WHY WE LIKE IT: Another Gorn episode!
WHY WE DON'T: It's tough being a fan of Hemmer's.
REVIEW: Trek very obviously offers its take on Aliens (alien impregnation, a crashed ship, a young girl who survives), Predator (infra-vision) and The Thing (an arctic setting) using the Gorn as the monster, and demolished Enterprise sets as a location for suspense, body horror and carnage. We're introduced to a couple characters (another cadet and a newly-minted Lieutenant) who don't make it out alive, and once the action starts, it's almost a foregone conclusion they won't.
More of a surprise is that Hemmer also bites it. In retrospect, he was absent in so many episodes, it's not entirely surprising, but I do think the production team either didn't know he'd be so fun and engaging, or else knew and decided to kill him off so as to shock the audience all the more. It doesn't quite work because the episode acts like it's the season finale and sends off La'an on some mission (making us wonder if her story is over because we've achieved Gorn catharsis), and is cagey about Uhura leaving or staying, which undermines Hemmer's sacrifice with distractions. The audience shouldn't be wondering about all these other characters (and wonder what it means for the ACTUAL season finale) when it's meant to grieve for a very likeable character. It unfortunately fell a little flat for me, and I resent the idea of almost literally "fridging" this character to motivate Uhura into staying in Starfleet. She couldn't come to that conclusion without one of her mentors dying? Hemmer is at least very good in his final story, smelling the brisk air that reminds him of Andoria, showing that an engineer CAN understand people as much as he does machines, and "fixing" Uhura, as per his "purpose". His final sacrifice, throwing himself off the back end of a ship, looks pretty epic too. If we still feel something, it's largely due to Uhura who is rocked by it. He had her number, and calls her out for her fear of making bonds with people lest she be hurt again, but that making friends is essentially her super-power (as seen when she talks down the cool animatronic alien). I really like this take on Uhura, and look forward to her using her "gift" of communication in the future.
If Hemmer kept his cool and accepted his fate, the rest of the cast was much more of edge, to the point where I wondered if there was some strange effect at work (Gorn pheromones?). Pike kept his head, but La'an goes after the girl, M'Benga goes after La'an, George Kirk goes after Spock... Maybe everyone is just nervous and scared, but geez. If something were affecting the crew, it might even explain how Spock, releasing his Vulcan rage, later has trouble reigning it back in and almost unleashes it on Chapel. If it was just "atmosphere", then it's well done, as is the reasoning for leaving an Away Team in this situation, cut off from the ship. The mechanics of dealing with the Gorn hatchlings before the quickly become even more dangerous adults are also well thought out. They are perhaps given too many powers here, like invisibility to sensors and telepathy, but it could help explain why the Federation knows next to nothing about them, doesn't detect them at Cestus III, etc. in "Arena" (see below). Let's just say it's an eve more massive revamp of the race and purists may find fault with it.
SECONDARY WATCHING: While we can now definitely understand Uhura's reaction in "Arena", the fact that George Kirk was involved in these events personally makes it even more improbable that James T. had never heard of them. Spock's reaction to Hemmer's sacrifice for the good of the many puts his choice in Star Trek II in a new light.
LESSON: They grow up so fast, don't skimp on the quality time.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: A tense horror-thriller that easily outdoes Voyager's Macrocosm. I may not agree with its conclusion, but it does heighten its importance in the canon.
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