24. A Taste of Armageddon
WHY WE LIKE IT: Kirk rearranges an alien society with incredible confidence - you just wanna play along.
WHY WE DON'T: You sank my battleship!! (And other clichés.)
REVIEW: Isn't it a bit early to trot out a number of clichés pulled from prior episodes? We've got the annoying "superior" who's orders would endanger the ship from The Galileo Seven (Fox redeems himself by the end, but he's still a fool); and Kirk destroying a computer from The Return of the Archons (which barely aired a couple weeks ago) to change not one, but two societies. The good news is, it works better this time. There's no mention of the Prime Directive, for one thing, and Kirk confidently arrives at his solution. It makes a comment on the human condition at the same time.
And while a utopia based on a single absurd idea is always hard to sell as "realistic", the creators do their best to make Eminiar believable. The matte painting for the city is excellent, and the various works of art all over the complex help sell the idea of a culture worth preserving. Too bad about their guards' helmets, which are among the worst costume ideas ever to appear on the show.
Also note a new power for Mr. Spock - that of clouding a person's mind through a wall with his telepathy. It's interesting and well done here.
LESSON: Futurama didn't invent the suicide booth.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Held back because of its "same-old, same-old" feeling, but happens to be the best of the "computer society destroyed by Kirk" episodes.
WHY WE LIKE IT: Kirk rearranges an alien society with incredible confidence - you just wanna play along.
WHY WE DON'T: You sank my battleship!! (And other clichés.)REVIEW: Isn't it a bit early to trot out a number of clichés pulled from prior episodes? We've got the annoying "superior" who's orders would endanger the ship from The Galileo Seven (Fox redeems himself by the end, but he's still a fool); and Kirk destroying a computer from The Return of the Archons (which barely aired a couple weeks ago) to change not one, but two societies. The good news is, it works better this time. There's no mention of the Prime Directive, for one thing, and Kirk confidently arrives at his solution. It makes a comment on the human condition at the same time.
And while a utopia based on a single absurd idea is always hard to sell as "realistic", the creators do their best to make Eminiar believable. The matte painting for the city is excellent, and the various works of art all over the complex help sell the idea of a culture worth preserving. Too bad about their guards' helmets, which are among the worst costume ideas ever to appear on the show.
Also note a new power for Mr. Spock - that of clouding a person's mind through a wall with his telepathy. It's interesting and well done here.
LESSON: Futurama didn't invent the suicide booth.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Held back because of its "same-old, same-old" feeling, but happens to be the best of the "computer society destroyed by Kirk" episodes.
Comments