The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-23 at 9:52am:
  - Krag claims that Riker fired a phaser just as he beamed out. No one on the Enterprise disputes this. Yet in "The Most Toys," O'Brien can tell that Data has fired a weapon just as O'Brien beamed him off Fajo's ship. If O'Brien can read Data's weapon, why can't he read Riker's weapon? And if O'Brien didn't read a weapon in discharge, wouldn't that constitute evidence that Riker didn't fire a weapon?
  - If the sensors could tell that an energy beam went from Riker's position to the science station's generator, why couldn't the sensor's register the first energy beam coming from the generator to Riker's position?
  - Every scene showing the Enterprise orbiting Tanuga IV has the ship moving across the face of the planet while the planet turns in the other direction! So how did the Enterprise manage to be above the generator at precisely the right time to intercept the lambda field (every five hours, twenty minutes, three seconds)?
• From Shashank Mayya on 2007-08-11 at 4:21am:
  How come the 24th Century does not have something akin to a Closed Circuit Monitor/Camera. Even my local grocer has two.
• From tur1n on 2010-02-15 at 2:31pm:
  I don't get why Riker would have been armed in the first place. The mission certainly didn't require one.
  Plus we never see that thing in one of the other scenes.
  
  
• From MJ on 2011-01-05 at 6:08pm:
  I agree this is an average episode. I still don't understand why Troi would perceive that Apgar's wife is being honest when her account is so very different from Riker's. I can understand innocently forgetting a detail or two, but she seems to be deliberately framing Riker and yet there is no deception from her at all?
  
  Still, for some reason, I like this episode. Maybe it's the interesting concept of a society where hearsay is considered valid testimony and where innocence must be proven in court. I'm not sure, but I enjoy what the episode is trying to do.
• From thaibites on 2011-01-10 at 1:02am:
  Hey MJ,
  Are you sure she is trying to "frame" Riker? Remember the name of the episode, "A Matter of Perspective". From HER perspective, that is what really happened. From HER perspective, she is not lying and that is why Troi doesn't sense deception. Truth is relative, my friend.
  The problem I had was the fact that all 3 accounts show Riker and Space-MILF touching in an inappropriate way. That means it happened. Somebody had to initiate the contact. Who was it? Since they're all telling the "truth", one of them must be completely insane. Couldn't be our dear Riker, could it...?
• From MJ on 2011-02-13 at 3:52pm:
  I don't necessarily think she's trying to frame Riker, only that her account of the events is so drastically different from his that I find it hard to believe there isn't deception on some level. Two people can give different versions of the same story, and as you say that's what this episode is all about. But I think it was a bit mishandled here because everything, from the behavior to the actions, is so different that neither account really resembles the other. They could've had a more slight variation in details and still made the point about perspective.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-21 at 1:32am:
  I'm a sucker for a good gimmick episode, and this is a good gimmick episode. I tend to agree with some of the technical complaints DSOmo and MJ bring up. I don't think these points are impossible to explain, but they did make me scratch my head as I watched the episode. Nevertheless, I found the episode memorable, and generally fun to watch.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-21 at 12:51pm:
  I agree with MJ in that there had to be some deception somewhere, especially on the issue of sexual seduction. In the three versions shown, Riker claims that Mrs Apgar seduced him, Mrs. Apgar claims that Riker seduced her, and the aide recounting Dr. Apgar's version clais that Riker attempted to rape Mrs. Apgar. These cannot all be true, even from a perception point of view. Sexual relations don't just happen. Someone has to be the initiator. Unless Mrs. Apgar is a master of rationalization and self deception, we must conclude she is lying. Unless, of course, Riker is lying. But Troi would never let him get away with that. So we are left with a logical fallacy, as MJ says.
• From Arianwen on 2012-12-17 at 11:58am:
  I agree with CAlexander. The technobabble was used remarkably well in this episode, especially given the usual standards (the biological nightmare of Picard's heart operation is still fresh in my mind). The waves bouncing off at different angles actually made sense! Probably only superficial sense, true, but it passed my willing suspension of disbelief and it works with the plot.
  Re. DSOmo, if the generator broadcasts in all directions the Enterprise would receive the signal so long as it was within 90º or more of the generator. The waves only hit the Enterprise twice, so even in a low orbit it'd likely still be within range. After all, what matters isn't the risk of a third attack but the unique time difference between emissions.
  
  Re. the "seduction": anyone telling an embarrassing story will unconsciously cast themselves in a better light. Riker and Mrs. Apgar weren't being deliberately dishonest, so Troi wouldn't detect deception - and in both cases it was the other one who started things! Since the personality of the rape projection was so unlike Riker, and since Riker is... well, put it this way, Riker must be at least distantly related to Jim Kirk, I think they probably both seduced each other.
  In other news, watching Dr Apgar punch out Riker was hilarious.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-18 at 3:29am:
  The most unbelievable part of this episode: the fact that the Enterprise crew all seem to think it would be completely impossible for Riker to mack on some foxy alien lady while on duty. Umm, you guys have met William T. Riker, right?
• From Rick on 2014-03-05 at 6:34pm:
  I agree completely with MJ. The wife is lying and its a plot hole that Troi doesnt recognize it. The whole "matter of perspective" theme only goes so far. Where it doesnt go, is attempted rape. Next, where does everyone get off saying it would be in character for Riker to seduce and take advantage of this lady? Riker will no doubt go for the young, single alien females but since when is it Riker's practice to seduce older married women in front of their husbands?
• From Epsilon Obummer 5 on 2021-07-24 at 4:58pm:
  Guilty until proven innocent, huh?
  They should have just accused the prosecution witnesses of lying. That would automatically "prove" Riker innocent, since the witnesses would be guilty.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-05-25 at 9:19am:
  - Picard states in his log that he is concerned "at being in such close orbit" to the collapsing star. Later, when Data states that the downloading of the research information will be complete in forty-one minutes, Picard seems irritated at the length of time. If Picard is so concerned about the collapsing star, why doesn't he just lock a tractor beam on the Tsiolkovsky and pull it to safety? BUT WHEN Worf tells Picard he is getting strange readings from the star, Picard tells him to wait.
  - Wesley blocks the door to Engineering with a repulser beam. Riker and the Chief Engineer spend their time trying to get past the beam, when they could just transport in.
  - Data drunk ???
  - Riker handles his "intoxication" surprisingly well (considering what it's doing to the rest of the crew) However, Picard gets intoxicated very quickly after only breathing Dr. Crusher's breath.
  - Hundreds of crew members are intoxicated. But when Riker brings Troi to sick bay, Dr. Crusher wants to quarantine Riker??
  - As Riker talks to Data about remembering someone "getting a shower with their clothes on," he sits down on the data entry section of the adjacent workstation. Wouldn't this be like sitting on a computer keyboard?
• From Bernard on 2007-09-17 at 8:24pm:
  I enjoyed this episode as a 'getting to know us' episode, some great early character development that also paid homage to the original series. I agree that it is better than the original...
  
