Captain's Blog pt. 60: Arena

When it comes to iconic TOS episodes, it's tough to beat (or even come close enough to challenge:)

Premiered January 19, 1967

Let's start with its Memorability. (20 out of 5)  Earlier this year, Shatner did a mock-up of this episode's epic Kirk vs. Gorn fight to promote the Star Trek Into Darkness videogame.

It quickly went viral (as did the Old Spock and Quinto Spock car commercial released around the same time) which isn't all that surprising. Trekkies and gamers, together or separately, are a go-viral bunch. What did surprise me, though, was how many times it was emailed to me by non-Trekker friends and family, particularly members of my parents' generation. Sure, some of them knew I liked Trek and just wanted to make sure I'd seen it, but it reminded of one particular afternoon at the VFW I used to run. Trek came up (I forget how, but it tends to happen if I'm at a loss if I'm in the room long enough) and a cross-section of customers who were otherwise not particularly pop-culture-savvy all knew this episode. And even remembered lines from it.

I asked about other episodes, and a few knew the series better than I expected and a few others remembered bits and pieces. But the only one everyone in the joint - from the WW2 vets to the Gulf War vets to the Keno-and-lottery-besotted - knew was "Arena."

And although Vasquez Rocks has been used for location shooting for a variety of productions, it's still most popularly associated with Kirk's fight with the Gorn.

In the 2009 Star Trek, it subbed in for Vulcan.

From Free Enterprise.

Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back

I guess this leads naturally enough into Visual Design (2.25 of 3) since it's mainly the episode's outdoor locations that comprise the sets for this episode.

I love the design of the Metrons, from how they initially appear

to their androgynous-angel-like appearance at the end.

Very ethereal. And of course the Gorn (designed by Bill Theiss) is fantastic.

Still looks cooler than the CGI version.

The Mego action figure dressed the Gorn in a Klingon uniform, for some reason.

The title (1.5 of 3) comes from a short story from the 1940s by Fredric Brown. According to Solow and Justman's Inside Star Trek, Gene was unaware of it and wrote the story as an original and was later told there was a similar story by the name of "Arena," so they sought out Brown's permission, who was happy to give it.

It also bears some similarity to The Outer Limits episode "Fun and Games" which aired three years earlier.

but it's a common enough theme for sci-fi that I don't think anyone was ripping anyone else off.

Speaking of TOL, if the dialogue in the Metrons' first warning sounds suspiciously like the Control Voice narration at the beginning of that show, it should. Not only is the wording similar, but Vic Perrin (pictured below, the voice behind the Control) provides the voice-over.

Guest: (4) with 2 of those for the Gorn, as well, played by Bobby Clark. TOS is to be commended for getting a diverse amount of work from its guest stars. Guest stars in one episode routinely provide voice-overs in others.

Script/ Theme: (8.5/ 8/5 of 10/10) Eugene Myers summarizes the theme pretty well: "Though Kirk wins the battle because of his intelligence, true victory comes from his display of mercy and compassion for his violent opponent. We’re meant to learn a lesson when Kirk overcomes his assumptions about the Gorn, which were based on his appearance and misinterpreted actions, and chooses a peaceful way of settling their dispute."

I hold out hope that someday this might still, eventually, be said about homo sapiens sapiens.

Mr. Herlihy is the guy in the red.

Adios, Mr. Herlihy.

Although Mythbusters was unable to re-construct Kirk's bamboo weapon from this episode:

According to Phil "Nitpickers" Farrand, he and friends constructed similar-sized bamboo "gas cannons" while growing up in the Philippines. Incidentally, he writes, "Kirk must have knocked out the segments when we weren't looking. Notice the outside of the tube. Every horizontal line represents the start of a segment. The bamboo is only hollow between these segment boundaries." I had no idea that was the case. You?

  

This bamboo bit is really the only Internal Logistics (2.5 of 3) "error" I found. (And I didn't even find it.) There might be a couple more little things, but nothing jumped out at me on this re-watch.

Scriptwise, there's little that could be improved. We're dropped almost immediately into the action, and the suspense is maintained through all the twists and turns that follow. Although they don't sound all that striking out of context, "Cestus 3 has been destroyed" and "I grow weary of the chasszzze" have always stuck with me. I wish my life afforded more (or, in the case of "Cestus 3," any) occasions to quote them.

What are we to make of McCoy's somewhat creepy "How well we both know that, eh?" line? (In response to Kirk's saying "Rank hath its privileges.") What twisted abuses of power do McCoy and Bones share in their past?

The script's original ending (restored in James Blish's novelization of this story in Star Trek 2) had a line about how the Metrons intended to destroy the winner of the conflict, rather than the loser, since the winner would represent the greater threat to them. Not sure why this was cut; it's a good line.
 
Kirk and the Gang: (25 of 10). Both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy currently suffer from tinnitus due to the close-proximity explosions while filming this episode.

Of course, when he lands, he's almost immediately on the communicator, giving orders.

Professionalism.

Beyond the eardrum-shattering effects, Shatner's work in this episode is great, and everyone on the ship sells the scenario (both the chase and ambivalence about it, as well as the watching-events-planetside on the viewscreen) perfectly.

"Doctor, you are a sensualist."
"You bet your pointed ears I am."

Total Points Awarded: 68.25

Captain's Blog pt. 59: Day of the Dove

Jerome Bixby first outlined this story in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive and Walter Cronkite declaring the war unwinnable. He revised it a few times over the course of that year (1968) against a backdrop of further escalations, bombings, assassinations, demonstrations, protests, love-ins, and sit-ins.

