This is the quintessential second season episode.\u00a0 It has so many kitschy tics going on that it\u2019s a little overwhelming.\u00a0 So first the plot.<\/p>\n
The Enterprise is attempting to get a treaty with a tribal world that has some make-believe mineral that\u2019s really important.\u00a0 The natives are allegedly seven-foot-tall Visigoths that are very honest but very combative and warlike.\u00a0 McCoy has spent time on the planet and is an expert on their customs.\u00a0 He, Kirk and Spock beam down along with a redshirt who is immediately killed by the natives when he draws his phaser at an unexpected Klingon with the natives.\u00a0 Scotty is left in charge of the Enterprise and has been warned that the Klingons may be lurking around.<\/p>\n
The Klingon plots with one of the natives and eventually this tribesman kills the tribal leader and takes over the task of deciding whether the Federation or the Klingons will get the mining treaty.<\/p>\n
Now the deceased tribal leader\u2019s pregnant wife (played by tv\u2019s Cat woman Julie Newmar) is about to be slaughtered by the new leader but Kirk intervenes and the Enterprise landing party and the woman are placed under armed guard until it is decided how they are to be killed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the Enterprise is decoyed out of orbit by a Klingon ship masquerading as a Federation freighter in distress.\u00a0 So, while the landing party is unable to call for help in their peril.\u00a0 By means of a subterfuge Kirk and Spock manage to overpower the guards and headed for the Los Angeles hills where they find a cave where McCoy can deliver the woman\u2019s unwanted child.\u00a0 As the widow of the leader she is honor bound to kill herself and the child with her.\u00a0 McCoy convinces her to want the child but somehow, she decides the child is now McCoy\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Kirk and Spock make bows and arrows and cause an avalanche in the cliffs of southern California and hold the tribesman at bay while the baby is delivered but eventually the Klingon kills the new chief for no apparent reason and then is killed by the tribe.\u00a0 Just then Scotty and a landing party arrives and the Cat woman is made the regent for her son who will be the next tribal leader.\u00a0 Back on the ship we find out the baby is named Leonard James Akaar after McCoy and Kirk and Spock acts annoyed.\u00a0 Hilarity ensues.<\/p>\n
Okay, now let\u2019s review the horror.\u00a0 The supposedly seven-foot-tall natives are barely average height.\u00a0 The uniforms of the warriors look like they were designed for Liberace or Elton John.\u00a0 Next, we have the classic McCoyism.\u00a0 When he is trying to drag the Cat woman up an arroyo he complains \u201cI\u2019m a doctor not an escalator.\u201d\u00a0 And while Scotty is commanding the Enterprise he comes up with such gems as, \u201cFool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!\u201d and, \u201cLet\u2019s charge right at him and see if he has the belly for a fight!\u201d\u00a0 Kirk and Spock up in the hills with their bows and arrows was pretty ridiculous looking.<\/p>\n
All the little mannerisms have been built up over the season and a half are now in place.\u00a0 Kirk has an established manner with each of the cast members.\u00a0 You can almost predict what he will say to Spock, McCoy, Scotty or Uhura.\u00a0 Even Spock and McCoy have their little routines that they banter at each other.\u00a0 So, from the point of view of a second season Star Trek episode this is average.\u00a0 Average in every way.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give it an average rating 7 with a low Shatner mockery rating so let\u2019s call it a 7 \/\/ 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the quintessential second season episode.\u00a0 It has so many kitschy tics going on that it\u2019s a little overwhelming.\u00a0 So first the plot. The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,4,244,2149,240],"tags":[2603,2150,2604,38,1355,44,309,265,1691,293,154,1692,837],"class_list":["post-11627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-tv-reviews","category-star-trek","category-tv-reviews","tag-fridays-child","tag-gene-roddenberry","tag-julie-newmar","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi-tv-review","tag-science-fiction","tag-sff-tv-show-reviews","tag-star-trek","tag-tv-review","tag-tv-reviews","tag-william-shatner"],"yoast_head":"\n