  Unfortunately this episode really cannot stand up to repeat viewings, so that counts badly against it. Not a bad early effort though
• From TashaFan on 2008-09-08 at 3:38am:
  Two words: Tasha's dress.
• From Michael B. on 2009-12-20 at 7:11pm:
  I thought the direction in this episode, by Paul Lynch, was much better than the first. The story may have contributed to better acting, as well, as the plot device called for everyone to "loosen up", it seems the actors were able to, as well. All in all, I felt that everyone was quite believable as a drunk, which is not the easiest trick to pull off.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-05 at 1:15pm:
  In general, I thought the "drunken" performances were somewhat boring, I preferred the Naked Time. Except that I did like Dr. Crusher acting "half-drunk".
  
  - I've always thought that Data was portrayed inconsistently in this episode, as if the conception of how he was built changed. Later shows with Data repeatedly make a point about how different he is from the rest of the crew, how it unaffected by things which affect every biological crewmember regardless of species. Yet here is affected by, of all things, water molecules which act like alcohol. They seem to be implying that he has a strong biological component in early episodes, yet in later episodes, whenever he gets damaged, there is never any sign that he is filled with water.
  - I think it would be quite fair to be impressed by Wesley. He endangers the ship because he is infected with the water virus; that shouldn't be held against him, that isn't his fault.
  
• From Rob UK on 2014-01-17 at 1:20pm:
  Argghhhhhh!!!!! I just noticed Data is a sexbot, possibly even a prostidroid, he tells Tasha (much to her delight) he is programmed in multiple techniques, a broad variety of pleasuring?!?
  
  Really Dr Sung???? What were you really up to with your fleet of manbot sex dolls?
  
  Clearly when data joined the asexual almost androgynous Starfleet culture his sexbot functions were of little use so he adapted his programming to be of use.
  
  Clearly i am having a laugh here but with a serious observation, I just started watching TNG from the beginning (again, lost count long ago) enjoying the good and the bad episodes equally as always, for some reason the suffering of going through a bad episode makes the next good one you watch all that more a piece of delicious sweet mind candy to gorge on.
• From jeffenator98 on 2019-08-08 at 5:26pm:
  A lame episode based on another lame episode. 1/10.
• From Three of Four on 2022-05-15 at 9:48pm:
  Didn't know the YouTube video. Had to post a comment just to thank you for that hilarious tip!
• From The Naked President on 2023-04-16 at 12:09pm:
  Picard explains to Troi that it is not an infection. After that he says infected/infection like 5 times.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From fan ive on 2010-01-01 at 5:47pm:
  so they still use those old wheelchairs from the nineties in the 22. century??
• From joe on 2016-07-11 at 1:22am:
  Archer tells Erickson that he was worried about failing flight training but that his father told him the day before he went to "not fail". How is this possible when it has already been established that Henry Archer dies when Jonathan was 12 years old? Does flight training begin that young?
• From McCoy on 2017-07-31 at 8:36am:
  This is one of the best episodes not only in Ent, but in all of Trek. Erickson is perfect megalomaniac scientist(I know a lot of similar persons) and hiding true motives (plus moral ambivalency - after all redshirt dies) are totally in character here. I had sick fun watching Archer being Archer (I've made my decision and it's only good decision, because I've made it). Poor Trip. I'm starting to really like him:) He deserves better captain!
• From President Obummer on 2020-02-01 at 7:02pm:
  Erickson reminded me of the terraformer guy from DS9

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Matt on 2010-02-08 at 11:25pm:
  The race is not alien. It's implied that this civilization is an old human colony whose origin has become a mystery to its own people. Therefore the morphological and cultural similarities you bemoan are actually quite...logical.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-07-10 at 3:12am:
  It's amazing that it takes Kirk and Mccoy so long to discover that the crystals inside the crewmembers' outfits are human remains. Were they thinking, "gee, all the crewmembers must have taken their clothes off and sprinkled salt on everything"?
  
  Also, since in the previous episode, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all saw the entire crew turned into crystals, it's insulting to the viewer that Kirk and company can't figure it out.
  
  That's as specific as I'm going to get about this episode. It's doesn't deserve analyzing because it's just a mountain of stupid jibberish. And to think, this story was one of the original pilot episode ideas.
  
  Just a note about the issue of the inhabitants looking human: A deleted scene had McCoy, Kirk, and Spock saying the races on the planet were the descendents of early human space travelers. It's not cannon, but it's a little interesting, and probably would have helped the episode.
  
  
• From Scott on 2011-06-01 at 2:24pm:
  I'm watching season two episode by episode, and this is easily the worst so far. Actually, the first half is not too bad. But then it degenerates into execrable Yankee-doodle-dandy cold-war jingoism that is utterly out of place for a series in which humans have supposedly moved on from nationalism. The reverence with which Kirk fawns over the US flag and constitution almost made me puke. I suspect that many Americans would feel the same.
  
  Urgh.
• From warp factor 10.1 on 2012-08-10 at 11:05pm:
  I'm confused. Didn't the original inhabitants of the United States look like the Kohms? Didn't the people who almost wiped them all out look more like Kirk? Aren't they the ones that wrote the constitution of the U.S.A. and had the 'stars and stripes' as their flag?
  
  OK, so maybe history was getting distorted but if so why did Kirk come over so moist eyed?
  
  More questions than answers here but given what I had always thought was an ahead of its time 'equality premise' to Star Trek this was disturbingly racist.
  
  Why didn't George Takei walk off the set? Sorry, another question.
  
  Is it possible to give it a negative score? (another question)
  
  
  
• From Glenn239 on 2012-09-29 at 3:46pm:
  Um, sorry to interrupt the end-of-episode feel good romp guys, but there is an unmanned but fully operational Constitution Class starship still in orbit. Shouldn't you be towing it back to starbase or something? I’m pretty sure it’s still valuable.”
  
  Ok. I grant you parts of this one are cringeworthy, but I got over the ham sandwich of the American flag popping out from nowhere pretty quickly. This episode makes a prescient prediction; American core values tested under the most extreme societal conditions will emerge intact and victorious over rival totalitarian ideology. ‘Omega Glory’ means that at the end of the struggle American principles will stand long after communism is buried. So this episode called the outcome of the Cold War and even has something to say about the ideological struggle underway in the Middle East right now. Normally when Star Trek hit the bulls eye it got a pat on the back. ‘7’.
  
• From Tooms on 2013-11-09 at 10:05pm:
  How dare Kirk admire the flag of his homeland and one of the greatest documents ever written. Huh? Yes this episode took a very cheesy turn, but all the preaching in the comments is far more annoying than the plot.
• From Vandervecken on 2014-01-10 at 5:17pm:
  People are way too harsh on this episode. It's awesome for Morgan Woodward's Captain Tracey alone.
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-24 at 10:35pm:
  The episode ended without telling us what happened to Captain Tracy. He murdered thousands; shouldn't he pay for his crimes?
  
  I hope someone reminded Sulu and the rest of the landing party to wait a couple hours before beaming up, to have a chance to build up an immunity.
• From Martin on 2015-03-30 at 5:59am:
  As someone who is not American and has studied history, political science as well as having seen many documentaries on political philosophy and American history on you tube and PBS, I feel a lot of people misinterpret this episode.
  
  In the final scenes this episode shows the American flag and people think that it is an example of American jingoism.
  
  I hear Kirk's recitation of the preamble of the Constitution and believe that the episode is an excellent defense of the values of the enlightenment and Rule of Law.
  
  The enlightenment produced a number of political philosophers that have established the democratic societies that we value today. They were not just American philosophers like Jefferson, Adams, and Madison but also European philosophers like Adam Smith, Locke and Rousseau.
  
  What's wrong with the preamble?
  
  "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
  
  These are the words that can establish peace between the Yangs and the Kohms and reestablish individual rights and rule of law.
  
  Move over this episode remains relevant today given how laws are changing throughout the western world as we try to find a balance of individual freedom and the need for order as the West tries to find a way contain Islamic terrorism.
  
  There are many things that American have a right to be proud of.
  
  I don't harp on the so-called "racism" as you do. We are living in an age where these centers in the world could possibly destroy each other.
  
  The world has a lot of challenges to overcome in the next 100 years.
• From Chris on 2018-08-21 at 6:45pm:
  Wow, Matt cleared it all up!
  What nonsense!
  The show sucked and was a huge pant load.
  
  One factoid left out is that Spock has tried in the past to teach Kirk the Vulcan neck pinch.
• From Chris on 2019-01-01 at 8:23pm:
  An addendum to my previous comment which no one has read, nor will read...
  I don't mind Kirk's ramble about the Constitution and I actually liked this part of the episode more than the rest of it! IT IS meant for everyone!
  
  I get sick of the 'good' natives in ST as being blonde haired, studly folk and am constantly amazed that Nichols and Takai never bailed on the show!
  
  They needed to explain the reason for Early age American explorers being there in the first place, and if it is true that this was a line deleted from the aired show, they also needed to explain why the Chinese segment of that expedition decided to go all Kohm on the whitish folk!
  Then too, why wasn't Khan aware of this expedition?
  Why were these folks so stupid? They clearly would have had leftover techno-nonsense that would have carried them initially and they'd have built upon those things! Ideas do not die that easily.
  This show needs to 'splain a lot to get over its discrepancies, of which it will never be able to.
• From Chris on 2019-01-01 at 8:58pm:
  Wait... whaaa?
  How did I miss this part in your review?!?
  
  Please describe the scene to which you are referring! Even the Mem Alpha site never mentions this!
  
  Kirk NEVER learned the neck pinch and he certainly NEVER did on in Return of the Archons!!! He does, however, give a couple Karate chops to the neck of a Landrite(?) and then after Spock clocks the other one with his fist instead of the pinch, asks, "Isn't that a bit old fashioned?!?"
  
  I don't believe I misread your words...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-05-29 at 1:47am:
  Data: "Could you please continue the 'petty bickering'?" :)
  
  - The slow approach of the Tarellian ship ... as the vessel draws closer, the tension increases. Picard calmly waits for the plague ship while the Haven government is going crazy. He even allows the ship to get within transporter range. Why doesn't Picard take the Enterprise out of orbit and meet the incoming ship?
  - For a chameleon rose, it doesn't change colors very much. During the time Troi is holding the rose, she becomes visibly upset and embarrassed, the rose stays white.
  - When we first get to see Ariana on the viewscreen, there is a man to her right, sitting in a chair. The chair is made of several spheres. In future episodes, this chair will be seen in Worf's quarters.
• From Joey Poole on 2007-07-12 at 2:41pm:
  While I agree with many of the concerns listed in the main review, I have a real soft spot for this episode. Lwaxana Troi is a great character, and this is a good introduction to her. As pure entertainment, this episode works, due mostly to the interaction between Troi, her mother, and Picard. I also like Riker's reaction to the whole marriage business. I view it as one of the "humor" episodes, and one of the best of those at that.
  
  My only real problem with this episode is the lame, seemingly random connection between Wyatt (who's a bit of douchebag, by the way) and Ariana. Plus, for the dying remanants of a people killed off by an incurable plague, the Tarellians don't seem very sick.
• From Bernard on 2008-01-19 at 6:20pm:
  I don't treat this episode with too much scorn, it is to me... average.
  
  The main problem for me is that I do not care about the terellians or wyatt. If you do not care about either of those by the climax of the story then to me the whole build up has been pointless.
  
  I do however love majel barrett as lwaxana, and also Mr. Homm. Some really funny bits in this one too as Datas role in comedy is used to good effect here as the perfect straight man.
• From djb on 2008-01-25 at 3:05am:
  It's true that this episode is not one of the best, but what I find absolutely remarkable about it is this dialog:
  
  Lwaxana: "Now the answer to the puzzle of Arianna and you is so simple, it's too simple for most humans to understand."
  Wyatt: "Too simple."
  Lwaxana: "Of course. It's something they all know instinctively yet go to great effort to reject or build complicated superstitions about. All life, Wyatt, all consciousness, is indissolubly bound together, indeed, it's all part of the same thing."
  
  I was amazed and extremely pleased to find such a fundamental mystical truth exposed in a relatively agnostic TV show!
• From thaibites on 2009-08-14 at 2:37am:
  This is one of the worst TNGs I've ever seen. It's one of those episodes where they need to take a break and save some money. Lwaxana is the most unlikeable character in the ST universe. As an American, I've gotten enough bossy, ignorant, demanding white women to last me a lifetime. I certainly don't need it when I just want to be entertained!
• From CAlexander on 2011-02-20 at 6:18am:
  This episode suffers from a common problem - two plots, one of which you wish they had left out completely. I had no real problem with the wedding plot, it is OK. But the Terellian plot is quite inadequately developed.
  - Totally agree with DSOmo that Picard should have tractored the Terellians long before they reached Haven.
  - No reasonable explanation given for the central point of the episode, the connection between Wyatt and Ariana.
  - No explanation given for why the Terellians appear perfectly healthy. I can explain this (the virus lies dormant until it kills you), but I shouldn't have to, the episode should have done so.
  - It is unclear what the Terellian motivations really were. They make a point of rejecting all communication as they come to infect Haven, then when they are stopped, they start chatting as if they are pleasant people who had done nothing suspicious.
• From Omcn7 on 2012-01-28 at 6:58pm:
  Ariana? Please stop the hair. I have nightmares about the hair. Wyatt is a moron to want to go with this freak hairdo women. I thought this episode was great for the character development. However, as many have said the plot was sub-par in the least.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-07 at 7:23am:
  This time, I found this episode oddly entertaining and more interesting than I had anticipated.
  
  Boy oh boy, has my mind changed on some things, though. I commented here as "djb" (old initials) in 2008 and now I completely disagree with myself. It's not a "mystical truth," it's quasi-spiritual mumbo jumbo! But, then again, the Star Trek universe does have tons of mumbo jumbo in it, so... it's not untrue in-universe, I suppose.
  
  Putting on my "killjoy feminist" hat for a second: Overall this show is refreshingly not-sexist for the 80s. Hell, there are much later shows that are unwatchable because of the sexism (BBT anyone?). But I like noticing the tiny things that sneak through--not as a "show bad" sort of thing, more of a curiosity. A study of evolving cultural norms, if you will.
  
  Take Wyatt's commenting more than once on Troi's looks instead of her intelligence, accomplishments, maturity, depth, etc. Or the ridiculous outfit worn by Ariana. Like, don't get me wrong, my lesbian brain is like PRETTY LADY!!1! but her outfit is such obvious pandering and so strikingly unrealistic that it kinda harshes my mellow, as weird as that may seem. Or makes me laugh, depending on my mood. ... Then again, maybe she wanted to look extra nice for the man of her dreams, so she put on her most alluring outfit for him. I'd buy that.
  <takes hat off>
  
  Data's emotion-spotting: During the reception where the parents fight, Data looks positively amused. Given his "please keep bickering" comment (maybe the best line in the episode), Data seems to be programmed with a rapt interest in petty humanoid conflicts!
  
