| Review : |
A very good episode. I believe this was our first look at the Klingons, and in some ways they seemed more effective before they evolved into galactic bikers. Kor made a worthy opponent and a convincing villain, he certainly changed over the hundred years before we saw him again. I could not understand the Organians any more than Kirk for much of the time, although it was obvious that they were doing their very best to try to avoid violence. Kirk seemed to be heading into colonialist territory at several points, an interesting mirror for the Klingons, but he dodged that one. The new effects shots were very noticeable here, including new views of the D7s and the pulse phasers from "Balance of Terror". Effective and done very well. The revelation at the end also worked very well. We see Kirk and Kor arguing for war, but then realising what they were doing, which I think brought the curtain down on a good episode. |
| Review : |
Wonderful episode. I really like the Klingons depicted here much more than those in later Trek offerings. They seem much more "real," not so unidimensional and cartoonish. Even their physical appearance works. My favorites of the episode, though, are the Organians. It's always interesting to see how very advanced beings deal with "mere mortals" like Humans and Klingons. The Organians seem to do a much better job of it than the Q, at least to my taste. (The Q seem strangely puerile to me, but that's perhaps because of the particular Q that's taken a "liking" to Humans.) They do seem to get a bit exasperated with Kirk, who certainly gets exasperated with them! Oddly, they seem to interact with Kor more easily. Perhaps they see hope for understanding in Kirk, but none in Kor, and keep trying to get Kirk to change his perspective on the situation. When they eventually give up on subtlety, it's quite a show indeed -- real Cecil B. DeMille stuff! I guess that's what it takes sometimes. Spock's reaction to the Organians is also interesting. He seems to appreciate their position better than K & K, though I think the "amoeba" reference is overstated. One wonders why the Organians didn't work with Spock rather than Kirk. Maybe they figured that since Kirk was in charge, at least of the Star Fleet side, he was the one to whom they had to make their appeal. That strikes me as a bit too much concern for "chain of command," but who knows how such beings view things like that. |
