“Aliens abduct Kirk and a Gorn, a violent, lizard-like humanoid. To save their crews, Kirk and the Gorn must fight to the death, but Kirk refuses.”
I can’t think of this episode without thinking of the part of Galaxy Quest where Jason Nesmith was fighting the rock monster, and Guy asked if he could fashion a rudimentary lathe.
***
We open with Kirk and McCoy discussing an upcoming dinner with Commodore Travers. Evidently he has a personal chef and “sets a good table.” The commodore contacts then and requests Kirk bring his tactical personnel. Spock finds this odd, but Bones just wants the food.
When they arrive on the planet’s surface, everything has been destroyed. Not sure why Travers didn’t, you know, say anything, but there you go.
They find a badly-injured survivor, and then Spock picks up readings from cold-blooded life forms. The token redshirt says he sees something, and is immediately vaporized. Kirk contacts the Enterprise but Sulu tells him they’re under attack and can’t beam the landing party aboard unless they drop their shields, or “defensive screens” this episode, but Kirk says to protect the ship and worry about the landing party later.
The aliens are firing disruptor cannons at the landing party. Kirk makes a run for the colony’s arsenal. Meanwhile, Sulu fires photon torpedoes, which have no effect. Kirk orders him to leave orbit, which he reluctantly does.
Spock gets readings from his tricorder that the aliens are moving to higher ground. He runs, and occasionally rolls, to Kirk, who has found some kind of grenade launcher. Then he realizes the aliens have locked onto his tricorder and throws it away just before it explodes.
They launch the space-grenade at where they think the aliens are, and the firing stops. Sulu contacts them to say the alien ship activated its transporters and is withdrawing.
Back on the Enterprise, they ask the survivor what happened. Evidently the aliens just showed up and started shooting. It turns out the messages the Enterprise got weren’t from the colony - it was destroyed a day before the Enterprise arrived.
***
Kirk and Spock discuss why the aliens would have attacked. Kirk determined it was to invade the Federation. Spock is less sure, but agrees that if that is the case, then need to destroy the alien ship before it makes it back to its own territory. Kirk puts the ship into red alert.
***
On the bridge, Spock‘s research into the aliens only brings up “space legends.”
The alien ship goes to warp 6, so Kirk orders warp 7, resulting in a lengthy stare from Scotty, and Spock informing him that maintaining that speed is dangerous. Kirk agrees but says he means to catch them. Scotty says they’ll catch them or blow up.
Spock questions the morality of chasing the aliens just to kill them. Kirk is unswayed. The aliens go to warp 7, so Kirk orders warp 8 and gets another stare from Scotty.
***
They approach and uncharted solar system and are suddenly being scanned, but not by the aliens.
Sulu notices the alien ship slowing down and then stopping. Kirk prepares to attack. Suddenly, the Enterprise comes to a dead stop as well. Life support works but engines and weapons are inoperable.
They are contacted by the Metrons, who say they will not allow the Enterprise and the alien ship (now identified as Gorn) to fight in their space, and will send Kirk and the Gorn captain to a suitable planet to resolve their dispute. The winner and his crew can go on their way, and the loser and his crew will be destroyed. Kirk then disappears.
***
Our first shot of the Gorn is the fakest-looking lizard mask you ever saw, with sparkly fly-eyes and a shiny one piece halter top outfit. Welp. He snarls a lot. Also, we’re at Vasquez Rocks again.
The Gorn casually breaks a branch off a tree to beat Kirk with. Kirk attempts a Kirk-chop but it is ineffective. They then engage in the slowest fight in the history of the universe. Kirk throws a rock, which bounces off the Gorn, so the Gorn picks up a styrofoam boulder to throw at Kirk.
***
On the Enterprise, Spock and Scotty are trying to bypass whatever is holding the ship, but with no luck.
***
Kirk starts recording a captain’s log on this recording/translating device provided by the Metrons, apparently unaware that the Gorn can hear him.
***
The Gorn appears to have set a trap for Kirk. Meanwhile, Kirk keeps running around finding stuff but not thinking about what he could do with it. He keeps recording stuff that the Gorn can hear, which is strategically very stupid.
Then he sees a boulder on top of a high ledge above the Gorn, and pushes it off. The Gorn sees it falling, looks surprised, and then stands there while it lands on him. Looks like a victory for Kirk, until the Gorn starts moving and gets out from under the boulder. Whoops.
Then Kirk runs directly into the Gorn’s trap. He just kind of sits there like a doofus while the Gorn lumbers up to him, then manages to roll out of the way at the last second.
***
Back on the Enterprise, Spock is attempting to contact the Metrons, with no success.
***
Kirk finds some sulfur and records another log entry that the Gorn can overhear. He can’t remember the significance of sulfur.
***
Spock finally hears from the Metrons, who tell him that Kirk is boned. They allow the Enterprise to see and hear what’s happening on the planet’s surface. Spock realizes Kirk is near some potassium nitrate. Kirk appears to have figured that out too.
The Gorn contacts Kirk and says he’ll be merciful and quick, and that the destroyed colony was in Gorn space. Spock and McCoy realize the Federation was in the wrong to establish a colony in an unknown area.
Kirk starts building a weapon out of vines and bamboo. Spock is impressed that Kirk has figured out he has the resources to make gunpowder. Kirk assembles a small cannon and shoots diamonds at the Gorn, but when it comes to down it, he won’t kill the injured Gorn.
A Metron appears and says Kirk showed mercy, which they didn’t expect. He offers to destroy the Gorn ship but Kirk says no, the Federation will try diplomacy with the Gorn instead. The Metron says that there is hope for humans, and in a few thousand years they will contact the Federation again.
***
This is one of the better-known episodes because of the sheer goofiness of the Gorn costume, and it has a major cheese factor, but I like that the Enterprise was wrong to chase the Gorn, no matter how brutal the attack on the colony. The message that retaliation without understanding all the facts is an important one, as is trying to see things from the other person’s point of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment