Amazon.com

"Return of the Archons" is a cautionary story about mind control written by Gene Roddenberry. The tale begins when Ensign Sulu (George Takei) is taken hostage on an Earth-like planet with a primitive culture. Zapped by a weapon that leaves him under the control of someone or something named Landru, Sulu is then pursued by Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who discover that Landru has the same grip on everyone else. Once Landru becomes aware of efforts by the captain and first officer to interfere with its bidding, Kirk and Spock become the target of a massive hunt by locals. A minor episode with a somewhat obvious scenario, "Return of the Archons" does have novel appeal in its heightened role for the ever-charming Sulu, and in Roddenberry's characteristically humane interest in elements that make people (and intelligent aliens) everywhere free to fulfill their destinies. The solution to the who-is-Landru mystery won't surprise anyone, but it may strike you as a prototype of several future episodes, from all the Trek series, involving centralized caretaking on various planets. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Festival! Festival!
'Return of the Archons' is probably my all-time favorite episode of 'Star Trek.' It has so much going for it, I don't know where to begin. Of course, it's basically a parable about the alleged evils of 'mind control' but it's quite possibly the funniest, most entertaining show ST ever had! From the robotic, mindless natives of Landru's planet, to Sulu (with dreamy gaze) waxing about 'Paradise, my friend' and 'sweetest people in the universe' to McCoy coming under the spell of Landru ("You speak strangely, friend, are you from away?" and "You speak in strange whispers.") This is the one ST episode I can watch endlessly and not get tired of.

Doesn't Quite Live up to Its Potential
Brilliant beginning. Sulu gets zombified. Kirk, Spock, and two crewmen beam down to the planet to try and set things right and are just in time for a mandatory orgy, which they manage to avoid. They get involved in a secret plot to set things right but the story slows down. An "Enterprise is losing its orbit" subplot is added, but seems phoned in.

Kirk's moralizing speech to Landru is very interesting, but rather hypocritical if you think about it very hard. (Kirk frequently chastises computers for failing their prime directive. Wouldn't that be great if one of them told him to examine his own behavior?) The "Changeling", The "Ultimate Computer", and "I, Mudd" all involve Kirk vs. a computer, and they are all superior to this particular story.

This is still a worthy episode, and should be owned by any serious Star Trek fan. With a little work, though, it could have been so much better.

The Red Hour is upon us
This creepy if hokey episode concerns cloaked figures and a zombie-like populace. This show isn't particularly thoughtful for a first season episode, and the ending in particular is very unoriginal and disconnected from the rest of the show. The first half of the episode certainly packs enough mystery though, with the creepy creatures and music, as well as the Jeckyl-Hyde aspect of the population. Sulu also has one of his larger roles here.

"Joy To You Friend. Peace And Contentment Too."
Computers were often depicted as potential formidable foes in the popular science fiction of the sixties but Star Trek did it to a tee. The show's familiar theme of the super computer as a society controller/watchdog was first seen here. And though 'The Return Of The Archons' isn't as well defined as later similar episodes it still stands as one of the best early efforts of the series.

The Enterprise is in an area of space investigating the 100 year old disappearance of a Federation vessel, the Archon. When Sulu is beamed back aboard during an away team emergency he displays a disturbing but sedate state of mind. He is taken to Sick Bay and Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and a complement of others beam down to further investigate. Within moments the local residents, who behave bafflingly eccentric, break out into a collective fury, an event that is termed Festival. The away team seeks shelter at a nearby hotel where they meet three older gentlemen, two of whom welcome them (Reger and Tamar) and the other (Hacom) who is immediately suspicious of the away team. Kirk's questions about Festival make his hosts uncomfortable and they provide him only with superficial answers, requesting he wait until the morning comes. When the morning comes Hacom has returned with two odd looking fellows, known as lawgivers, who proceed to kill Tamar and demand that Kirk and his party come with them. They refuse and make their way to a safe haven with the help of Reger but eventually the all-powerful ruler Landru that Reger has been speaking of detects their presence. After Landru explains to them they will be 'absorbed' and become 'part of the body' the group is rendered unconscious and taken to a holding cell. Kirk and Spock are spared the absorption by a friend of Reger's (Marplon) who also returns their weapons and communicators to them. After affecting their escape from the holding cell Marplon shows Kirk and Spock the Hall Of Audiences where Landru is located. Discovering a computer hidden behind a wall Kirk and Spock are able to destroy it by causing a conflict within it's programming.

The first try at this type of show comes off quite well with only a couple of notable exceptions. In the hiding place Reger takes them to Landru explains to Kirk and his complement that "they have come to a world of peace and harmony, a world without conflict." That's not entirely true as we see in the first act when every one of the townspeople appears to go simultaneously stark raving mad! Also, in the beginning of the episode the landing party beams down in full view of the townspeople - who demonstrate no surprise at this. Shouldn't they have beamed down outside the city or somewhere they would be certain no one would see this unusual phenomenon? By all appearances this society has the look and feel of late 19th century or early 20th century earth.

The personification of Landru is well conceived and the effect of projecting his image in random locations at will adds an eerie and unnerving touch to the proceedings. The lawgivers are quite creepy as well, clothed in robes, their faces indiscernible, speaking in oddly echoing voices and firing harmless looking but deadly weapons. As Spock tells a frustrated Lindstrom, who feels they can overcome the lawgivers, "they apparently command powers well beyond our comprehension and are very, very dangerous." The wrap-up is satisfactory if a bit too expected. The plot device of Kirk and Spock using their own logic to defeat an all-powerful computer would be returned to several more times through the next three seasons, eventually wearing a bit thin.

Noteworthy: The landing party is attacked when the townspeople begin the Festival. Everyone is pelted by rocks or flying objects, or even in one case beaten with a wooden beam! Everyone that is except for Kirk. An attractive young lady takes a running leap onto the captain, wraps herself around him and administers a deep, passionate kiss - this guy has the most incredible streak of luck with the ladies!

"You are not of the body".......famous line from Archons
The best part about this one was the "Red Hour" where the whole town went on a wild party ..to put it mildly..havoc reigned while Kirk and company watched. It's another one of those computers gone bad thing. It's about a planet that condones the mob mentality and people are drones that listen to every order from the computer. Sounds like us earth people when you look real close at this episode. Well, to make a long story short Kirk short circuts everything with his illogical statements. Spock sits and watches while the whole computer blows to kingdom come. It's fun to watch and stands up today. Because Landru might be Microsoft if the episode was produced in 2002. This could be an ad for Linux OS...."you are not of the body"..you are not Microsoft. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

All "I Love Lucy" episodes celebrate 50th Anniversary.
In this decade, every episode of "I Love Lucy" will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Every episode is still funny as funny as when they first aired. The shows are good. The shows are wholesome. They are healing and warm and will make you feel good. Buy them on VHS or DVD today.

I feel sorry for poor Superman and the freezer.
Not that they're in the same episode, but still. Lucy finds herself desparate to get Superman for Little Ricky's birthday party after she promised her friends and her son. But after she finds out that Superman has to leave town on the night of the party, she plans to run around like crazy after dressing up like Superman and walking on the ledge outside of their window. But Superman couldn't hurt the kids' feelings, so he cancels the trip and decides to come. In The Freezer episode, one of my favorites, Lucy and Ethel buy a huge walk-in freezer from Ethel's uncle, only to get Lucy locked in it and make her freeze so badly, even her tears start to freeze. But they spend a whole lot of money on beef which must be removed before the boys see it. In both occasions, this time, the shows sort of has a bad ending. Only that of Ricky's temper and Lucy's fright, of course!