  This episode is a must-watch for anyone interested in Riker/Troi's relationship. Here we hear "imzadi" for the first time since the pilot, and find out what it means. I do enjoy their relationship throughout the series. You don't see relationships like theirs on every show, and I think it's handled pretty well.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Z on 2020-04-07 at 7:21am:
  Kethinov, I have loved (and mostly agreed with) your reviews for years. But this take is pretty ridiculous and completely unfair. You do have a few valid points about writing issues in this episode, but a number of your complaints were directly addressed. The crew made a pointed decision /not/ to run because they believed that Control would have the resources to track them down anywhere; and because charging the time crystal required power from the spore drive, they decided to move forward with the plan immediately (can't run and time travel at the same time, so they picked). There are obvious issues with this logic, but to imply that they never discussed jumping away is simply untruthful. And they went ahead with the plan after destroying Leland because it was heavily implied (like as explicitly as possible) that the sphere data was "in the wrong hands..." type of info and had to be kept out of anyone's contemporary grip (furthermore, I believe the phrase used after Leland's destruction was "Control is down"; there's no reason to think that disabling Leland and the local ships destroyed all of Control).
  
  You claim that making everything classified does not correct continuity errors, but (assuming people keep their mouths shut) I have no idea what you are talking about. Is calling all the info "top secret" lazy writing? Sure. The spore drive was lazy in the first place. But if the information was successfully suppressed in-universe, it does technically account for the lack of spore drives and angel suits in "future" ST stories.
  
  The "pods" they were referring to were, like, extremely obviously escape pods, established both verbally and visually. Again, there are inherent issues with the idea of retrofitting escape pods for combat, but to say that their existence is not explained is, again, untruthful.
  
  And even when your points are valid, the weight you give them is totally inconsistent with your criticism of past ST series. E.g. Captain Pike surviving the torpedo blast. Star Trek characters have *always* had "plot armor" when convenient. It has been an inherent issue with ST since TOS. Canon inconsistencies have existed since TOS (arguably more so in that series). These things are problems, but the fact that you take these errors and the errors you misidentified (mentioned above) and come to the conclusion that this show is a "disgrace" to Star Trek is inconsistent, unreasonable, and in my eyes totally undermines your credibility. As I have watched through DIS and read your reviews, it has become increasingly apparent that you weigh criticisms more heavily when drawing your conclusions, more so than any "classic" Trek show you have reviewed.
  
  Last two points I want to leave you with: 1) constant complaints about visual inconsistencies are tired and childish. Shows that look like TOS are not profitable, and frankly, they are not fun for most people anymore. I hope you get over it because every time you and people like you bring it up, it causes the rest of us to roll our eyes. 2) your characterization of Po in your review of Part 1 ("arrogant" and "snarky") comes across as *extremely* sexist, point blank. I've gotten the impression that you tend to lean left when it comes to social issues, so I won't accuse you of being a flat-out misogynist. But I would challenge you to question your socialized biases. All men, even self-proclaimed feminists, have stigmas that must be consciously suppressed.
  
  To sum all this up, I think it is ironic how lazy your DIS reviews have been given your accusations of lazy plot construction. It is obvious you made up your mind about this show well before it premiered. As someone who got into Trek fairly recently (i.e., I have seen every series now but only within the past ~6 years), and therefore has less nostalgia to challenge, I feel pretty confident saying these first two seasons were, overall, much stronger than the first two seasons of TNG, DS9, or VOY. And I love those shows immensely. I am sad to say I will not be visiting your website anymore, but after reading your DIS reviews I know I will find little of value in your reviews of Picard and any other Trek to come. LLAP.
• From Kethinov on 2020-04-08 at 12:10pm:
  The crew saying we're not gonna run and then citing an incoherent reason is not directly addressing it. It was clear that Control did not have the resources to teleport to their location. Track them, sure, but if you spore drive your way to the Gamma quadrant, you've bought a lot of time to prepare a defense because it will take them decades to travel to you.
  
  The sphere data being too dangerous for anyone to have is 1. hard to believe at all, but setting aside that 2. a reason to destroy it, not maroon a whole crew of people into the future. In previous reviews I discussed the incoherence of the sphere data defending itself from being destroyed, but even if we assume it's literally impossible to destroy Discovery with the sphere data on it, just send the damn ship to the future unmanned maybe?
  
  As for classifying the time travel suit and the spore drive, we need think this through a bit harder than "sure, I guess it was lazy writing, but meh." There are implications. Dozens (hundreds?) of people know about this tech. It actually is pretty hard to believe all of them keep their mouths shut, but even with this already overly generous concession, we have to grapple with the fact that the tech was rather easy to invent. It stretches suspension of disbelief to the breaking point to assume that nobody would ever reinvent it even if the tech was perfectly classified for the rest of Star Trek's history. When Star Trek is at its best, it gives us reasons to hang our hats on as to why some new superpower is unsustainable, e.g. the tech is too unstable to use, or it requires a super rare fuel, etc. Nothing like that was used to limit the powers of the spore drive or the time travel suit.
  
  Sure, they have some token limiting factors, but they're not nearly enough. The spore drive "damages the mycelial network" so using it hurts living creatures, so they want to use it sparingly, but they keep using it anyway. And what stops an unscrupulous power like the Romulans from inventing this and using it with no regard for the mycelial alien life? The writers didn't think that through. And the time travel suit just requires a time crystal—something that apparently naturally occurs in great abundance on planets like Boreth, and now you're suddenly godlike. They could've told us time crystals were impossibly rare, that there's only one in known existence, or maybe the time travel suit itself came from the future and can't be replicated. There's any number of ways they could've limited its superpowers and prevented it from being a "so why can't they just keep using it?" problem. But they didn't. The accumulation of an unsustainable number of superpowers is a serious problem in all Star Trek shows, but Discovery is perhaps the worst offender. And just so you know I'm not singling out Discovery here, Picard's season 1 finale is a pretty serious offender in this regard too, and my upcoming review will be as harsh to that finale as I was with this one, FWIW.
  
  Regarding the pods, I'm struck by you saying "to say that their existence is not explained is, again, untruthful" directly after saying "there are inherent issues with the idea of retrofitting escape pods for combat." Yes. Those inherent issues are exactly what I was complaining about. There is no coherent explanation for why weaponized pods (derived from escape pods or otherwise) are never seen again. It's puzzling why you accuse me of being untruthful for saying something you just said yourself. Perhaps our disagreement isn't about truth, but rather about how much someone should care about bad writing?
  
  As for "canon inconsistencies have [always] existed," this is a very common and very annoying argument trotted out by Discovery apologists all over the web. It is a textbook example of whataboutism, a common propaganda technique used to make bad arguments that sound plausible but are actually logically incoherent. In this case it's a bad argument for two main reasons: 1. It's not actually a defense of Discovery to say well everything else is awful too, and 2. Discovery isn't just as bad at this, it's substantively worse. Even setting aside visual canon, Discovery has created much harder to reconcile problems with canon than any previous Star Trek series. It's like the whole series is one long version of Voy: Threshold + TNG: Force of Nature + TOS: The Alternative Factor. Those episodes got zeros for a reason: if we took their canon implications seriously, it would contaminate Star Trek's canon too much, so we've all collectively agreed they aren't canon. To be fair to Discovery, it isn't quite that bad yet, but it's right on the edge. Bad enough that when you pair its story canon problems with its visual canon problems, we should seriously shuffle it off to its own universe to contain the massive canon implications of Discovery in order to protect the rest of the franchise from the damage.
  
