Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 9, Episodes 17 (Star Trek)

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 9, Episodes 17 & 18: Shore Leave/ The Squire of Gothos

6305754993

Paramount Studio

21 March, 2000

Volume 9 of Paramount's DVD series of original Star Trek episodes includes "Shore Leave," written by a literary giant in science fiction, Theodore Sturgeon. The story concerns a break in the action for the Enterprise crew, nearly all of whom beam down to the surface of an Eden-like planet for shore leave, where they find that everyone's wish comes true. Individuals from crew members' pasts turn up, fantasies of romance or heroism are instantly realized--and if it all seems too good to be true, it is. In time, the dark side of this dream shows itself when people start getting killed. This episode emerges from the trippier side of Star Trek's personality, and very cleverly sheds light on the personalities of the show's major characters by making their dreams manifest. Also on this disc is a real treat for long-haul Trekkers: "The Squire of Gothos," 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

The original "Star Trek" series is cheesy at times but often fun and sometimes dramatic. However, 2 episodes per disc is a sure sign that Paramount was milking this series for all that it's worth, because they knew that the loyal "Star Trek" fans would buy every disc - all 40 of them. Paramount has now released the entire series in season boxed sets which, although still pricey, include bonus features and are a better value than these single-disc releases. Skip these discs and buy the boxed sets instead. Great! Would buy from this seller again. Rec'd order in reasonable time. Shore Leave-I find this episode, in which anything that pops into one's mind is almost immediately realized, to be funny, entertaining, and original. Certainly much of the material is very hoaky, but it's never good to watch Trek with too critical an eye. This episode's premise also introduced a flexibility which helped flesh out some of the characters. Examples include the look at Kirk's academy days and McCoy's waggish ways with the ladies here. Overall, an off-beat and upbeat tone prevails, despite the episode's substantial (if temporary) negative twist. (4 stars) The Squire of Gothos-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. (3 stars)

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 5, Episodes 10 & 11: What Are Little Girls Made Of?/ Dagger of the Mind

B000022TTL

Paramount Studio

14 December, 1999

Volume 5 from the DVD collection of original Star Trek programs includes "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Written by Robert Bloch (author of the novel Psycho, the basis of Hitchcock's film), the episode finds Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) beaming down to planet Exo III, where Christine is to be reunited with her fiancé, Dr. Roger Korby (Michael Strong). The meeting is less than joyful, however, when it becomes clear that Korby has been developing androids that he intends to spread throughout the galaxy--using the Enterprise as his delivery vehicle. This was certainly the first significant performance for Majel Barrett in the Trek family; longtime fans know she went on to play Lwaxana Troi on The Next Generation (and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry in real life). An entertaining episode all around, with the notion of an android Kirk somehow amusing. (Maybe it was the android who sang on that notorious Shatner album.) Fans of '60s TV will also enjoy the performance of Ted Cassidy (the original Lurch from TV's The Addams Family) as the giant android, Ruk. Also on this DVD is "Dagger of the Mind," 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

The crew of the Enterprise faces off against a couple of mad scientists in this pair of middling episodes from the classic 60s SF series. 
 
 "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is the better of the two. Written by veteran genre author Robert Bloch, it tells the story of Dr. Roger Korby's doomed attempt to populate the universe with androids. Ted Cassidy's frightening performance as the gigantic Roc is the highlight of the episode. The way in which messy human emotions befuddle and destabilize arrangements based on the repression of said emotions became a Trek cliche, but it's probably not fair to criricize this episode on that basis since it was among the first to introduce it.
 
 "Dagger of the Mind" is less interesting. Somehow Dr. Tristan and his mind-warping device just don't seem like a worthy enough threat to cross the flagship of the Federation. In addition, it depends on unprofessional behavior on the parts of Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel for much of the drama. The original "Star Trek" series is cheesy at times but often fun and sometimes dramatic. However, 2 episodes per disc is a sure sign that Paramount was milking this series for all that it's worth, because they knew that the loyal "Star Trek" fans would buy every disc - all 40 of them. Paramount has now released the entire series in season boxed sets which, although still pricey, include bonus features and are a better value than these single-disc releases. Skip these discs and buy the boxed sets instead. Dagger of the Mind
 After exchanging cargo with the penal colony on planet Tantalus Five the Enterprise unknowingly takes onboard an inmate who was hiding inside one of the crates beamed up from the planet. The colony contacts the Enterprise to warn them of the escape and that the inmate is an extremely violent and dangerous case. Kirk orders a security alert and the search begins for an intruder that proves to be more than a match for the Enterprise's security detachment. The intruder who makes his way to the bridge holds the command crew at gun point identifying himself as Simon Van Gelder. He asks for asylum and not to be taken back to Tantalus and threatens to disable the ship by destroying crucial operating controls if his demands aren't met. Kirk and Spock are able to subdue Van Gelder, and the ship is ordered back to Tantalus.
 