Superman AND I Love Lucy?
There have been a lot of great episodes in the "I Love Lucy" series, all with great moments, but being a fan of Superman, seeing these two together is a great treat.

First we've got to understand that it is George Reeves playing Superman that stands out (in lieu of Superman straight out), and while it isn't said right out, the implication is there.

The gag with Lucy being on the edge of the building was played out rather well, and the punch-line that George gave "You've been married to her for 15 years . . . and they call ME Superman" was quite funny.

The second episode "The Freezer" was from one of the much earlier seasons, if Lucy ONLY knew what a side of beef was, she would have been okay, so when the butcher came in with more and more and more packages of meet, it was rather a funny gag in itself, then to see Lucy lock herself in the freezer, wanna talk about a cold reception?

Lucy meets the Man of Steel and the Freezer of Ice!
Here are a couple of better episodes from the classic television sitcom "I Love Lucy." In "Lucy and Superman" (Episode #166, January 14, 1957), Lucy fails to get Superman (George Reeves) to make an appearance at Little Ricky's birthday party. So, of course, Lucy decides to impersonate the Man of Steel! It sure is nice to see Reeves having some fun with the Superman character. Then we go back to a first season classic, "The Freezer" (Episode #29, April 28, 1952), where Lucy and Ethel buy a giant walk-in freezer. When the girls seriously overestimate how much meat it will hold, they have to go into the meat business. Of course, you know as soon as you see that walk-in freezer that Lucy is going to manage to get herself locked inside and the results are as funny as you imagined.

FREEZING FUN WITH THE FAB FOUR .
THE FREEZER is a superior episode of I LOVE LUCY. The scenes in the kitchen are very well played and when Lucy tries to sell some of "the beast of burden" from a baby carriage in a butcher shop, it's a riot! The plump blonde lady who asks "but how can you sell it so cheap?" is played by Barbara Pepper whom Lucy had known since they were Goldwyn Girls together in 1933. Pepper was originally considered for the part of Ethel Mertz (along with Bea Benederet) but the notion was quickly dismissed since she was an alcoholic; the public later knew her as Mrs. Ziffle on GREEN ACRES. When one views this episode you can sense just how much rehearsing the actors (particularly the perfectionist redhead) endured to make the scripts come alive; when Ethel doesn't think she can persuade Ricky to sing in order to stall the boys, Lucy says in a flash "Oh, won't he!-Listen: you take care of the HAM - I'll take care of the BEEF! "The dialogue, acting and Hal King's make-up for Lucy when she becomes a frozen popsicle are all first-rate. LUCY MEETS SUPERMAN is a lesser effort in my opinion - but definitely worth watching; there wasn't really a TRULY bad episode in the whole series! (There are a total of 179 syndicated I LOVE LUCY episodes if anyone's wondering). ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Don't bother
The Nazi episode has to rank near the bottom of Trek offerings, if only because it is in such poor taste. What were they thinking? I'm tempted to give the episode at least some support for the fact that it has plenty of action, but after being reminded by other reviewers just have off-base Kirk's speech was (the one that seems to equate the Nazis with other holders of absolute power), I can't give the episode any extra props. There could be no better example than this episode of the dangers inherent in drifting too far away from the tenets the show was founded upon. At times it worked, like in A Piece of the Action, but you can almost watch things getting out of hand as the second season progressed. Bread and Circuses flirted with the line; Patterns of Force crossed way over it.

Zeons and the Patterns of Force
Kirk and Spock are captured on this planet of Nazis. It was pretty much standard 60's TV villians. The enemy is again...you guessed it another crazy federation captain who thought he could make the perfect society. This was also done with the episode "Bread and Circuses" where they were on the Gladiator planet.

The Enterprise visits the planet of the Nazis
The Enterprise visits Ekos, another one of those fun planets that is like Earth with a twist in "Patterns of Force." This time around they show up to check on John Gill, a Federation cultural observer, who has been studying the progress of the planet's primitive and warlike people. Instead they find a society patterned on Nazi Germany, with people from the neighboring planet of Zeon serving as the scapegoats for the Ekosians. Eventually it becomes clear that Gill introduced Nazism to make it more efficient (the whole trains running on time bit), but, gee, the "bad" side of Nazism seems to have taken hold along with the "good." I always thought this episode was was an implicit attack on academics, who like to get involved in spirited debates on such things but usually lack the power or opportunity to put their theories into practice. You have to remember this was still the Sixties and the Nazis were still the big villains of the day; it would be another decade before they were replaced in Hollywood by psychotic Vietnam vets as the top villains. In the end this episode justifes the Prime Directive, which is not exactly a vote in its favor. But "Patterns of Force" certainly makes a compelling case for its anti-revisionist argument. Yet there is still that subversive element that those black Gestapo uniforms look pretty good on Kirk and Spock. Bottom line is that this is still pretty heady stuff for a science fiction show.

One of the most entertaining and suspenseful episode by far!
In "Patterns of Force," Kirk and Spock go searching for a former Star Fleet professor named Gill, but they find that he has created a culture patterned after Nazi Germany....or has he?

From reading about the episode, I was expecting "Patterns of Force" to be just an average episode, but man I was wrong big time. Now I've seen all but six episodes, including "The Cage," of Star Trek - The Original Series, and I can honestly say that in my opinion, "Patterns of Force" is one of the best overall episodes.

"Patterns of Force" is VERY suspenseful and entertaining, parts of it such as Captain Kirk telling Spock to hide his ears are humourous, and everybody does a great job of acting. If you like Star Trek at all, do yourself a favor and get "Patterns of Force." You might find yourself in a pattern of watching it more than you expected to.

Okay this story is going a little too far.
Okay, I can accept stories where the Enterprise encounters two planets, one that has a 20th Century Roman Culture on it, and another that has modeled it's society on Chicago gangs from the 1920's, but this one where the planet has a Nazi Germany goverment on it, brought about by a federation scientist and historian, is sort of taking things beyound the point of beliveability, This is just a case of doing one too many of these stories, and it falls as flat as a pancake. I can understand the moral/historical issues raised in the episode,but please, let's not see anymore of these finding Earth type cultures on distant planet stories with Star Trek. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Lucy and Ethel bake the world's biggest loaf of bread
The battle of the sexes continues in these two episodes from the classic sit com "I Love Lucy." In "Pioneer Women" (Episode #25, March 31, 1952), Lucy and Ethel want to join the Society Matron's League, so, of course, they need dishwashers so they can avoid having dishpan hands. Ricky and Fred tell the girls they have gotten soft and certainly they could never do the hard work their grandmothers did. This means a bet to see which sex can better handle the ways of the pioneers. If this does not ring a bell yet, let me just say this is the one where Lucy and Ethel bake a really big loaf of bread. Lucy gets another taste of life away from the big city in "The Camping Trip" (#64, June 8, 1953). When her girl friends insist that married couples always become bored with one another, Lucy starts paying attention to everything Ricky does. Upset that Lucy insists on going along on his camping trip with Fred, Ricky decides to teach her a lesson. Of course, Lucy learns about this and decides to teach a lesson of her own. This is one of those double-episode tapes where you want to split the difference between the 5 stars of the first show with the 4 stars of the second.

