Kirk and McCoy hash out, maybe Apollo really did visit Earth ages ago with his friends and inspired the legends of the Greek Myths. Why not? Seems plausible to me.
They do plenty of nods to Greek Myths, which I don’t know enough about to comment their accuracy. Though he does get Hercules name wrong (The Greek name is Heracles), Oh and since I’ll be killed if I don’t mention it there was an unofficial, non canon sequel presented on Star Trek Continues which featured the return of Apollo (and the actor who played him!).
Episode Con’s :
The big elephant in the room of course is what this episode does to religion. Did you know there was only one true god? Yeah some may disagree there. Then there’s the way Apollo is portrayed which works in the episode but some Greek Scholars may call foul. He’s kind of a tyrannical jerk! And if you want to stretch things you could argue the episode is Treks attempt to decry all religions as false. And Kirk comparing people who worshiped gods in the ancient times to slaves may be a little harsh. Thankfully I don’t read that much into these things nor am I smart enough to truly analyze them.
Scotty in love is so boring. At least in “Lights of Zetar” the feelings are kind of reciprocated and we feel Mira cares for him back, a little at least. Here Carolyn clearly doesn’t care at all about his advances and Scotty just comes off as a love struck kid with a crush he can’t control. In fact while she has decent chemistry with Apollo Carolyn is utterly boring when she isn’t with him. And Scotty being hurled by thunderbolts not once but twice gets tiresome also. Dude, chill! I wish Kirk had yelled at him more!
And the episode tries a little to hard to drag put the mystery twist. As they try to figure out how Apollo could control so much energy, McCoy says that there is an extra organ in Apollo’s body he can’t figure out. Gee, wonder what that could be? To be fair when it does finally get stated it isn’t built up to much unlike other episodes which made their twists so “shocking” even though it was obvious.
One goof I love is how Spock starts referring to him as Apollo even though Apollo never told his name to anyone on the ship and the landing party hasn’t been able to communicate with them all. How did he find that out? Yes there was an ending to the episode which was cut where we find out Carolyn is pregnant. I can see why it was cut, though it’s an interesting idea. The title is taken from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Fast Forward Moment:
That whole scene with Apollo and Carolyn talking by the lake is kind of boring. Yeah we need it explained why Apollo is alone, but the scene is still kind of dull.
Final Thoughts:I love this episode so much I wrote my own fan sequel story for it. Which I can hardly remember now.
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This is another episode, like “Defiant”, that I mentioned on a list of honorable mentions for the top 50 episodes of all time. As I said there it came at the point in Trek when every episode was great. So when you get Doomsday Machine, Amok Time, Journey to Babel and Mirror, Mirror it’s easy to forget this one. So what makes it so great? It’s thought provoking and I love watching it. Let’s discuss:
Plot Summary:
When a giant hand stops The Enterprise from leaving a planet they were surveying, it turns out that the hand belongs to Apollo from the classic Greek myths. Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov beam down leaving Spock on the ship (because he looked like Pan and Apollo didn’t like Pan)
As Kirk and crew try to get down the truth, Apollo reveals that they will not be allowed to leave. They are to stay on the planet and worship him as their forefathers did a millennia ago. Apollo takes a shine to Lt.Palamas, and tries to court her much to Scotty’s objections.
After an aborted attempt to defeat Apollo fails Kirk convinces Carolyn that there only hope is for her to spurn him. She does, though it breaks her heart, and Apollo flies into a rage. The Enterprise has figured how to negate the force field and manages to destroy Apollo’s temple. Apollo leaves, om tears, to rejoin the fellow god’s.
Guest Star:
Michael Forrest is pitch perfect here, selling every scene and even stealing a few of them. You feel his confidence and power in the start, and his heartbreak at the end after his temple has been destroyed (go ahead and not cry, I dare you)
Episode Pro’s :
The giant green hand that stops the Enterprise in the opening is cheesy 60’s Trek, and yet it works somehow (by the way the enhanced effects make this episode even better). The same for the effect of Apollo standing as a giant over the crew. It’s so fake and yet so…awesome! The set is pretty good, obviously indoors and yet beautifully made.
I love the way the problem is worked out, by discussing and analyzing the situation. This was one of the first time all the characters got a hand in the solution rather than just have it be Kirk and Spock going back and forth. Everyone contributes, even a young Chekov who was fairly new in the episode. He was already fitting in well and manages to provide helpful insight twice and even get a funny exchange with Kirk regarding his age. Same with on the ship as they work on the force field keeping communications cut off. Spock has some great scenes including one wonderful moment where he compliments Uhura on her skills as a communications expert. I always like showing that just because Spock is logical doesn’t mean he’s heartless (something later episodes will forget).
As I said this is an ensemble episode but Kirk still gets some decent action and overacting in when Apollo strangles him. He has two notable speeches, the one where he convinces Carolyn to spurn Apollo is very well said. He basically points out that Apollo isn’t human, they are. And then there’s the “Mankind has no need for god’s line” which can be interpreted a few ways. But I like it. And I like the theory Kirk and McCoy hash out, maybe Apollo really did visit Earth ages ago with his friends and inspired the legends of the Greek Myths. Why not? Seems plausible to me.
They do plenty of nods to Greek Myths, which I don’t know enough about to comment their accuracy. Though he does get Hercules name wrong (The Greek name is Heracles), Oh and since I’ll be killed if I don’t mention it there was an unofficial, non canon sequel presented on Star Trek Continues which featured the return of Apollo (and the actor who played him!).
Episode Con’s :
The big elephant in the room of course is what this episode does to religion. Did you know there was only one true god? Yeah some may disagree there. Then there’s the way Apollo is portrayed which works in the episode but some Greek Scholars may call foul. He’s kind of a tyrannical jerk! And if you want to stretch things you could argue the episode is Treks attempt to decry all religions as false. And Kirk comparing people who worshiped gods in the ancient times to slaves may be a little harsh. Thankfully I don’t read that much into these things nor am I smart enough to truly analyze them.
Scotty in love is so boring. At least in “Lights of Zetar” the feelings are kind of reciprocated and we feel Mira cares for him back, a little at least. Here Carolyn clearly doesn’t care at all about his advances and Scotty just comes off as a love struck kid with a crush he can’t control. In fact while she has decent chemistry with Apollo Carolyn is utterly boring when she isn’t with him. And Scotty being hurled by thunderbolts not once but twice gets tiresome also. Dude, chill! I wish Kirk had yelled at him more!
And the episode tries a little to hard to drag put the mystery twist. As they try to figure out how Apollo could control so much energy, McCoy says that there is an extra organ in Apollo’s body he can’t figure out. Gee, wonder what that could be? To be fair when it does finally get stated it isn’t built up to much unlike other episodes which made their twists so “shocking” even though it was obvious.
One goof I love is how Spock starts referring to him as Apollo even though Apollo never told his name to anyone on the ship and the landing party hasn’t been able to communicate with them all. How did he find that out? Yes there was an ending to the episode which was cut where we find out Carolyn is pregnant. I can see why it was cut, though it’s an interesting idea. The title is taken from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Fast Forward Moment:
That whole scene with Apollo and Carolyn talking by the lake is kind of boring. Yeah we need it explained why Apollo is alone, but the scene is still kind of dull.
Final Thoughts:I love this episode so much I wrote my own fan sequel story for it. Which I can hardly remember now.
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