Star date: 3025.3
Summary: The crew of the Enterprise badly needs some R&R, including Kirk. Scouting parties are sent down to a planet to determine whether it may be suitable for shore leave. Scans indicate no animal life of any kind, but the planet is so beautiful and Eden-like that McCoy tells Sulu the planet is like something out of "Alice in Wonderland". Shortly after that, McCoy sees a white rabbit looking at his watch and worrying that he's late, and followed by a young blonde girl.
Kirk beams down with his Yeoman du jour --- this time an attractive woman named Barrows --- and a number of astonishing things turn up, including: an old-style police pistol which Sulu, a gun collector, has long wanted; Kirk's long-ago tormentor at the academy, an upperclassman named Finnegan; Don Juan, a tiger, a Samurai, a lot of birds, some WWII-era fighter planes, a medieval knight and a woman named Ruth, who is apparently a long-lost love of Kirk's.
From the Enterprise, Spock notices that a power source below the planet's surface is draining the ship's power while interfering with communications and the ability to transport to or from the surface. Spock beams down to inform Kirk about this, right about the time phasers, communicators, and the transporter all become unusable. It looks as though Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu and the rest may be stranded on the planet forever, a prospect which becomes all the more grim when the medieval knight gores McCoy with his lance and kills him. After Kirk duels Finnegan mano-a-mano and finally beats him, the planet's caretaker appears to explain that the planet is a very sophisticated amusement park, which provides any tangible reality you desire. He also explains that no changes which take place there are permanent, just as McCoy returns with two attractive and scantily-clad women on his arms. Power is restored to the ship, everyone has a good laugh, and the crew of the Enterprise gets a highly enjoyable and much-needed shore leave.
Wow, was this show ever dumb. Shows like this are the reason why non-Trekkies look down on Trekkies with disdain.
Dumb #1: For some reason, it takes Kirk and company about 30 minutes longer to figure out what's going on than it takes the viewer. Right about 15 minutes in, Yeoman Barrows is attacked by a man dressed as Don Juan. Only Barrows and Sulu actually see the man, but Kirk and McCoy arrive seconds later to hear Barrows explain:
Yes, yes. It was --- it's so -- sort of storybook walking around here, and I was thinking 'all a girl needs is Don Juan'. Just daydreaming the way you would about someone you'd like to meet.At this point, anyone over the age of 12 should be able to figure out what's going on, but somehow all of the Enterprise crew miss it.
Dumb #2: Additionally, at this point in the show, McCoy has seen Alice and the rabbit, Sulu has found and fired a police gun, Kirk has been attacked by Finnegan and Barrows has been attacked by Don Juan. It's absolutely freakin' clear that the planet is not devoid of animal life as the crew first thought, and there is ample evidence that it may not be safe to have shore leave there. A responsible Captain would order the full landing party back aboard the ship --- they still have full use of transporter and communications at this point --- and either continue to monitor the planet from space or find another location for shore leave. Apparently this never crosses Kirk's mind. Great leadership there, sir.
Dumb #3: Why the hell does Kirk go running after Finnegan near the end of the show, right after Spock tries to explain to him why all of these unusual things are happening? He can't be stupid enough to think that of all the stuff he's seen on the planet, Finnegan is the REAL, ACTUAL FINNEGAN --- who hasn't aged a day in 15 years --- and the HE'S the one responsible for what's going on. Kirk simply cannot be that stupid. But he runs after "Finnegan" anyway, and we have to sit through 6 full pointless minutes of Kirk fighting him for absolutely no reason.
Dumb #4: When the medieval knight charges McCoy, McCoy stubbornly stands in its path, insisting that it's only an illusion and therefore can't hurt him. However, at this point in the show, McCoy has seen the White Rabbit and Alice with his own eyes, tracked their footsteps (which Kirk has confirmed he can see as well), heard Sulu fire a police pistol and seen both Sulu and Kirk handle it, and perhaps most important, he's heard Yeoman Barrows' account of be assaulted by Don Juan and seen her uniform torn. He also knows that Yeoman Barrows is wearing a very real princess costume.
So why would he think the knight doesn't have a physical presence and therefore can't hurt him?
Dumb #5: Strictly speaking, this isn't a criticism of this episode; it's a criticism of "The Menagerie" episodes. But it's worth pointing out that the residents of Talos IV have pretty much the same capabilities as the residents of this planet: they can give you any experience you want. The only difference is that the Talosians do it all with illusions, while on this planet, lifelike copies of tigers, guns, people, etc. are cooked up on the fly. But it's the same basic principle: here AND on Talos IV, you can literally live out any fantasy you want. What's dumb about this is, we're supposed to believe that Spock, his former Captain Pike, and Starfleet all decided that Talos IV should be off-limits thanks to this ability, making travel to Talos IV a capital offense. When the crew of the Enterprise encounter this planet, on the other hand, they decide in the end that it's an awesome vacation spot.
The latter conclusion is the correct one, of course, which is what makes "The Menagerie" dumb instead of this episode.
Dumb #6: At the end of the episode, after McCoy and the female crew member Angela are raised from the dead, McCoy marvels at the wonderful technology the inhabitants of this planet have. Yes, marvelous indeed that they can bring people back to life --- you might think a ship's doctor would have an interest in trying to learn something from them, but instead he just stands there with his artificial bimbettes and laughs about the wonder of it all.
Finally, I wouldn't list this in the "dumb" category necessarily, but no explanation is given about why an energy source is draining the Enterprise's energy, and leaving phasers, communicators, and the transporter useless. Once we have our happy ending, the ship's power is magically restored. It's pretty clear the writers threw in that plot point just so the viewer wouldn't wonder "Gee, why don't they all just beam back aboard?" Of course, as I pointed out above, the viewer had already been wondering that for about 10-15 minutes before this convenient excuse shows up.
Other observations:
Spock's trick to get Kirk to beam down to the planet's surface is entirely predictable, yet still amusing. That Leonard Nimoy sure is an amusing dry wit.
I wonder who this "Ruth" woman from Kirk's past is? We never get an explanation.
Why are all Yeomen on the Enterprise female? First J.M. Colt (when Pike was Captain), then Janice Rand, now Barrows. There was a male Yeoman early in "The Cage", but that show isn't canon.
The Moral of the Story: Play isn't only fun, it's necessary.
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