Fantastic! Bravo!
Lucy goes on a camping trip with Ricky, thinking at first she is going to spend a glorious weekend with her husband, until she finds out from Ethel that Ricky has a scheme and she is going to beat him at his own game! Not unusual for Lucy. Ricky is getting tired of having her hang around him like gum on your shoe and doesn't want her to go on the camping trip with Fred and him this summer. He roughs it up for her, but she beats him back. Of course, Ethel, as usual, is dragged in on Lucy's little scheme to get Ricky back. Watch it, it is great! Then, on Pioneer Women, Lucy and Ethel rough it out like in the 1900's along with Ricky and Fred, only to win a bet to see who can last longer without the convienience of modern appliances. Lucy bakes bread, Ethel churns butter, and the whole thing, naturally, is a big mess! Don't miss this one, either!

All "I Love Lucy" episodes celebrate 50th Anniversary.
In this decade, every episode of "I Love Lucy" will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Every episode is still funny as funny as when they first aired. The shows are good. The shows are wholesome. They are healing and warm and will make you feel good. Buy them on VHS or DVD today.

Another crackup comedy!
The bridge girls are all talking about divorces, which makes Lucy wanna spend all of her time with Ricky. On a preview camping trip, she verses the game and makes him be worn out, makes him look dumb, and etc.. until Ethel throws down a cleaned duck. That ruins it. In the other one, the bet for modern day technologies goes on, of course sex vs. sex. The Society Matrons League looks the two families over to see how they really live, but they happened to come at the inappropiate time. Two more of Lucy's bests!

fantastic selection - Lucy "camps" it up!
Lucy "camps" it up in these two choice episodes!

PIONEER WOMEN - Lucy and Ethel accept a $50 bet from Ricky and Fred to prove that they can get along without modern appliances. Their back-to-basics lifestyle leads to numerous disasters, like Lucy's attempt to bake her own bread, using enough yeast to sink a battleship!

THE CAMPING TRIP - Ricky takes Lucy on a short camping trip. He plans to make her stay so miserable that she'll never want to camp again, but he's shocked when Lucy out-hunts and out-fishes him - until she bags a duck that falls to the ground already plucked and cleaned! ... Read more

Amazon.com

A planetoid called Alpha Memory is chosen to become the Federation's official library, and Lieutenant Mira Romaine (Jan Shutan), charged with transferring records to the site's computers, is en route to that destination aboard the Enterprise. Along the way, she acquires a new beau in the adoring Scotty (James Doohan), and big trouble when the collective consciousness of the Zetars, a lost and disembodied race, attack the Alpha Memory project and take possession of her and her voice.

Not surprisingly, the story was written by someone who knew a lot about projecting personalities and voices into hapless third parties: puppeteer Shari Lewis and her husband Jeremy Torcher, both big fans of Star Trek. Typical of the original series' troubles with ever-shrinking budgets, the Zetar entities are represented as mere colored lights, an adequate effect improved immensely by the scary-dramatic context in which they appear and by a good vocal performance by Barbara Babcock (lately of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) as the merged creatures. Shutan is just fine as the comely librarian, and Doohan is great in his impassioned-Scotty mode. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Worst episode of them all?
I'm sorry, but it doesn't get any worse than The Lights of Zetar. I have always thought this one was neck-and-neck with The Mark of Gideon for worst episode, but I watched it recently and really tried to like it. But come on... First of all, Spock says one ridiculous non-Vulcan thing after another through the whole episode. The whole cast appears to have given up...Scotty's assessment that one more phaser blast will kill Mira is thereafter taken as fact, even by Spock. The first half has some potential to be spooky...a planet full of dead people, a dying lady turning colors and talking weird (nice respect for the dying, Kirk, as he points at her like she's a freak). But nothing is ever developed, and it's not like they didn't have time...that scene in the briefing room where they match the brain waves is interminable! Seriously, that has to be the longest, most boring scene they ever shot. The whole episode drags on with pointlessness instead of exploring any interesting storyline. Even affectionate Scotty, endearing at first, get a little old. Weak.

Better than That Which Survives
Yet another dull and pointless episode, this one sees Scott's newfound-love (Mira Romaine) possessed by an alien life form represented by shimmering lights. Scotty's romance plays only slightly better than McCoy's earlier in the season; whereas McCoy's romance seemed flat, Scotty is over the top, acting out of character. At least Jan Shutan's stiff performance provides some counterpoint! The episode has few highlights other than the romance and the disturbing scene on Memory Alpha. While the concept of the 'distilled spirits' of a dying race is interesting enough, the cold-hearted treatment of the aggressors (see Wink of an Eye for a similar example) betrays the shows loss of idealism. Compare this to the humanity Kirk showed in say, Space Seed or By Any Other Name, in seasons 1 and 2. The episode simply has no message.

Plot gaps are also intolerably large even by Star Trek standards. Why do the Zetarians do so much more damage on Memory Alpha than on the Enterprise? What is special about Memory Alpha to the Zetarians? How does Kirk know pressure may kill them?

One plus about the episode is that it has the quirky style of many early 3rd season shows; although there is no original music here, this episode features music and even shots from a variety of episodes (revisiting the Where no Man has gone Before soundtrack was an interesting decision [given the parallels to that episode], and they were running out of money after all). The close up shots of her eye were also kind of interesting. When such minutiae are the best thing going for an episode, it's got problems.

The final scenes features the type of repartee and character discussion that were almost absent from season 3. Noteworthy though is a lack of warmth in the dialogue, which actually seems to extend to the actors themselves (excepting the irrepresible Shatner). Perhaps the others could no longer put their hearts into these weak shows and their improbable dialogue; perhaps the weak shows further strained the relationships between the cast.

Wh at Am I Missing?
I am sorry, fellow Trek fans. This is one episode that I simply can't stand. Don't be mad! Maybe I have no taste! But I do find it schlocky and the music is so terribly repetetive!

I have made these comments before for what they are worth but I have always loved the incidental music on Star Trek on some episodes but I find this episode is overkill.

For fans only. Not particulalrly bad but definitely not a masterpiece.

The closest thing to a Star Trek horror story (with holes)
As a kid, I always thought this episode was one of Star Trek's scariest, with pseudo-demonic possession, malevolence galore, and the ever-present Star Trek drama. As an adult, I find the episode still scary, but you must be willing to suspend disbelief and ignore the gaping plot holes.

"Lights of Zetar" had the potential to be one of the best episodes ever, but I believe third-season budget constraints and the pressure to deliver the script on time may have damaged it's credibility. How could a hyperbaric chamber "kill" gaseous entities capable of warp-speed? Too many plot holes; nevertheless, this episode still gives you the willies. A Trek-lover must-have.

