69. Elaan of TroyiusFORMULA: Friday's Child + Journey to Babel + Dagger of the Mind
WHY WE LIKE IT: Elaan is an interesting character, sometimes detestable, sometimes sympathetic.
WHY WE DON'T: All other aliens are either silly, dull, or both.
REVIEW: The return of the Klingons is overshadowed by the Star Trek version of "The Taming of the Shrew", but who's taming who? France Nuyen is a powerful onscreen presence as Elaan, all the more interesting because of her exotic looks and accent. Didn't realize I was getting sick of all the blonde alien beauties until the creators injected a little variety into it. It's really too bad the other Elasians are so cookie-cutter and unlike Elaan. None of the guest-stars make a good showing except for her, though Petri is ok, if a little ridiculous-looking.
The Klingons are basically just an fx shot here, though their strategies are interesting and the space battles fairly tense. Their presence is made dull by the lack of any named leader here, and the thrill of finally seeing their ships has been sapped by the airing of The Enterprise Incident and its three Romulan-bought cruisers first. But though a logical enemy, I understand the need to keep the focus on Elaan. She's the true antagonist of the piece.
Though slightly derivative of the shrewish Julie Newmar character in Friday's Child (including a similar face-slapping scene), she's allowed to go further by making Captain Kirk fall in love with her. It's not manipulation for manipulation's sake, however. She really does "choose" Kirk with respect to her culture. Whether she sees the good captain's strengths (he's got his own brand of irresistibility, after all), or is acting desperately because of her arranged marriage, is up to the viewer. As a spoiled child, she's annoying, but entertainingly so. Thankfully, we see another side of her, more vulnerable and human, later on. Ironically, by that time, Kirk has been subdued by her tears. There are no easy solutions for her as she beams down to be married against her will in the interests of a treaty, and by the end, she comes off as sympathetic. We should understand her anger.
Less of Spock and McCoy in this one, but that gives Scotty and Uhura something to do, which was appreciated. I'm less enamoured of the final coda, where Spock contends that the Enterprise is cure enough for Elasian tears. If the director had lingered more on some kind of haunted look on the captain's face, maybe it would have worked. As it is, it's a kind of tiny reset button. Bah, let's chalk it up to Spock not understanding emotion very well.
LESSON: One person's priceless royal necklace is another man's priceless starship power source.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Humor, romance, drama, suspense, action, it's all here, and fairly well done too. If I only give it a medium, it's that the plot itself comes off as derivative and serendipitous (the fortuitous necklace, for example). I'm also quite aware that spoiled Elaan may not be to everyone's tastes.
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