  And regarding whether we should consider the visual canon issues valid too, of course we should. Like you, I don't want a show that looks like TOS either, but the obvious solution to wanting an updated look was to not make a prequel set during TOS. Enterprise did it right by being set a century earlier than TOS. The Picard show did it right by being set a century later than TOS and decades after TNG. Discovery picked the worst possible choice of setting and now their excursion into the far future is the writers basically admitting that mistake. As for your remarks visiting my biases regarding Po, that was uncalled for and unworthy of a response. But I will say this: her character would've been equally annoying had she been male. That should go without saying. It's sad I even had to say it.
  
  The saddest part of all this for me is contrary to what you seem to believe about me, writing negative reviews takes a lot more work than writing positive reviews. I put a lot more hours into my Discovery reviews than I have for Picard so far since Discovery required more criticism. (Though the Picard finale will require Discovery levels of work to adequately criticize, which is why the review is not up yet as of this writing.) I hold negative reviews to a very high standard. I vet each criticism rigorously before I release the review by first asking myself, "Wait, did I miss something? Did they actually account for this?" I do that because I understand the importance of checking your biases in order to gain as much objectivity as possible. I often like to wait several days after seeing a bad episode before I even write about it just to give myself more processing time to think through the criticisms more. Doing all that is why it takes me much longer to write negative reviews than positive ones. Calling all the work I put into these criticisms lazy when it's been some of the hardest work I've ever done writing Star Trek reviews is the real irony here.
  
  But I'm glad you wrote this, because I know your views are shared by others. I hope your comment and my response help people think more clearly about how the writing of Discovery is substantively worse. Or perhaps put a better way, substantively different. I think a simple fact nobody here could argue with is Discovery's writing has a much different tone than previous Star Treks. I don't think anyone would disagree that Discovery feels more like the MCU than like TNG or Voyager. What we debate is whether or not that is an improvement or a step in the wrong direction.
• From McCoy on 2020-07-14 at 3:43pm:
  I've just visited your site after a long time out of curiosity. And I'm pretty impressed, because you still write reviews. I gave up watching in the middle of second season. Then I've tried Picard, but gave up after infamous eyball scene. Star Trek franchise is dead for me. I never was a Trekkie, fanboy or something like that. But i hate bad writing, stupid decisions, unlikeable Mary Sues and - most of all - destroying good work of other people. This franchise was really great (I loved the visual style of TOS - completely archaic today, loved DS9 too - because it has best characters). Now we have high budget, terrible story and butchering canon (not only visual). I don't think it will be better, quite opposite sadly. Star Trek was always about humanity as its best, not some dark, dystopian horror. Looks like there is no hope for us, if we can create only depressing stories. They aren't "mature", they are depressing. Old Trek tried to show us we can be better. New Trek shows a world without morality, without hope. If this is our only possible future, then we are truly doomed. Best regards, Kethinov, thank you for all your hard work!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Psycroptic on 2012-07-14 at 1:52am:
  What's up with all the zero ratings for this season? Spammers I'm guessing. Inconsistent but still a great opening to the season.
• From Bernard on 2012-07-14 at 10:07am:
  Yes, it appears someone has deliberately been trying to sabotage our good webmasters statistics! Perhaps he can see when all these zero ratings came about and who put them on because all these episodes were rated much more highly before.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-27 at 5:28am:
  One of many episodes that really ruin the Bajoran prophets.
  
  Let's think about this for a minute: The prophets basically possess a woman, drag her to meet Sisko's dad, keep her possessed until she marries him, gets pregnant, has a kid, and the is one year old. Then finally she wakes up one morning no longer possessed, having had her body used as a walking incubator to give birth to someone. In short, the prophets used Sisko's father to rape her, AND used to give birth to the baby then take care of it for a year. That's disgusting.
  
  It gets worse...I guess. I mean, it might be best to imagine this was like a three year coma she woke up from, though she'd still have had her body changed since she became a mother sometime while she was asleep, but it's been previously shown that people possessed by the Prophets (and Pah Wraiths, basically the same beings except for being evil) are AWARE and remember what goes on while they're possessed. It might be somewhat forgivable if, say, this was a Bajoran who was a very willing vessel for the will of the Prophets, even if she signed on for a lot more than she realized, but this was a human woman who didn't know the Prophets existed and wasn't at all a member of their faith. So they raped a casual bystander just to get Sisko born. AND HE NEVER CALLS THEM OUT FOR IT! Nobody does. It occurred to me the first time Sisko's parentage was mentioned, and never fails to occur to me every time it's mentioned...but it doesn't seem to bother anyone.
  
  The writers originally had the idea that the Prophet temporarily took corporeal form, but nixed that idea-I guess it seemed a bit too confusing about exactly what the prophets were. Somehow they thought this disgusting idea was better-I really don't know what they were thinking. Basically any episode that mentions this plot point gets an automatic 1 from me, no matter how good the rest of the episode is, just for reminding me of that awful concept.
  
  I'm not anti-religion. I like some of the religious plotlines in the story-in fact, as a conceptualization of "plot magic," they're far preferable to technobabble that often does similar things. But that the Bajoran faith is so often idealized even when they're behaving like entitled fundamentalists is really grating. I was able to deal with that from the Bajorans from time to time, but when the gods themselves are horrifying...I really wish they'd just had Dukat kill them all instead of letting the Prophets win.
• From Kethinov on 2013-07-27 at 6:35pm:
  I get what you're going for, but it seemed pretty clear to me in the story that the Prophets merely influenced Sisko's mother without her knowledge rather than force her into actions she was unwilling to do. As such, she probably wasn't aware she was possessed. When she left Sisko's father after no longer being possessed, the story strongly implies that she probably just thought she fell out of love. As such, since she didn't feel coerced by external forces, she wasn't raped.
• From Bernard on 2013-07-28 at 1:16pm:
  I'm in agreement with Bronn in one respect.. I dislike any parts of the story involving the wormhole aliens/prophets from the episode 'Rapture' onwards because this marks the point in the series when the writers make the deliberate decision that the prophets have, do and will continue to take an interest and influence the Bajorans on PURPOSE and not by accident.
  
  This is quite contrary to the initial encounter with the wormhole aliens in 'The Emissary' where Sisko has to explain virtually every concept of linear existence to them! So I guess they were just messing around with him in that episode?
  