The Enterprise encounters another killer cloud in space
"The Lights of Zetar" finds the Enterprise heading for Memory Alpha, a repository of accumulated knowledge which must be the Federation's version of Asimov's Foundation facility, when an energy cloud appears. After knocking out Lt. Mira Romaine on the ship, the cloud attacks Memory Alpha, kills most of the researchers and wipes out the computer memory. When the Enterprise finally catches up with the killer cloud it is clear that there is some weird link between it and Romaine. Eventually Kirk gets around to exploiting it in order to figure out what is going on and what to do about it. This is one of those Star Trek episodes that just strikes me as rather lame. Although the set up is certainly interesting, the explanation is unsatisfying and the resolution is a bit extreme on several levels. I know for sure that Jean-Luc Picard would not have wiped out an entire race of beings like this, even if they are already "dead." Besides which, I do not think energy clouds would be that easy to defeat. "The Lights of Zetar" was just another nail in the coffin for the show during its third and final season. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Operation: Annihilate" is undoubtedly the only science fiction drama inhistory in which the requisite Scary Monster resembles a three-dollar itemfrom a novelty store--specifically, a rubber puddle of fake vomit. Moreover, theshooting locale for much of the story, which is set in a research community onthe Federation planet Deneva, brings to mind the plush, friendly, L.A. exoticaof Frank Capra's Shangri-La in Lost Horizon rather than anextraterrestrial outpost. Having said all that, however, this episode isdeservedly a minor classic that becomes most interesting in its final act.Rushing the Enterprise to Deneva is Captain Kirk (William Shatner), whosebrother Sam and his family are among the victims of an unknown invader thatfeeds on human nervous systems, driving people wild with pain and ultimatelykilling them. Once arriving, Kirk's problems are compounded when Mr. Spock(Leonard Nimoy) is attacked by one of the nasty "flying pancake" killers (blobbycritters of the aforementioned fake-vomit variety). The script (by Steven W.Carabatsos) feels as if it did not survive the series' editorial committeeprocess intact. There's a certain amount of obvious padding in the action, whilenext to nothing is made, dramatically speaking, of Kirk's discovery of his brother's fate. The best bits are reserved for a story twist in which Dr. McCoy(DeForest Kelley) develops a cure for Spock's ailment that is almost as bad asthe affliction. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Flying Pancakes
The string of winning episodes finally came to an end in the final show of season one, which concerned pancake-like creatures that attack Spock's central nervous system. This was by no means trek at it's worst incidentally; just a step down from the prior six shows produced. The episode feels more like a second season episode in that it lacks the complex themes of its precursors; still it manages to work in a loss for Kirk and the effects that physical pain can have on the way we present ourselves. (As an aside, one thing that does connect this episode with season one is the slow pace at which the story develops.) This is one of those shows though that despite a disturbing premise doesn't have a lot to say in the end, and relies on a gimmick for the ultimate resolution of the conflict. Also dulling are the absence of significant guest performances and the un-engaging sets; both may well have been due to both empty coffers and fatigue at this point. Virtually everyone involved had certainly laid it out there in season one, both in terms of effort and sincere emotional investment; it wouldn't always be that way.

Tidbit: Both of the dead Kirks would appear in other episodes: the elder 79 times as Captain Kirk, and the younger once as Tommy Starnes in And the Children Shall Lead.

Attack of the giant brain cells on the planet Deneva
In "Operation--Annihilate!", the last episode of the first season, the Enterprise arrives at the planet Deneva in time to see a spaceship fly into the sun after the pilot cries out that he is finally free. Things are equally strange on the planet, where a mob attacks the Away Team. Then Kirk learns that his brother Sam is dead and his sister-in-law and nephew have been infected by strange creatures that sort of look like killer blood cells with little tails. While trying to capture one of the creatures for testing, Spock is attacked; the creature tries to control the Vulcan through his nervous system, causing great pain. So it turns out the creatures are more like giant brain cells (with little tails). Meanwhile, McCoy tries to figure out why flying close to the sun freed the Denevan pilot from the creature's control. On the one hand this episode has several very emotional moment, when Kirk discovers his brother is dead and when McCoy realizes he did not need to blind Spock to free him from the creature. But on the other hand this "inner eyelid" bit is just too damn convenient, even for television/science fiction. You would think between the Science Officer and the Chief Medical Officer they would know enough about the scientific method and the correct way to perform scientific experiments in your own lab to avoid making such a horrible mistook.

Can Kirk and the crew make this a successful operation?
"Operation-Annihilate!" is a solid episode for the original Star Trek series. Captain Kirk and the crew beam down to the planet Deneva and find out that Kirk's brother, Sam, has been killed and that his nephew has been injured by some alien force. They soon find a bunch of little creatures that are one-celled organisms. One of them get Spock and he is immediately taken to Sick Bay onboard the Enterprise. Being a Vulcan, Spock learns to control himself and says he must get one of the creatures onboard to study it. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy later decide that they are only cells of some larger alien. They must find a different way of destroying the creatures on the planet without having to kill every person that has been infected by them.

I recommend getting "Operation-Annihilate!" so you can find out how the U.S.S. Enterprise crew will destroy the creatures and cure Spock of the disease. My only complaint is that you never get to see the alien that these cells come from. But other than that it's a good episode. It features some of the best acting by Spock.

This episode gets a C+ grade and is ranked 47th out of 80
Arriving at the planet Deneva, home of Kirk's only brother Samand his family, the U.S.S. Enterprise picks up a transmission from aDenevan pilot who has steered his craft into the sun to destroy some unknown menace. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Written by renowned novelist-screenwriter Richard Matheson (The Incredible Shrinking Man), the outstanding episode "The Enemy Within" proposes a transporter malfunction that results in Captain Kirk being divided into two versions of himself, one aggressive and brutal, the other sensitive and good. Essentially, the personality mix that makes Kirk an effective leader and balanced man is scattered like so many marbles, and the result is one captain running around mauling women and wreaking havoc while the other is frightened and indecisive. The production is very effectively done, and William Shatner's performance is among his most interesting. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The Good Kirk Plus The Bad Kirk Equals Captain Kirk
"The Enemy Within" proved early on that William Shatner could certainly act when the spirit moved him; maybe the key factor was not playing Captain Kirk, per se. When Kirk beams back from Alpha 177 a transporter malfunction splits him into two halves: one good, the other evil. When Spock and the others catch on that there are two Kirks they are forced to leave Sulu and the rest of the landing party stranded on the freezing planet. Meanwhile, Yeoman Rand finally has a close encounter with the Captain, which turns out to be not all that enjoyable. Yes, it makes absolutely no sense for the transporter to split Kirk's personality in half like this, but that is why they call it science fiction (besides, the transporter was just a cheaper way of showing the crew getting to planets than doing special effects with shuttle crafts). Plus we get the philosophical discourse on how Kirk needs his "evil" side to be a good starship captain. "The Enemy Within" is an above average episode.

Human psychology clashing with technology
Human psychology takes center stage in this episode. A transporter malfunction creates a second Captain Kirk by siphoning out essential characteristics of his personality. Since only negative characteristics are placed in the copy, it is a feral creature, dominated by lust and other primitive emotions. The episode is well acted by all three of the principle characters, Shatner as the good Kirk appears properly drained, showing progressive weakness as he loses the will to command. However, his best performance is when he is playing the feral Kirk, fearful, yet full of animal vigor. Spock serves as psychoanalyst, properly dissecting the Kirk personas as he physically observes both parts. The crankiness so characteristic of McCoy begins to emerge.
It is in this episode where we are introduced to two fundamentals of the show. The first is the appearance of the rivalry between Spock and McCoy and the second is the first use of the Vulcan neck pinch to subdue the evil Kirk. The first time we see the rivalry is when Spock goes to the captain's quarters to investigate McCoy's assertion that Kirk is acting like a "wild man." Kirk's response is that the doctor is putting you on again, stated so routinely that it speaks volumes about the relationship between Spock and McCoy.
However, it is the mind of the captain that makes this story. We see the powerful Kirk vulnerable and afraid, and it is easy to see those two sides in our own personalities when we watch it. We all have our animal sides, and for most of us it rarely surfaces. Which is quite healthy, as a normal person is as repulsed as Kirk when it appears.
An episode that begins to flesh out the two other major characters and also the first time we hear the memorial McCoy line, "He's dead Jim!", it takes an old theme of good and evil and packages them in one person, but two separate bodies. While it is not one of the very best episodes in the original series, it shows us a new way in which a classic story can be told. It also points out that human psychology will remain what it is and clash with whatever technology we manage to develop.