By the time it premiered on the first day of November, the same day as George Harrison's Wonderwall Music, some $77 billion and 17,000 American lives (and some 236,000 Vietnamese ones) had been consumed in Southeast Asia.

Script/ Theme: (7/ 7.5  of 10/10) Bixby's original ending had the Klingons and Enterprise crew driving the entity away by singing songs and having a peace march. The production staff talked him out of it. I'm glad and sad about that at the same time. More than a few moments remain where the theme shoves the script out of its way in a similar vein, but for the most part it successfully walks the line between message and Trek S.O.P.

I've often wondered what Starfleet makes of Kirk's Captain's Logs. At times (such as in "The Lights of Zetar") he fills them with these philosophical observations or poetic reflections that are in no way relevant to the mission. Other times, he sounds like he's updating Starfleet as it happens (such as in, well, all the time.) Is he just being a good storyteller? Arranging the details to captivate his audience?

Only a handful of times in the whole series, though, is there stuff like this:

"Captain's Log, Stardate... Armageddon. We must find a way to defeat the alien force of hate that has taken over the Enterprise, stop the war now, or spend eternity in futile, bloody violence." 

So fanciful! And helpful of him to be so blunt about the underlying message. I love it. I always picture some entry-level administrative assistant at Starfleet whose job it is to type these things up always eye-rolling when he or she sees "Kirk, Enterprise" in his or her inbox.

"Has a war been staged for us? Complete with weapons and ideology and patriotic drum beating?"  

"Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen," indeed.

This most recent re-watch left me wondering where the "Day of the Dove"s are these days. We saw a few on Battlestar Galactica, but for the most part, 21st century TV entertainment seems content to (loudly) miss the still-painfully-topical point of this episode on an hourly basis.

The ship-out-of-control/ engines-about-to-burst bit is Trek Trope 101, but it actually serves the theme quite well. As it does in "The Immunity Syndrome." And elsewhere, of course, but that's another one where not controlling the ship/ dilithium depletion is emblematic of theme.

The Enterprise isn't the only thing flying out of control at dangerous speeds, once the characters start ranting. But these moments ("Then transfer out! FREAK!" etc.) are insanely quotable. (Particularly while driving.) As you probably have picked up on by now, I prefer my Trek to have random spikes in intensity or theatricality.

Visual Design: (1 of 3). I'm generally opposed to using the term "blackface" for Klingons in TOS. Orientalism notwithstanding, it just doesn't make enough sense for me to apply the term to Trek. They're aliens and stand-ins for Commies. But from a strictly visual standpoint, it sure jumps out these days:

"Those were the times," as Frank Reynolds might say. 

(Incidentally, my wife assumed Worf was a white actor in blackface for at least the first 3 or 4 episodes of TNG we watched together. That still cracks me up. I didn't catch on until she referred to that "fake brown guy." I had to show her Michael Dorn's imdb page for her to believe me.)

This is one of the "just use the sets and costumes you already have" Season 3 episodes, and the entity itself is equally recycled:

All of it is put to good use, but visually, it's not one of the more exciting episodes.

Guest: (4 of 3) Susan Howard went on to later fame in Dallas. Here she plays Mara. 

You'll notice this eye make-up motif on pretty much every non-Starfleet female guest star in Season 3.

She does a good job. Is her part any good? It's okay. But most of the points I assign for this category are based on Michael Ansara's strong performance as Kang. (Recently deceased, may he RIP.) The script originally called for Kor's return, but when John Colicos was unavailable, the part was rewritten for Ansara.

 "This is Kang. Cease hostilities."

With wife Barbara Eden.

Internal Logistics: (2 of 3) There are a few of what Phil Farrand calls "equipment oddities"  in this episode. (Doors and panels are moved to accommodate the shot, Sulu fails to notify the landing party that the Klingons are beaming down, etc.) But I subtracted a point mainly for the savage blade-war scenes of the secondary cast.

It's fun and all (though most of the fight choreography is pretty goofy, particularly how abruptly they stop fighting.)

And perhaps this is unfair (as it's mainly a TNG-and-beyond inspired observation) but I don't think Starfleet would be able to hold their own against Klingons with edged weapons. It's their thing.

Scotty notwithstanding. And Kirk, of course. Both are adept at every method of combat and with every weapon from every century.

Scotty grabs a Claymore. Of course.

Kirk and the Gang: (28 of 10) Everyone gets an over the top moment (or several) in this episode. Except Spock (naturally) and Sulu.

Sulu gets to crawl around in a Jeffries Tube for the first and only time, though.

Chekov's rage and attempted rape are awesomly funny and incredibly uncomfortable, respectively.

Meanwhile...

I suspect it didn't take much to not just get Shatner over the top but rolling across No Man's Land and judo-kicking the barbed wire. The Theater of the Absurd was built for William Shatner.

Double shoulder grab.

Sudden head turn.

Kirk's signature physical moves, delivery and reluctance to leave the frame plus the general madness of the dialogue combine to ensure legendary status for this sequence. Rarely do the stars align quite like this.

"Is this what's in store for us...?

"From here on in? Violence?

"...HATRED?"

I love how everyone's reaction to feelings of bigotry or thoughts of violence is as if they've been eradicated from the future so completely that the very contemplation of them is shocking. As a personal code/ way of life, arguably, sure, (though it contradicts several of Kirk's wrap-up speeches from other episodes) but they've been exposed to it enough (and explained it to other people) dozens of times by this point in the series. Still, it's a nice thought, and maybe even especially comforting to an America mired in Vietnam, police riots in Chicago, and political assassinations. 

The more things change.

Memorability: 2.5 of 5.

Total Points Awarded: 52