| Review : |
Quite an effective bit of writing. This gave Spock a series of dilemmas, and different people to convince him either way with each one. Maybe that is the Fontana touch. Good performances from Mark Leanard, the perfectly dignified Vulcan ambassador and surprisingly believable as Spock's father even though he is not that much older in real life, and especially Jane Wyatt, who gave some sense of how hard it must be for a Human woman to live with someone like Sarek or Spock. Amanda first argued AGAINST then FOR the operation, but both equally well (and got a brief smile out of Sarek). The regulars did well too, with Dr McCoy getting plenty of good lines. As for the way the story played out, it was very effective. It is somewhat hard to believe that a shipload of ambassadors from allied planets would be quite so argumentative, but from anecdotal evidence it is not far from the truth. The new Orion ship was good as well, certainly better than the original spinning lights and perhaps an inspiration for the 'jellyfish' in "ST-XI". Another odd contrast is the make-up. I supposed one just has to imagine that the Andorians have mobile antennae, and that the Tellarites have five fingers. I think I saw what looked like a Ligonian delegation as well (not that anyone had ever thought of them before the TNG era). Anyway, the verdict, a decent episode. |