  Just to point out, I don't mind if they'd portrayed the prophets as beings that consider the Bajorans to be their 'children' from the start but they didn't. I also don't mind if the Bajorans thinks of the wormhole aliens as prophets (gods) but they aren't really... it's a theme shown time and again in the various incarnation of Star Trek, a less developed race thinks of another more developed race as godlike but in actual fact they are not their gods... except the writers decided from 'Rapture' that the prophets WERE the Bajorans gods and started writing it as such. That is when the prophets storyline turned into absolute drivel and they had to start coming up with obscene ways for the prophets to affect our characters lives. It's ridiculous and it was the worst and weakest part of DS9 by a mile.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-28 at 9:14pm:
  I'm not sure I agree with that assessment, Keth, especially given the one Prophet that keeps showing up as Sarah Sisko and claiming to be Captain Sisko's mother. It's like she's the one taking credit for creating him, not all the Prophets as a whole subtly influencing one woman. The Sarah Prophet also refuses to share credit with the real Sarah-SHE'S Sisko's mother, not the corporeal woman named Sarah. She also says that Sisko is "A part of her," which doesn't make sense unless she's the same Prophet who possessed Sisko's mother.
  
  I can't say I really see the evidence supporting your version. We haven't seen direct evidence of the Prophets "subtly directing" someone in the story before-they've used orbs, they've used visions, and they've used random electification that makes Sisko have crazy visions. You can argue we don't always see the less overt influences, but if so, you'd think they'd have attempted to give some guidance to Kai Winn at some point, who was genuinely faithful despite her hopeless ambition. Instead they let her experience direct visions from the Pah Wraiths and fall under Dukat's influence. What we have seen, though, is that people can be possessed by Prophets and Pah Wraiths, and they don't even have to be completely willing-like Keiko and Jake Sisko were possessed at different times.
  
  And if this woman just "fell out of love," it's weird that she completely abandoned her baby and made no effort to ever contact him again, isn't it? She lives in the super-ideal version of earth, so it's not like she abandoned him because she couldn't take care of him. She was in a relationship, had a baby, and then walked out one day without ever getting back in contact with the baby-it's really unusual behavior. It makes much more sense that she was possessed, finally woke up free one morning, was horrified at having been raped and used, and ran far, far away, never wanting again to be reminded of what happened to her, especially not wanting to see the baby she was forced to bear.
  
  I can't see it as anything other than the most unfortunate of implications ever conceived of in Star Trek, and somehow nobody noticed or commented on it. That's why I went from fairly neutral about the Prophets, to utterly loathing them.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-28 at 9:55pm:
  Also, from memory alpha, here's a quote from René Echevarria, Executive Story Editor: "We originally thought that Sarah was a Prophet – there was no human woman involved. But we ultimately nudged the idea into something a bit more oblique, saying the Prophets could take over another person's form."
  
  http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Image_in_the_Sand_%28episode%29
  
  So even the WRITERS thought they were telling the story about a being taking over a woman's form, so that she could have sex with the right man and give birth to the baby. Yuck!
  
  Deep Space 9 is usually a smart show about recognizing implications in its continuity-that's why I really like it, and think it's overall better than Voyager. Garak goes nuts when he realizes he's basically acting like a traitor to the Cardassian people to whom he'd been loyal, Worf is forced to deal with the fact that he's isolated from other Klingons, Nog had an emotional crisis about losing his leg that didn't even end when he got a replacement leg (one of my favorite episodes-Nog probably experienced the most character growth during this series of any Trek character ever written), and Sisko was forced to deal with the dual problems of being a religious icon and a Starfleet officer. But somehow they missed this? Despite it coming up repeatedly in several episodes?
  
  I'd like to pretend it never happened, but they keep reminding us about it later.
• From Kethinov on 2013-07-29 at 5:30pm:
  There's no evidence whatsoever to support your claim that what happened to Sarah was abuse. You're basing all of your conclusions off of wild speculation based on a whole host of assumptions that the story doesn't go into at all while ignoring the two most obvious pieces of direct evidence contradicting your hypothesis: 1. the characters in the story didn't see what happened to her as abuse, and 2. as you yourself just stated, neither did the writers.
  
  Don't get me wrong. I'm with you on the storytelling related to the Prophets being annoyingly arbitrary and vague at times and this episode is no exception. But you really are just projecting this abuse hypothesis onto a story that didn't intend that interpretation at all, which is kind of ridiculous given that the other interpretation fits just as well if not better.
  
  Sure, they could have made it more explicit, and they certainly should have. But the slightly sloppy writing here pales in comparison to several much more heinous examples elsewhere in the series. It seems odd to pick on this episode when there are so many other worse examples throughout Star Trek of vague and arbitrary plots leaving things open to interpretation in unintended ways.
• From L on 2013-08-13 at 8:44am:
  How can Worf smashing up a virtual holosuite bar be cause for complaint? It's a programmed environment that can be reset at the touch of a button!
  
• From Selador on 2013-09-19 at 11:25pm:
  "1. the characters in the story didn't see what happened to her as abuse, and 2. as you yourself just stated, neither did the writers."
  
  That is a very strange argument for concluding that what happened wasn't abuse.
  
  The fact that neither the writers nor the characters considered what happened to Sarah to be abuse does not mean that is it wasn't.
  
  It is amazing that it never even crossed their minds that a women being possessed then forced to have a baby against her will was wrong. Because Bronn is so obviously right with this regard - it is clearly very, very wrong.
  
  I find it incredible that no one at any stage of production said or thought this: 'Wait, this is Star Trek, the core values of which are things like respect, understanding, fairness and freedom. Here we have gods - and not just gods but good gods, the good guys - taking over a woman's body and making her have sex with a man and give birth against her will. Are we insane?'
  
  And it clearly is against her will - the clue is in the word 'possessed'. Also she leaves once the prophets let her go and doesn't want anything to do with her son, so it wasn't a case of somthing like Possession Stockholm Syndrome (that is, she didn't come to accept and like the situation she was in after a while, thinking it was all for the best in the long term).
  
  This is the only logical interpretation of events and I fail to see how anyone could rationally argue that what the prophets did to the poor woman did not constitute a heinous crime. It would surely be illegal on every planet in the universe. It is, in essence, slavery.
  
  To claim that it wasn't abuse because the writers didn't consider it to be abuse is the same as claiming that Tintin in the Congo is not racist on the basis that Hergé didn't consider it to be racist. (It clearly is by the way - don't know if Tintin is popular in the states?)
  
  (Disclaimer: I am in no way accusing Kethinov of anything at all here, in case someone jumps to that erroneous conclusion)
  
  The prophets are without a doubt the worst thing about this series. Space Religion is also where BSG went so catatrophically wrong in the end, quasi-religious nonsense that is both offensive and annoying.
  
  ...
  
  Apart from all of that (!) I really enjoyed the first two episodes of this series. Some great stuff involving Quark, O'Brian and Bashir ('The Three Musketeers'), new Dax is pretty cool and I loved the Romulan treachery. I bloodly love the Romulans full stop.
  
  Also anything involving Weyoun is gold - especially liked the scene when he said "charming woman" about Damar's mistress with such earnestness a few second after threatning to execute her!
• From Kethinov on 2013-09-20 at 2:27am:
  It's just more complicated than you guys are making it out to be.
  
  Your whole argument is based on the faulty assumption that Sarah exerted no free will while she was "possessed." That's certainly possible, but the opposite is equally possible. The episode doesn't tell us one way or the other.
  
  What exposition the episode does give us uses language like the prophets "shared" her existence and "guided" her to Joseph. That's not unilaterally coercive. She may have had a choice in the matter.
  
  For all we know the prophets may have "possessed" a dozen different women before one was sufficiently moved by their influences to willingly enter into a relationship suitable for their goals.
  
