66. Plato's Stepchildren
FORMULA: Who Mourns for Adonais? + Where No Man Has Gone Before + The Gamesters of Triskelion + The Squire of Gothos
WHY WE LIKE IT: Historically important, and you really feel for Alexander.
WHY WE DON'T: Extended humiliation scenes that amount to just a lot of padding.
REVIEW: It all starts out well enough with a distress call from the long-lived Platonians, who all have (but for one exception) a powerful psycho-kinetic power. Now, I don't really buy the whole story of these aliens having spent time on Earth during the Greek golden age, and it's glossed over pretty quickly (the crew should have been more surprised, for example). Worse, it doesn't figure all that much into the story, as this could have been any utopia. but if that's the set-up, then that's the set-up. We don't know they're dangerous at first, though we get clues early on, and Parmen's delirium is a well executed telekinetic storm.
It goes a bit wrong in the first extended show of power from Parmen, a long, long humiliation of both Kirk and Spock. It's not that it's hard to watch, it's that it's tedious, and you can't wait for that next commercial break. By having the characters recite something out of Lewis Carrol, it's also inconsistent in how it presents the power (unless the Platonians have kept up with Earth literature since leaving it). Points do go to William Shatner for bearing to have someone do a jig that close to his face.
And even when it's over, it's not quite over. Parmen has Uhura and Chapel beam down for round 2. This time, it's not as bad, though don't ask me to judge Leonard Nimoy's singing. It provides character moments for all five present, and is historically important for the first interracial kiss shown on television (through gritted teeth, but they had to slip it by somehow). At the end, it turns sadistic, which I find far less appropriate for tv than any two people kissing, but it's halted by Kirk finally exhibiting the power.
And then it's all over! Hey, Parmen, don't do this again or we'll come for you! Ok ok, and they leave. A very abrupt ending with no real justice exacted on the bad guys. The power just disappears after being so easy to manufacture.
All the humiliation does serve a purpose, even if I think it could have been edited a bit more tightly. First, it provides fuel for an excellent scene where Spock admits to deep hatred, which he then must try to control. Second, it helps us feel more sympathy for Alexander, who is a most impressive guest-star here. He injects real pathos into the story, and allows the IDIC philosophy inherent in Star Trek to be put into action.
LESSON: It's not size that matters, but how much [technobabbble] you have in your blood.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: The season is taking an unfortunate turn into science fantasy as opposed to science fiction, and there's a lot of padding here just to see our characters jump through hoops (or for the actors to show off their miming, dancing and singing skills), which all lets down an otherwise interesting story about the corruption of power with solid guest-stars and at least one sympathetic character.
FORMULA: Who Mourns for Adonais? + Where No Man Has Gone Before + The Gamesters of Triskelion + The Squire of GothosWHY WE LIKE IT: Historically important, and you really feel for Alexander.
WHY WE DON'T: Extended humiliation scenes that amount to just a lot of padding.
REVIEW: It all starts out well enough with a distress call from the long-lived Platonians, who all have (but for one exception) a powerful psycho-kinetic power. Now, I don't really buy the whole story of these aliens having spent time on Earth during the Greek golden age, and it's glossed over pretty quickly (the crew should have been more surprised, for example). Worse, it doesn't figure all that much into the story, as this could have been any utopia. but if that's the set-up, then that's the set-up. We don't know they're dangerous at first, though we get clues early on, and Parmen's delirium is a well executed telekinetic storm.
It goes a bit wrong in the first extended show of power from Parmen, a long, long humiliation of both Kirk and Spock. It's not that it's hard to watch, it's that it's tedious, and you can't wait for that next commercial break. By having the characters recite something out of Lewis Carrol, it's also inconsistent in how it presents the power (unless the Platonians have kept up with Earth literature since leaving it). Points do go to William Shatner for bearing to have someone do a jig that close to his face.
And even when it's over, it's not quite over. Parmen has Uhura and Chapel beam down for round 2. This time, it's not as bad, though don't ask me to judge Leonard Nimoy's singing. It provides character moments for all five present, and is historically important for the first interracial kiss shown on television (through gritted teeth, but they had to slip it by somehow). At the end, it turns sadistic, which I find far less appropriate for tv than any two people kissing, but it's halted by Kirk finally exhibiting the power.
And then it's all over! Hey, Parmen, don't do this again or we'll come for you! Ok ok, and they leave. A very abrupt ending with no real justice exacted on the bad guys. The power just disappears after being so easy to manufacture.
All the humiliation does serve a purpose, even if I think it could have been edited a bit more tightly. First, it provides fuel for an excellent scene where Spock admits to deep hatred, which he then must try to control. Second, it helps us feel more sympathy for Alexander, who is a most impressive guest-star here. He injects real pathos into the story, and allows the IDIC philosophy inherent in Star Trek to be put into action.
LESSON: It's not size that matters, but how much [technobabbble] you have in your blood.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: The season is taking an unfortunate turn into science fantasy as opposed to science fiction, and there's a lot of padding here just to see our characters jump through hoops (or for the actors to show off their miming, dancing and singing skills), which all lets down an otherwise interesting story about the corruption of power with solid guest-stars and at least one sympathetic character.
Comments