"Just give me the brandy!"
On the surface, "The Enemy Within" looks like another re-telling of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale with the timid Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the animalistic Captain James T. Kirk filling in for the good doctor and his beastly half. However, this first season episode is actually more than that. It is a philosophical exploration of the complex duality of man and an illustration of how his good and evil sides taken together define his very being. It is also a gimmicky way to squeeze in double the Shatner for your viewing pleasure. Talk about getting good value in return for your viewing time.

The U.S.S. Enterprise experiences a transporter malfunction while beaming up a crewman from Alfa 177. After the transporter is inspected by Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), Captain Kirk is cleared to beam aboard. However, remnants of the planet's magnetic ore have been caught in the transporter system and leads to the materialization of a second Kirk. It turns out the two Kirks each embody distinct traits of the original - one personifies his good attributes while the other personifies his sinister attributes. Soon the crew finds itself racing against time to save the two Kirks and the remaining members of the landing party still stranded on Alfa 177 because of the defective transporter.

It may not be one of the essential episodes in the Star Trek canon but "The Enemy Within" still has a lot going for it. You get to see the good Kirk devolve into a whimpering mound of jello. You get to see the evil Kirk swilling down brandy. You get the see the two Kirks modeling different Captain Kirk outfits. You get to see what an alien planet looks like when your television series is working on a limited budget. You get to see a nice alien dog and a mean alien dog. Yet when you get right down to it, the bottom line is that you get twice the Kirk than you usually get. What more can anyone ask for?

Getting there
The Enemy Within-With this episode, in which a transporter malfunction creates two wildly different Kirk's, the show begins to hit its stride. Like many first season shows, this one is sharply focused on dynamics of human personality and interaction. We are shown subtle aspects of both the two Kirks, and the thought process of the rest of the crew as the relate to the new Kirk's. Such attention to internal details, for better or worse, really fell off in the 2nd and 3rd seasons as the show become more extroverted. As others have noted, Shatner turns in a nice performance here, although that absurd make-up they put on the male crew members for the early shows is kind of distracting in the close-ups. One other nice thing about this episode is that its central theme, concerning our dual nature, is not presented in an overly simplisitic way; by this I mean that even each of the two sides of Kirk are somewhat nuanced, and the description of how the two parts need to be together not overly cliché. Nevertheless, the show like many early ones, is way too talky. While the show was beginning to hit it's stride, it wasn't there yet; this episode does drag, and feels somewhat clunky despite a fair amount of action.

Kirk must face both death and his darker side
After a transporter decides to go haywire, Captain Kirk gets split into two halves: an evil, unforgiving half and a nice, intelligent half. Not only does the real Captain Kirk have to worry about his other, animal-like half, but he also has some men that are trapped on a freezing, icy planet with nowhere to go. Is it possible to manage a double take of the captain and get the two halves to equal one again?

"The Enemy Within" is compelling, and it provides good entertainment the whole way through. It also has great acting like always from William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, and a memorable line from Spock. Not to mention that you'll see a now-famous maneuver from Spock the very first time it was performed, and something else in this episode that you'll never see in another show of Star Trek.

We must all face our darker side every now and then, but I don't think any of us have ever had to face ourselves the way Captain Kirk must do. I recommend any Star Trek enthusiast to add this episode to their collection. ... Read more

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While on the planet Gamma Hydra IV, Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Mr.Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Scotty (James Doohan)are infected with an unknown disease that causes rapid aging. The only member ofthe party unaffected is Chekov (Walter Koenig), who becomes McCoy's guinea pigwhile searching for a cure back on the Enterprise. A nifty idea with somepoignant overtones, the story by David P. Harmon startles a viewer with thesight of these familiar folks rapidly graying, wrinkling, weakening, andsuffering memory loss. At the same time, Harmon is careful to age each characteras a unique individual, as in real life. Kirk slows down more than the longer- lived Spock, while McCoy remains mentally keen if physically brittle. As forpoor Scotty, well...the dramatic subtext in "The Deadly Years" concerns theperennial conflict over when and how to decide that someone has become too oldto carry out crucial responsibilities. In that sense, this episode feelsconstantly relevant and uniquely entertaining: Let's just say that some of theseactors play "old" a little better than others. (Director Joseph Pevney hasreported that there was a lot of conflict over who was stealing old-guy movesfrom whom.) With all this going on, one might not notice that guest star CharlesDrake is a truly familiar face, having appeared in such classic films as The Maltese Falcon and Now, Voyager. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Another strong show
This episode, in which the crew experience accelerated aging, is another winner. The best thing going for this show is the most simple; it's a good story. Add to that the fact that it is developed nicely and at it's own pace, and you have another thoroughly engaging show, in which we actually feel suspense as to how the crew will get out of this jam. The acting performances are also enjoyable from the big 3 in particular. Certainly the best job done by the make-up team as well; the aging was quite convincing given how low budget and low-tech Trek was.

While Commodore Stocker predictably fails, at least he is presented as a reasonably likeable Starfleet Official and one capable of being self-critical. The court-martial scene was a good idea, but it was far too drawn out at 10+ minutes; we did not need to have each of Kirk's recent foibles pointed out to us again!

This episode does a really good job of exploring how aging not only affects one's mental performance but also one's ability to gauge their mental performance. When we are young and thinking clearly it is so difficult to accept that as we approach death some of us will not accept that our capacities have significantly diminished, and will go on driving, living on our own, etc. even when it is no longer safe to do so.

Where's Planet Viaga IV when you need it?
In this one the crew faces rapid aging like Spock did in Star Trek III. Only in this one it only lasts one episode. I wonder if the the actors compare the way they look in this and the way they look today. They are in as old as they were supposed to be in this episode. It's a good overall. It's a silly concept but has a good gimmick to keep you watching. I don't see how the process was reversed to keep the crew to their current ages, however it works for Star Trek.

Kirk might be old, but he's still got grit and gumption!
In "The Deadly Years," the Enterprise discovers everyone on Gamma Hydra IV has either died or is in the process of dying from old age. Back onboard their ship, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scott all begin to age rapidly as well because of some unusual kind of radiation. Meanwhile, there is a Commodore Stocker on board who forces Spock to relieve Kirk as being unfit for command and then does the same to Spock. But the Commodore has been flying a desk his entire career and in no time at all he has the ship in the Neutral Zone, surrounded by Romulans. Seeing all the senior officers in old person make-up is a bit hokey, but this is redeemed by Kirk's performance during his competency hearing and the way Kirk uses his earlier mistakes to save the day in a nice ironic touch. Usually when the writers come up with a gimmick like this they do not come up with a worthwhile story in which to play it, but that is not the case with "The Deadly Years."

