Plot – How to boil down racism as a concept to its simplest exploration, by having such a black and white (hoho) approach to the subject. The makeup is so distracting because it constantly reminds us that there are no real grey areas to this story. It’s one creed against another for no other reason than the fact that they are different.
‘I’ve led revolutionaries, not criminals!’ That’s a fine line to distinguish.
The conclusion that this episode reaches is that hate leads to destruction and that letting go of that is the only way to salvage the situation. Gee, thanks Star Trek.
Character – Kirk is obtuse, accusatory and bullish with the guy who appropriated the shuttlecraft (Lokai). This is not the work of a diplomat but of a man who is looking for a fight. Once he is entrenched in the political games of two races at war, Kirk has all the diplomacy of an iron mallet. It’s certainly not his finest characterisation, he seems to want to exacerbate the situation with his anger. He says ‘I offer you hospitality’ in the same way other people say ‘we’ll be watching you, asshole.’
Why does the Enterprise computer sound like a panicked housewife?
Performance – It’s proof that good actors are worth their weight in gold as Frank Gorshin and Lou Antonio deliver very sincere performances that go some way to selling this conflict and the bizarre way these aliens look. Given how they look that is no small feat.
Leonard Nimoy wanders through this episode as if all of this rather above him. Which of course it is so I can’t criticise him for that.
Production – It’s astonishing how well the new FX shots match the episode to which they are inserted in. It’s because the execution of shots isn’t to improve upon the original designs but to make the ‘model work’ more fluid, dynamic and visually clear. So, shots like the shuttlecraft coming in to land are effective because the shuttlecraft gives a little wobble, even when rendered in CGI.
I’m told that TOS had run out of money a bit during the third season and some of the directional flourishes, like zooming in and out of the red alert light, prove that to be the case.
The jumpsuits of the aliens are by far the most revealing within the franchise. These poor actors have no choice but to throw away their modesty and reveal all.
Featuring the standing sets only and very few expensive additions (and some very cheap make up), this is definitely a budget saver. There are some attempts to shoot the sets in an unusual, imaginative way but at times it was rather off-putting. All the close ups on people’s eyes made me howl with laughter. It’s trying so hard to be dramatic in a sequence with no dramatic worth I had to laugh.
Best moment – The scene that is shot entirely from Spock’s point of view looking through a crack in a door at Lokai giving a speech in the mess is beautifully done. The director is really trying to jazz up what is a very pedestrian episode. His efforts should not be ignored.
I also enjoyed the moment when Bele points out the obvious aesthetic differences between himself and Lokai. It’s not subtle by any means but the shocked reaction of Kirk and Spock that they should hate each other over something so fundamentally stupid as their opposing skin colour says something about the absurdity of racism that no amount of ham fisted dialogue ever could.
Worst moment – I’m not sure the destruct sequence achieves anything in plot terms but to pad out the episode, and provide some arresting close ups of the regulars as they send the Ship on a spiral of destruction.
I wish they hadn’t done that – ‘Blood is blood, Mr Spock. Even when it’s green like yours’ – McCoy’s casual racism continues to infect the series.
‘You’re dead you half white!’ ‘I’ll take you with me you half black!’
A reason to watch this episode again – I want to dislike this episode because it lacks the imagination and intelligence of the best of Trek. However, for a bottle show it is doing some interesting things visually and has some very nice performances throughout, particularly from the guest stars. Kirk is at his least tolerable here and his idea of diplomacy has to be seen to be believed. It’s not a great piece of television but I found it diverting despite myself. Ultimately this is all words and very little action but it’s inventively staged talk if nothing else. The best thing about this episode is its glib climax where the two warring factions beam down to their world to continue their fight thus allowing the Enterprise to go on its merry way. I was sure they would be corrupted by the happy go lucky ideals of the Federation and learnt to live in peace. Real life doesn’t work that way and sometimes, unfortunately, hate prevails.
*** out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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