  Since it's clear that the writers did not intend the actions of the prophets to be interpreted as abusive, I think we owe them the benefit of the doubt of the more generous interpretation, while also criticizing them for not making the more generous interpretation more explicit.
  
  A nuanced position is called for here, folks.
• From Bronn on 2013-10-27 at 10:54pm:
  I just don't think it's sufficient to say that the writers and production staff didn't think it was offensive to conclude otherwise. I mean, the writers probably didn't think Angel One was offensive, even though it was.
  
  This also isn't the first time in the TNG era we've seen aliens forcing impregnation and everyone pretended it was okay-look back at TNG's "The Child." The writers apparently had NO problem with Troi getting raped and knocked up by an alien influence, since we were supposed to think that was a fairly benign alien in that episode. The writers missing the implications of their story is something that happens sometimes, especially when there is a group of male writers creating what would be a serious woman's issue. They didn't possess Joseph Sisko so he could knock up Sarah-which would have been infinitely less invasive-they had a woman knocked up and possessed throughout her pregnancy.
  
  And again, I think the implication is fairly clear. We've seen direct evidence of people being possessed by Prophets and Pah-Wraiths-Kira, Jake, Keiko, and Dukat by the time THIS plot point is introduced. I don't see why we shouldn't interpret this as being basically the same thing. If they wanted to clarify this point, they could have just had the real Sarah show up at some point, but she ran away and had nothing to do with Joseph or Ben Sisko the rest of her life...which is essentially what a rape victim would do. It's harder to imagine a woman actually abandoning her son and never making any attempt to contact him again than it is to imagine that she was used against her will.
  
  That's why I hate this plot point. They could have at least TRIED to do something that wouldn't offend my sensibilities so much. They did not.
• From Kethinov on 2013-10-28 at 9:01am:
  It's equally valid for me to say that you should at least try to imagine other possible interpretations which wouldn't offend your sensibilities.
  
  In this thread I've laid out several alternative interpretations that are equally valid and less offensive. None of them are ruled out by the established facts of the plot.
  
  If you still choose to believe there's only one possible interpretation, then that's your problem, not the episode's.
  
  I think we can all agree that the episode should have made it more clear. But you're jumping to conclusions.
• From peterwolf on 2014-01-22 at 9:18pm:
  Sisko´s birth is controversial and deserves a more thorough analysis than simply saying "his mother was forced by the prophets to be raped". At least one motif behind the Sisko/emissary story is that he is a messiah for the Bajorans. One may interpret some actions of the wormhole aliens as wrong. However, if time has no meaning, and the existence of Sisko was inevitable, do categories like good or evil matter at all?
  Anyway, it is a pity that the fan rating of season 7 has been spoiled by improbable counts of "0" for every single episode.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-11-12 at 7:52pm:
  I'm in almost total agreement with the review, so I don't have a whole lot to say here. I do, however, absolutely hate the scene in which Jake and Nog let loose the flea-like insects as a prank. It works until the victims start rapidly changing color. I just don't see how this is possible, and it reeks of bad sci-fi: weird situations and improbable outcomes just for the sake of being strange.
  
  One of DS9's main attractions (and often a thorn in its side as well) is the galactic melting pot that it represents. The strange-looking aliens are almost all exectuted well, but it sometimes borders on the ridiculous, the way the bar scene with the intergalatic lounge band in one of the Star Wars movies does. Here's an example of that kind of visual stimulation getting corny.
  
  Wow. I just spent two whole paragraphs bitching about a throwaway scene.
  
  I do like Keiko's decision to start a school on the station, as it fits with the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-pitch-in aesthetic established by the rest of the crew.
• From Bernard on 2009-11-16 at 12:22pm:
  I know that the reaction of the bajorans on the station is overplayed here to create the tension that the episode needs. I forgive this with the view that they are developing Odo's character and background and it would have been very pedestrian without any threat. The interplay between Odo and Quark is marvelous even at this early stage in the series. How well did those two actors nail their characters so quickly?
  
  Again, this episode is only hinting at how good DS9 can be. I gave it a 5.
• From Bronn on 2013-06-10 at 10:36pm:
  It creates a bit of discontinuity with the later characterization of Odo that the Bajorans were able to so quickly incite a mob against him. Later on it's established that all the Bajorans who ever visited DS9 believed he was a hero who stood for justice within the corrupt Cardassian system.
  
  This was also before they'd established a few facts about shape shifters-Odo wouldn't shed skin cells like a humanoid. It's not to say that shape shifters never leave cells of their DNA behind, we don't actually learn that. But a big plot point of the show is that any part of a shapeshifter that becomes disconnected from their body reverts to a gelatinous state, so it wouldn't remain in the form of hair or skin cells.
  
  Those little continuity gaffes don't bug me because it was very early, and once they'd figured things out, they did stay consistent with them. What does bother me about watching this episode is that Terry Farrell's performance is VERY wooden for most of the first season. Her line reading is bad here, and was just as bad in the pilot. She got better, fortunately, but it's surprising she was ever cast with some of these early performances, especially since the producers made the decision to redesign Trills specifically because she had a pretty face that they didn't want to cover up.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Nick on 2011-08-25 at 5:14am:
  I noticed that you seem to dislike pretty much any Vulcan episode. You gave low ratings to Andorian Incident, as well as Carbon Creek, which are two most amazing episodes of Enterprise! Yet you gave high ratings to episodes dealing with Cold War and the future guy. I am wondering why... I find the Vulcan story line a lot more entertaining and convincing than the future guy crap. But to each their own...
• From Zorak on 2016-09-29 at 4:23am:
  The third bad episode in a row. What a shame. This season started off so strongly too. I hope it picks back up again. Though this one was not as bad as the last two, it wasn't much better either.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From L on 2013-04-27 at 10:02am:
  Did they ever show or explain the probe that Geordi was virtually operating? Was it a humanoid robot? Remote contolled mecha? Ball of energy?
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2013-05-14 at 1:44pm:
  It's a metallic probe in the shape of a cylinder, about 3 feet high and one foot in diameter. We know, because there is a scene in the episode where Geordi sees "his" reflection while using the interface, and it is actually the probe shown in the reflection. Geordi then jokes about it and says "I'm seeing my reflection in a panel. I forgot what a handsome guy I am". :-)
• From Daniel on 2014-01-11 at 11:40am:
  An interesting side note: Ben Vareen plays Geordi's father in this episode. And Levar Burton (Geordi) played young Kunta Kinte, the father of Chicken George (played by Ben Vareen) in Roots.
• From Doug on 2016-08-30 at 3:51pm:
  Actually, Ben Vereen played Kunta's grandson in "Roots". however, Madge Sinclair (who played Geordi's mother) was also in "Roots". She was Bell, the wife of older Kunta (played by John Amos).
• From ChristopherA on 2019-04-30 at 8:59pm:
  I agree that this episode is annoying. The idea of exploring with the probe was neat, but instead of focusing the episode on the mystery of the alien messages, which could have made a good episode, instead it made the crew more obtuse than usual to create conflict, so it could focus on that. It isn't the worst episode but it isn't that great.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Frogshortening on 2006-08-25 at 11:11pm:
  2?? I fail to see how an episode featuring the line "Get the cheese to sick bay", could be so low rated! That is my personal motto!!!
• From Mark McC on 2009-05-22 at 7:41pm:
  I've just started watching Voyager and was surprised when the short first season ended here. I was expecting a grand cliffhanger, possibly with the Vidiians or the Kazon. Instead, Voyager comes under attack from ... cheese!? That premise could have made for an excellent Tribble-style comedy episode season one of a new Star Trek deserves something better.
  