Radiation Sickness ages the Crew.
While making a routine at a small science outpost near the Federation/Romulan border, A Landing Party discovers that the scientists have died of old age from some form of radiation sickness and now the same fate will happen to Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty unless a cure can be found within 48 hours. Makeup artist Fred B. Phillips does a great job with applying make-up to the actors to have them look older in every new scene. Guest stars Charles Drake and Sarah Marshall also give good performances. Written by David P. Harmon. Directed by Joseph Pevney. Music Composed and Conducted by Fred Steiner and Sol Kaplan.

An episode you won't forget
"The Deadly Years" is definitely one of the best episodes of the original Star Trek. Kirk and the crew find some old people on a planet that say they are only 25 and 28. However, they look like they're in their 90's. Soon afterwards, the crew beams back onboard the Enterprise and discovers that everybody, with the exception of Chekov, that beamed down to the planet is turning old quickly. Dr. McCoy or somebody must find a cure for the disease before they die of old age in only a matter of a few days.

"The Deadly Years" features some of the best makeup of any TV show or movie from the 60's, and also some of the best acting. Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy put on the two best performances, they will make you think they really are old and frail. "The Deadly Years" is a classic episode of the series and Kirk does some of his best commanding at the end of the episode. This is one episode you won't forget. ... Read more

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A real treat for long-haul Trekkers: "The Squire of Gothos" is an entertaining program in its own right and the obvious blueprint for "Encounter at Farpoint," Gene Roddenberry's pilot episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Guest star William Campbell plays Trelane, a bratty, impulsive alien given to wearing costumes appropriate for an 18th-century French aristocrat. Equipped with godlike powers that allow him to alter and manipulate the world around him, Trelane is the prototype of The Next Generation's beloved quasi villain, Q (John de Lancie). Like Q, Trelane regards the crew of the Enterprise as playthings, and when Captain Kirk (William Shatner) disrupts his games, the omniscient boy-man puts humanity itself on trial. Great stuff. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (13)

This is wonderful.
I like this movie because it's cool. I also like this movie because it introduced me to Trelane in the novel of Q Squared by Peter David. I also like how Trelane uses the enterprise crew as bate. I also like the surprise ending of this episode. I highly recommend this to future Star Trek fans.

One of the best of the original series and a harbinger
There are two ways in which this is one of the best episodes in the original Star Trek series. The first is that the crew of the Enterprise encounters a creature (Trelane) that can command great power, and that considers the Enterprise crew to be playthings. This premise is a very interesting one, because it is so plausible. We humans are culturally conditioned to consider ourselves to be higher level beings, but the law of averages as played out in the universe dictates that we are most certainly not. Our foibles, nature and actions could very likely be a source of amusement for beings capable of easily moving planets.
The other way is that it sets the table for some of the best episodes of Star Trek, The Next Generation, as the Q character is obviously modeled from Trelane. "Encounter At Farpoint", the first episode of TNG, involves humanity being placed on trial, much like Trelane's placing Captain Kirk on trial in this episode. Trelane has studied Earth history, but somehow doesn't quite get it right. Q and the members of the continuum also never seem to quite be able to accurately solve the human equation, despite their ability to treat time and space like some of us use a television remote.
I went back and watched this episode again after viewing the TNG episodes that involved Q. The episode is so well acted and the repartee dialog so well written that I found myself enjoying it more than I ever had before. I found myself wishing that Trelane had made a second appearance in the original series.

An Ill-Mannered Spock & A Nubian Prize
This is a delightful episode for those of you who like the conceptual side of Trek. This is the heart of Roddenberry's world. Abstract "beings" that represent life and energy unknown and quite different from ourselves, but at once sharing common ideas and situations that all living things encounter.

My favorite Trek intellectual "smackdown" comes from this episode. Leonard Nimoy's performance as Spock is priceless here. With deft coolness, pure Vulcan disdain, and a hint of human irritation, Spock says to Trelane, "I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose." This is perhaps one of Star Trek's most consistently repeated and implied underlying themes. A venomous, vitriolic jab - true - but totally eloquent and one of my favorite lines of the 20th century. Bravo, Mr. Schneider.

Also of note is Trelane's encounter with the lovely Lt. Uhura. He describes her as "A Nubian Prize." Bravo again Mr. Schneider. In 1966 I can think of many less than appropriate ways such dialogue might have been handled. This is timeless - even the little joke about "raids of conquest" is witty, clever, and charming. Not at all racist as it very easily might have been.

A fab episode, low budget to be sure, but jam-packed with smart stuff. A-plus!

Greetings and Salutations
Another bizarre and campy episode, this one features a spoiled child who has designed himself a baroque castle. Like the former episode, this one presents us with a phantasmagoria of seemingly random, if stereotypical, scenarios. The tone is more ominous here, however, thanks in large part to some well-conceived shots (such as the shadow of the noose during Kirk's trial). The castle's blend of gilded glitz with incomplete realization increase the sense of unreality.

Unlike later shows (most notably 3rd season ones), the unreality here is not dreamlike however. There is a sharpness about this episode; the dialogue is literal and more crisp than in most 3rd season shows, which often felt more detached non-commital and ambivalent, while being softer-edged and more atmospheric.

Campbell, who later returned for The Trouble With Tribbles also gives a strong performance. After a while the gags start to lose their novelty though, and the episode seems to struggle to fill time. Another possible critique (although it doesn't really bother me) is that the episode ultimately doesn't have a lot to say. Still most of us, at some point in our lives, have had the experience of having to jump through hoops at another's whim; there isn't always a lot of meaning behind that either.

Before Q there was Trelane
Long before the Next Generation there was a god like being who was Kirk's foil for once. Too bad he wasn't a regular character. Perhaps this is what Gene wanted with the original series and tried for this in NG...who knows. This episode is fun because Kirk has to outsmart a god who knows no bounds. He wants to keep the crew of the Enterpise as pets for his amusement. From a historical perspective you can see how Q in Next Generation is very close in character. ... Read more

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The Enterprise has dangerous cargo indeed: the Medusan Ambassador Kollos and his lovely telepathic interpreter Miranda Jones (future Next Generation star Diana Muldaur). It's a Trek twist on "Beauty and the Beast," a study in surfaces, assumptions, and secrets. The apparently hideous Medusans are a race of great culture, intelligence, and warmth, yet their appearance drives others to madness, while the cool, unemotional Jones (a Vulcan-educated human) brings out the beast in Kirk and McCoy, who pull out their best come-ons and flattery over a cozy dinner. (It's kind of satisfying to see babe-magnet Kirk lose his touch, but give the man credit: he never stops trying.) When an insane crewman sends the Enterprise deep into uncharted territory, only the navigational skills of the Kollos can save them, but it will necessitate a mindmeld with Spock and in that direction, as we know, lies madness. Nimoy breaks out of his Vulcan reserve as Kollos greets the Enterprise crew with smiles while channeling through Spock's body, but the episode highlight is Spock's jerky, bug-eyed attack of insanity, capped by distorted point-of-view camerawork and set to brassy stings of stock music. Shatner must have been jealous. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Another offbeat but excellent episode from season 3
Here's another 3rd season show (see the Paradise Syndrome and the Empath for other nearby examples) that was refreshingly original (it wouldn't stay that way). It involves the seemingly quotidian transport of an Ambassador too ugly (or is it too beautiful?) for the eye. We have a central character with complex and unique motivations, who is more than just a muse for Kirk's latest escape from danger. One of the most original scores of all Star Trek episodes, plus some very trippy fisheye camerawork and psychadelic special effects, contribute to the episode's unusual feel. This thoughtful, even cerebral episode, nevertheless has a couple surprising plot twists. Also admirable is the strong female character with her own interests and passions, whom the males (not surprising) attempt to control.
Like all 3rd season shows, this episode has faults. Muldaur is as wooden here as in Return to Tomorrow, Marvick is only there as a plot device, and both Spock and Kirk's failures to wear the visor are inexplicable (although for very different reasons).

