In this episode the Enterprise is surveying an uninhabited planet when a force field in the shape of a giant hand grabs hold of the ship.\u00a0 Then an image of a man with laurel leaves around his head contacts the ship and tells them that they will follow in the footsteps of their ancestors Agamemnon, Odysseus and worship him.\u00a0 He proves that he can crush the ship if they defy him and so Kirk, Scotty, Bones, Chekov and a pretty blonde-haired anthropology officer named Carolyn beam down.\u00a0 The image orders Spock to stay aboard because his demeanor reminds him of Pan whom he always found boring.\u00a0 Kirk tells Spock to investigate Apollo and figure out a way to escape from him.<\/p>\n
On the planet they find a small Greek temple with a stone seat on which is sitting the god Apollo.\u00a0 He tells them that he has been waiting five thousand years for humans to reach his home.\u00a0 He wants the crew of the Enterprise to migrate to the surface after which he\u2019ll destroy the ship and turn them into a tribe of pastoralists who will worship him as their god.\u00a0 He also wants Carolyn to bear a family of young gods by him and to show her his interest he dresses her in a revealing ancient Greek costume.\u00a0 Carolyn is very receptive and seems to be in love with Apollo.\u00a0 Meanwhile Kirk and the rest of the men try to convince Apollo that they\u2019ve outgrown the Olympian gods and won\u2019t become his devotees.\u00a0 Scotty who is in love with Carolyn several times tries to interfere with Apollo\u2019s attention to her and each time he gets punished a little more painfully.\u00a0 Apollo tells Carolyn that he has been waiting alone because the other gods, Hera, Zeus, Aphrodite, Athena and the rest, gave up and dematerialized.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Spock has been working out a plan.\u00a0 He has figured out a way to poke holes in the force field that the ship can communicate through and fire phasers through.\u00a0 He tells Kirk that he has located the source of power as the temple.\u00a0 Bones identifies an organ in Apollo\u2019s chest that could be the conduit for the power from the temple to be wielded by Apollo.\u00a0 Kirk convinces Carolyn to spurn Apollo and while he is distracted by her he has the Enterprise attack the temple.\u00a0 After a short battle between Apollo and the ship, the temple is disintegrated.\u00a0 Apollo now mourns for universe that no longer needs gods and calls to his comrades, Hera, Zeus, Aphrodite and Athena and asks them to take him away to their abode out of the normal universe.\u00a0 He disappears from the world and Kirk muses whether it would\u2019ve been so bad to gather a few laurel leaves.<\/p>\n
This is a silly episode that has some things going for it.\u00a0 First off there is the pretty girl in the slinky dress.\u00a0 That can\u2019t be bad.\u00a0 Secondly the discussion about the classical Greek gods adds some interest.\u00a0 Thirdly the actor playing Apollo has some presence and in the end dialog where he bemoans his fate, he does a good job.\u00a0 The banter between Kirk, Bones and Chekov has its moments.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be kind and give this an 8.<\/p>\n
As far as a Shatner mockery score, there is one scene where Kirk defies Apollo and in return Apollo remotely chokes the breath out of Kirk so we get Shatner making a goofy face while clutching at his throat as if he can\u2019t breathe.\u00a0 So, let\u2019s call the whole thing 8 \/\/ 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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