Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 65 Plato’s Stepchildren
“This shield will come in handy when my phaser is fully charged in public, if you know what I mean.”
This one made number 6 on my list of 10 worst TOS episodes and for good reason. Sure, it had the very first televised interracial kiss but except for that the story was kind of crap. Also the kiss was Kirk and as much a fan as I am of him I can’t help but think that was just grabbing the low hanging fruit. If they really wanted to blow some minds they should have had him kiss Spock.
Here’s the biggest thing that bugs me about that story. McCoy figures out that kironide gave the Platonians their telekinetic powers and Kirk has himself and Spock injected with it. They are able to defeat Parmen and the others and then…forget about the kironide deal? No mention of it was made in the next episode. Wouldn’t that be a discovery worthy of a little more research? Or perhaps strip mine the planet down to the core to collect every gram of kironide and create a legion of super TK guys to give the enemies of the Federation what for? Did the kironide wear off by the time Kirk got sped up in A Wink of an Eye or did he and Spock just think it not sportsmanlike to use? Sorry but it really bugged me.
Also while it is amusing and funny to hear Shatner sing/speak Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds there is no way Spock should ever comprimise his dignity by singing. Most of the things that bug me in Star Trek start when they make Spock act completely out of his established (and very cool) character. Yes I’m looking at you, JJ Abrams.
The image, by the way, comes from the many TOS Star Trek T-shirts in our collection. Did Kirk, McCoy, and Spock keep their gifts?
Dave