Guest star Miranda Jones steals the show this time around
Nimoy gets an opportunity to break Spock out of character in "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" The Enterprise is carrying Kollos, the Medusan ambassador, back to his home planet. Although formless creatures, the Medusans are so hideous that looking at them drives humans mad (and apparently they do not mind being called by the name of the creature from Greek mythology). (spoiler) Reflecting on this episode I am struck by how love triangles on Star Trek were a lot more effective when they did not involve Kirk. Muldar's performance is at the heart of this episode and it is arguably the finest work by an actress in the show's entire run. Her scenes with Shatner are nothing compared to her clashes with Spock; I especially like the look on Kirk's face when Spock tells Miranda that while she can do almost anything a sighted person can do, flying a starship is not one of them.

A mediocre episode
"Is There No Truth In Beauty?" is a one of a kind episode of Star Trek. A computer-like alien and a blind woman who can only know where she's going or what's happening around her by the aid of places on her dress is brought onboard the Enterprise. The computer-like alien can drive anybody mad who looks directly at it while it's open. It can warp their mind severely and maybe even kill them. Spock and the Enterprise crew have to find out what's happening and find a solution to this strange problem onboard the ship.

I didn't think there was anything special about "Is There No Truth In Beauty?" The plot is somewhat interesting, but the episode itself is pretty dull and it's not really exciting or all that interesting. Overall, I think it's a mediocre episode and it's far from being one of the better episodes of Star Trek....

Another under-rated Trek show.
I liked the VulCan concept of Infinite Diversity and Infinite Combinations, and this epiosode where we meet the Medusians,beings made out of pure energy, and who are also members of the Federation. Diana Muldaur puts in a good acting performance`as DR. Miranda Jones.Written by Jean Lisette Aroeste.Directed by Ralph Senensky.Music by Alexander Courage and Fred Steiner.

This episode gets a D grade and is ranked 78th out of 80
In an attempt to adapt Medusan technology to Federation use, and vice versa, the U.S.S. Enterprise picks up Medusan ambassador Kollos, instrument specialist Lawrence Marvick and telepath Dr. Miranda Jones. The Medusans have a great beauty of character, but their physical appearance causes shock to the point of insanity in humanoids. When Dr. Jones turns down her co-worker, Lawrence Marvick's, proposal of marriage in favor of staying with Kollos, Marvick tries, unsuccessfully to kill Kollos. Instead, he is driven insane by a glimpse of the Medusan. He takes over the U.S.S. Enterprise engines, which he helped design, and drives the ship out of the galaxy into an indeterminate region. The crew experiences acute sensory distortion and Marvick finally dies. While the crew cannot pilot the starship back to the galaxy, it is possible that Kollos can, with Spock forming a mind meld. Kirk distracts Dr. Jones, who jealously objects to Spock contacting Kollos in this manner. Kirk discovers why Dr. Jones is able to gaze upon Kollos... she's blind. Using Spock's body, Kollos pilots the U.S.S. Enterprise back to its galaxy, but the Vulcan forgets to wear his protective visor when restoring Kollos to his box, and goes insane. Dr. Jones mind-links with Spock and draws the Vulcan's mind back to reality. She then makes a permanent mind link with Kollos and transfers with him to the Medusan vessel. ... Read more

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All the signs that Star Trek was creatively strained late in its third season (following the departures of key creative personnel and the absence of Gene Roddenberry's full attention) can be seen in "The Cloud Minders." David Gerrold, author of the hugely popular "The Trouble with Tribbles," conceived an almost Dickensian story about the exploitation of miners, called Troglytes, on the planet Ardana, and the way Troglyte labor enriches the lives of an aristocracy that literally lives in the sky, above the fray. Third-season producer Fred Freiberger wanted fewer ideas and more action, and he had another writer deeply revise Gerrold's notion that Captain Kirk (William Shatner) should broker positive change on behalf of the have-nots. The finished production finds Kirk more irritated than anything that a domestic problem is slowing his mission to retrieve zienite, a medicinal mineral. Meanwhile, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) uncharacteristically sniffs around an Ardanian cutie who flirts with him, and a ridiculous torture-the-space-babe scene belongs in a midnight movie from the 1950s. "The Cloud Minders" is like a junk-food snack: chunky in its organization and cheesy in its production values. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Most Stylish, if not best acted Trek --- Fun!
Kirk and Spock just want to pick up some Zenite antidote from the
planet Ardana, and find themselves in the middle of a class war between aristocratic cloud dwellers and the subservient cave dwelling Troglytes.
Though later in the series, this was one of the more stylish, if not best acted episodes. Just about everyone gets to chew the scenery, (Count how many times different characters exclaim "For What Purpose?") Costume designer William Ware Theiss's creations leave you wondering how they stay on, and Spock gets to flirt with Droxine, the sexy daughter of High Advisor Plasus.

Bad Trek, Good Trek
Again, Star Trek, even when it is bad, is still pretty good.

This episode is no exception. It keeps your interest, has social implications, and features outstanding acting by William Shatner (one of Hollywood's greatest).

The Cloud City concept is interesting, and the episode features good use of a NASA photo taken from the Gemini capsule of canyons on earth.... as a Troglyte falls to his death.

I never felt Spock was getting Frisky with Droxine... I merely felt he was feeling his human side come out, and it was at best a mere flirtation. Besides, Spock really does have "exquisite ears."

Nothing seriously wrong with this above average show
This episode, concerning a socially and
vertically stratified society of mine and cloud dwellers, temporarily staunched the haemorraging occurring at this point in the 3rd season. While not exactly action-packed (not many 3rd season shows were) this episode has an ebb and flow lacking from many of its contemporaries. The premise is also interesting enough, with obvious implications for our own society. The decision to take on the nature vs. nurture question was all admirable. While they were of course correct to pick nurture, the zenite quick fix was a copout. Obviously those deprived of knowledge for generations will require some time to get up to speed (the same could be said of Uhura's experience in the Changeling).
While the Spock romance was out of character, I didn't find it totally implausible or regrettable. They did seem to have a rapport, at least. The episode is hurt by weak performances from the other two guests though.

Tidbits: Production was getting really sloppy by this point. For example, after the crew have been corralled on the planet's barren surface, Kirk is heard to utter through totally unmoving lips, "Who are you? What is the meaning of this attack?"

Mind you head - these clouds are lower than they look
In this, the 74th Star Trek episode, we find the Enterprise travelling to the cloud city of Stratos on the planet Ardana to get a rare mineral to help stop a plague on another planet.