 In the sick bay Van Gelder struggles to tell Kirk and McCoy about his horrific ordeal. Each word that Van Gelder attempts to speak seems to cause him immense pain. Checking the library tapes Spock learns that Simon Van Gelder is actually Dr. Simon Van Gelder and that he was assigned to the colony six months prior. Contacting the colony, Kirk talks to Dr. Tristan Adams the leader of the Tantalus Penal Colony who tells Kirk that Van Gelder's injuries occurred after he tried an experimental beam on himself. McCoy after having examined Van Gelder has his doubts about Adams's story. Following regulations meant that Kirk would have to file a report and therefore investigate the matter personally. McCoy assigns Dr. Helen Noel from the ship's Psychiatry Department to assist Kirk in determining if there was anything going wrong at the colony. Upon beaming down to the surface and after a stomach churning elevator ride straight down Kirk and Noel are greeted by Dr. Adams. Everything seems to be in order, as Adams takes the duo on a guided tour of the facility. On the tour Kirk visits where Van Gelder's accident took place, a room where the experimental beam called a neural neutralizer was kept. Adams told Kirk and Noel the equipment was an experiment that went wrong and that it was only used in the more severe cases in the hope that it would do some good. The equipment was in use and the technician at the controls gave Kirk a quick tutorial on its operation. The operator controls the intensity of a beam which is directly over the subject who is seated in a chair. The operator places suggestions into the patient's mind via a microphone and these suggestions with help from the intensity of the beam help cure the patient.
 
 Van Gelder warns Spock and McCoy about the neural neutralizer, despite the warnings Kirk decides to stay overnight to continue the investigation. Spock decides to use an ancient Vulcan mind technique on Simon Van Gelder to reach into the doctor's tortured mind. The Enterprise Captain, puzzled about the blankness of the people he had met during his tour and his growing suspicions about Adams himself prompt Kirk to want to take another look at the site of Van Gelder's accident. Using the Vulcan mind technique Spock learns about what Dr. Adams did to Van Gelder. Kirk and Noel make it to the neural neutralizer room and decide to experiment with the device. With Noel at the controls and Kirk in the chair as the "test subject" they learn that it is an extremely effect device. Adams and his henchman "interrupt" their experiment and conduct an experiment of their own. Dr. Adams uses the beam to bend Kirk to his will and suggest that he can't live without Helen Noel a woman with whom Kirk had a brief affair with in the past. Adams tortures Kirk and makes him turn over his phaser and communicator. Kirk tries to resist but the beam, pain and Adams's suggestions are too strong.
 
 Back in their quarters Kirk and Noel plan their escape. Exiting the room via the air ducts Kirk orders Noel to find the power source and short circuit the planet's security screen, a screen that when in operation prevents beaming. Adams continues to torture Kirk with the device and upon learning that Noel had escaped increases the beams intensity to learn where she was at, and with what instructions she had been given. On board the Enterprise Spock attempts to break through the security screen using different transporter frequencies with no success. Noel makes her way to the reactor room, and after kicking a guard into some live circuits temporarily knocks out the planetary security screen as well as several power systems allowing Spock to beam down to the planet. When the power fades out in the neural neutralizer room the beam shuts off allowing Kirk escape the room after knocking out Adams and his henchman, while Spock after beaming down to the planet permanently disables the security screen. Spock also restores the power which reactivates the neural neutralizer with Adams left helpless in the room exposed to the beam. Kirk, Spock and Noel later discover Adams dead in the room, having died from the affects of the machine without even a tormentor for company. Van Gelder having recovered from his injuries returns to the colony to continue his assignment and has the neural neutralizer dismantled forever.
 
 Great performances by a young Marianna Hill, as well as experienced actors James Gregory and Morgan Woodward.