Hot Picks
|
|
|
Star Trek - Plato's Stepchildren
episode 3.10
Raumschiff Enterprise - Platos Stiefkinder
USA 1968
produced by Fred Freiberger, Gene Roddenberry (executive) for Norway Corporation, Paramount/NBC
directed by David Alexander
starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Michael Dunn, Liam Sullivan, Barbara Babcock, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Ted Scott, Derek Partridge
written by Meyer Dolinsky, created by Gene Roddenberry, music by Alexander Courage
TV series Star Trek, Classic Star Trek, Star Trek (original crew)
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Bones
(DeForest Kelley) are called to a planet that's normally completely
shielded from the outside universe because the planet's leader Parmen
(Liam Sullivan) has suffered a minor cut that got infected and ... you
see, the locals here are a highly developed race that has taken cues from
ancient Greece, have their civilisation built on the writings of Plato
(that have become distorted over time), and have developed highly
effective psionic powers - but they've never mastered the art of medicine.
Still, the locals here, less than 40, have all lived over two millenia. Of
course, Bones manages to heal Parmen, but now he and his wife Philana
(Barbara Babcock) refuse to let Bones go, and since he turns down their
offer to stick around, they psionically hold the Enterprise in orbit, and
psionically force Kirk and Spock to humiliate themselves over and over
again, and even bring Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Nurse Chapel (Majel
Barrett) down for additional entertainment - which led to the then
scandalous first interracial kiss on US-television between Kirk and Uhura. However,
Kirk and friends have one friend among the locals, Alexander (Michael
Dunn), a little person who has pretty much served as the others' court
jester and the only one on the planet not to have psionic powers. So Bones
just compares his blood to the blood of Parmen he took during the
treatment and can isolate the blood component that gives Parmen and
company their psionic powers - and thus injects Kirk and Spock with that
component - Alexander refuses a shot lest he becomes like "them"
- with double the concentration of the locals, and now Kirk wins out in a
battle of wills over Parmen and forces him to let them, as well as
Alexander, leave the planet. Story-wise, this episode is rather
on the childish side, rendered high camp in execution - with the ancient
Greece setting suggesting the sets and props have just been leftovers from
another project of course. But one can't help but have a good laugh about
the scenes of Kirk and Spock making fools out of themselves (with Spock
singing a tune and Kirk acting as horse for Alexander), especially since
these scenes come across with a winking eye. Now the interracial kiss
makes this one of the more notorious episodes, but it's actually not among
the best ones, more like irreverent fun in regards to everything but the
kissing.
|
|
|