Classic Trek has told stories about two different civiliztions clashing before, and this one holds very little surprises. The upper crust of society lives in a city held above the planet's surface by powerful anti-gravity generators, while the lower class toil in the mines below to gather the mineral wealth of the planet that they are not allowed to enjoy.

The stereotypical plot lines of the story almost detract from the rather heavy handed message that the episode is trying to get across - that all people are people, and should be treated with the same respect. The seperation of the ruling class from the working class is emphasized too much by things like the city floating gently far above the troubles they create.

The reason that the Troglytes (short for Troglodites?) have a retarded intellect and violent tendencies is their constant exposure to a gas that the mineral produces, and not anything actually genetic. McCoy finds out that they are the same race. Plasus, the leader of Stratos, resists giving the Troglytes gas masks to help filter their air until Kirk forces him into a situation that exposes him to it directly, in clear violation of the Prime Directive.

One of the only saving graces of this episode is Spock's obvious interest in Droxine, the daughter of Plasus. Spock get her to finally agree that the Troglytes might be her intellectual equals despite their contant exposure to the mineral gas.

I would have liked to see a story about what happens to this civilization after the major society changes that Kirk and crew just about forces on them, but that is impossible now except in the non-canon Star Trek books.

My score - 5.5 out of a possible 10 (1/2 point for Spock's interest in Droxine).

For ST-TOS diehards only
Discovering Amazon's second-hand buying/selling service has allowed me to stock up on ST-TOS episodes that I had deliberately ignored in the past. "Cloud Minders" is one such episode.

In all honesty, 3rd-season ST-TOS episodes are nowhere near as bad -- nor 2nd-season episodes as good -- as the conventional wisdom would have you believe. Nearly all 3rd-season episodes have points of interest, but these disparate elements seldom coalesce to form a meaningful storyline liable to appeal to outsiders.

3rd-season ST-TOS episodes are characterized by increasing verbosity and awkward departures from long-established plot and character guidelines. Budget cuts resulted in a different "look" for the show, but ingenious set-designers did everything in their power to cope with the resulting financial constraints ("The Cloud Minders" illustrates this quite well). William Shatner, unjustly maligned as Kirk, invariably acts with giant conviction in an effort to keep the show on the road. Aside from this, however, one comes across all too many poorly acted and abysmally directed passages of dialogue. In 3rd-season episodes there is an increasingly dreary reliance on sadomasochistic plot devices (obedience collars, torture chambers, etc.), which are a scriptwriter's copout. The actresses' costumes are raunchier, suggesting reduced studio censorship (or interest). This isn't the "kiddie format" which the show's regular staff dreaded; but it comes close.

All of the above trends are exhibited in "The Cloud Minders", which, as I have said, is for hard-core fans only. But 3rd-season episodes, for all their flaws, should not be overlooked: note the interesting treatment of contraception in "The Mark of Gideon;" Spock's sputtering encounter with an ancient vulcan hero in "The Savage Curtain;" the eating of the acid fruit in "The Road to Eden;" and best of all, the web-spinning sequence in "The Tholian Web," a special-effects sequence still unmatched for pure shock value and spine-tingling horror. ... Read more

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Like the preceding episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "Dagger of the Mind" is another mad-doctor drama. This time, Kirk delivers supplies to a penal colony on Tantalus V, where he meets the renowned Dr. Tristan Adams. Adams has been working on the development of a neural neutralizer to control and manipulate dangerous patients. When Kirk threatens to expose him as a dangerous megalomaniac, Adams uses the technology on the unfortunate captain. This tense piece set in a madhouse atmosphere makes for a riveting episode, with a few unhinged performances adding to the fun. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (15)

EXCELLENT, THOUGHT-PROVOKING EPISODE
Dagger of the Mind is one of the finest episodes of the original Star Trek series. It was made at the same time Communist China's murderous "Great Proleatarian Cultural Revolution" was getting under way in 1966 in which mobs of young Communist "Red Guards" were dragging unpopular teachers and "capitalist roaders" into the street and frequently beating them to death while mindlessly chanting meaningless slogans from Mao's "Little Red Book". In the 1960's, also memories were still fresh from the horrors of Hitler's genocidal policies against the Jews and Slavs and Stalin's purges of millions of "class enemies". Actor James Gregory gives a fine performance as Dr Tristan Adams, a notal penal reformer and idealist who tragically degenerates into a tyrant controlling the minds of the inmates at his penal colony planet called Tantalus through use of his "neural neutralizer" device. Writer Shimon Wincelberg (pen-name S. Bar-David) is warning us how many well-meaning people who want to help humanity by supporting various universalist utopia schemes (e.g. Marxism-Leninism, Jonestown, etc) can end up being part of a monstrous tyranny because the lust for power and control of large numbers of people overwhelms them. Actor Morgan Woodward puts in a stellar performance as Dr Simon Van Gelder who is a tormented victim of Dr Adams' neural neutralizer (you can see his tortured face on the cover of the box containing the video tape). The names used in the episode give chilling hints as to the nature of the characters and their prison, for example, Tantalus-the name of the penal colony planet, was a figure from Greek mythology who is condemned to hell and his punishment is to have all sorts of desirable food and drink within his view but just out of reach (hence the word "tantalize), Dr Adams' first name is Tristan which is from the famous mideval story from Cornwall of "Tristan and Isolde" in which the hero "dies of loneliness" and finally Dr Adams' mind-controlled assistant is called Lethe, whose name means oblivion. Unfortunately, the resolution of the crisis is a little weak so I give the episode only four stars, but it is still one of the very best.

Promising Episode That Doesn't Quite Deliver
Morgan Woodward's standout performance in the first half of this episode makes this an episode worth owning. His character is initially very frightening, but eventually emerges as a character to sympathize. It is a a very effective performance.

Unfortunately, the episode becomes rather silly as Kirk and a none-too-bright psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Noel, investigate the penal colony. After such a brilliant set-up, this story line becomes disappointing. Still, an adequate entry in the Star Trek series.

This is the first episode that uses the Vulcan mind meld.

This, or Whom Gods Destroy? Pick your poison!
The first of the insane asylum/penal colony episodes just doesn't work. The early scenes on the planet do convey a sense of unease as we try to figure out just what is wrong here, but the eventual delivery just doesn't pack much (Christmas) punch. Woodward, for one, is way over the top here. Worse though is the poor development of the motives behind Adams' actions. I suppose the question of the potential costs behind the treatment of mental illness are as timely today as they were then, but this episode doesn't contribute much to the discussion. Plus, this episode is convoluted, and just isn't very interesting. To be honest, the coquettish Dr. Helen Noel was one of the best things going for this one.

"Dagger of the Mind" - A Solid Episode with Lots of Drama
While on a routine mission to resupply the Tantalus V rehabilitation colony, Kirk and company are shocked to discover that the facility's director is using a mind-control device to control the inmates.

''Dagger of the Mind'' is one of the better episodes from Star Trek's first season. While there are some plot inconsistencies and gaps in the story-line, the episode is quite enjoyable. This episode contains moments of high drama and suspense, as well some action. Here are a few of my observations:

''Dagger of the Mind'' introduces us to the Vulcan Mind Meld for the first time. Spock uses it to probe the mind of Dr. Van Gelder in search of the truth about