  I actually had to check the DVDs to make sure I'd watched them in the right order. With the disgruntled Maquis and lack of any real main plot this seems better suited as an early filler episode than a season finale.
  
  The episode featuring the tiny wormhole with the excellently-acted Romulan on the other side would have been a much better closer than this.
• From spline on 2013-10-30 at 8:34am:
  Hehe... I remember at the time, even JMS (the creator of Babylon 5) complaining in frustration (was on usenet, rast.b5.moderated), while trying to get B5 renewed for another year and seeing this episode about an "alien cheese virus" somehow get made...
  
  Thankfully things get better... eventually.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rob UK on 2015-03-17 at 4:47pm:
  I think Seven offering to explore her sexuality might be the single funniest moment in any Star Trek, poor ensign Kim missed the opportunity of a lifetime and only Gordi la Forge could have squirmed out more efficiently
  
  Seven "Sexuality is particularly complex, as Borg we had no need for seduction, no time for single celled fertilisation, we saw a species we wanted and we assimilated it, never the less i am willing to explore my humanity. Take off your clothes"
  
  Harry "S Seven"
  
  Seven "Don't be alarmed I won't hurt you"
  
  Gotta love that Borg efficiency, reminded me of those old Sci-fi movies where the explorer lands on the planet Venus and it is solely populated by females and the classic line "Show me more of this Earth thing you call kissing, i wish to understand it better" and other such classic lines that Kirk used to often experience are thrown about
• From McCoy on 2017-08-16 at 6:14pm:
  I really like this one. Concept of hologram disgusted with biological lifeforms is great. Maybe it could be executed better, but I'm satisfied. This mix of Norman Bates and Adrian Monk is quite convincing.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-06-15 at 6:24pm:
  I agree. This is pretty lackluster stuff, but it's a good idea with one exception: isn't Worf's action criminal? Do you really think Star Fleet would allow one of it's officers to essentially commit an act of terrorism against a Federation world without wanting to prosecute?
• From McCoy on 2017-02-02 at 5:56pm:
  I never was a fan of Worf (don't like Klingons...), but here I'm with him. All that Risa stuff is just bad and lacks morality. Everyone romancing everyone? Well, if this is civilised progress, I'm choosing old anachronic boring mentality:) Plus I liked thst soccer story! We need to control ourselves, because we may hurt someone. It's all about responsibility.
• From Mike on 2017-04-29 at 3:39pm:
  I get that "what happens on Risa, stays on Risa" but I have a hard time believing that sabotaging the planet's environmental systems turns out to be consequence-free. What's more, Worf attends the Essentialist rally and joins their sabotage all while wearing a Starfleet uniform! He is very lucky that the planet seems devoid of both media and competent legal authorities.
  
  The Essentialists are an interesting idea for an episode and I wish more would've been done with them than simply having their leader foolishly take a swing at Worf. It was a cheap and easy way to discredit them so that Worf can conveniently break from their movement, reunite with Jadzia, and get off the planet. Even Arandis has a sobering moment of realizing that maybe the Risian way of life has a cost. But we never get to explore that because, of course, the Essentialists are just a foil for Worf and Jadzia's relationship.
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2018-05-05 at 7:23pm:
  Maybe when she saw a Trill (any Trill) she assumed it was Dax because she was the only Trill expected on Risa at the time? As head administrator (or whatever), she would probably be aware of this stuff. (I'm just retconning, though. I totally agree this was an error).
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-10-21 at 8:40pm:
  I disagree that the Essentialists weren't handled well. They were treated as silly and childish, which is perfectly fitting for how overly concerned they are with how other people spend their free time. Perfect depiction of their ilk.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rpeh on 2010-07-16 at 10:59pm:
  This episode is a pretty obvious critique of the Catholic Church's opposition to all "non-natural" birth control methods.
  
  Even if you buy the scenario set out in the episode, you have to wonder what all those people were eating for so long.
• From technobabble on 2010-11-30 at 8:12am:
  What did they eat why each other! "Soylent green is people!"
  
  I know, I had to say it. Yes, this ep is a logic buster.
• From Old Fat Trekkie on 2011-12-06 at 9:33pm:
  Isn't a population limited by its food supply?
  Where do they get all of their food? - Not to mention a private place to procreate. Or, is that done while standing?
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2012-03-20 at 7:53pm:
  This one had a great premise, but falls apart at the seams after about 15 minutes. Why was the "heartbeat" only audible for a few minutes? Since when are beaming coordinates said aloud? Aren't coordinates usually "sent"? There are way too many plot holes in this one.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-11-19 at 2:46pm:
  ‘2’. This episode is ‘filler’ from one end to the other with so many silly plot details there’s really not much point to discussing them. My favorite part is when Spock beams Kirk down after quickly rhyming off some numbers, not even properly double-checking his input, or establishing that the co-ordinates given are safe. I’m pretty sure he violated every transporter safety regulation in the book. Then, instead of following up straight to the beam co-ordinates in a ‘hot’ rescue operation, he asks permission of Star Fleet, when he must know what the answer will be.
  
  I'm not even certain what the point of the fake ship was in the first place? If they wanted Kirk to transmit a disease, there was no need for any of that nonsense - just beam him down to negotiations and let natural viral transmissions do the rest. A better plot might have been to have him arrested for unleashing a pandemic.
• From SNSG on 2016-01-15 at 1:04am:
  DI thought this episode was awesome and that's mainly because I love the idea of a planet that wants to introduce sickness to a population. We often do not consider our viral roommates to be a welcome addition to our planet, but what if we're missing something? I also like the idea of a planet where loneliness is a commodity. That requires some imagination and is a great example of the new social constructs that Star Trek can represent. I would also like to address the issues with the episodes above.
  
  The need for romantic contact: Glen239 noted that they simply needed Kirk need only show up to infect the populace. Even though they didn't show it on screen, the disease was obviously a venereal disease. It is only logical that Kirk what is contracted one of these at this point in his career and that they would try to create an (off-screen) sexual connection with him.
  
  The fake Enterprise: yes there was a large amount of space devoted to the facade, but I have no problem believing that a government could secure special access to resources.
  
  The aliens that look human: a misstep in my opinion. Why not just make them colonizers who are suddenly experiencing the inability to die? Hell they could have even been descendants of an earth group that was anti-contraceptive for any reason, and even if they weren't, you could point out that various factors fail to keep humans from reproducing beyond their means all the time.
  
  The coordinates: yes coordinates are usually transmitted, but for the sake of the audience they are spoken so that we could see that they're faked.
  
  I also liked Spock's diplomacy, the empty enterprise and Scotty's noise. My main issue with the episode is that the Gideon's randomly sent up an officer only to have him sent back only after having revealing a difference in trajectory. Also, you really only need 9 numerical to describe your place in space? Put some letters in there at least. And if you're only describing your place in space relative to the Enterprise within transporter range, why could the officer on Gideon do it?
  
  I got a couple problems and head canon doesn't solve everything but I like this ep.
• From Rick on 2017-02-17 at 11:09pm:
  I do not see how Kirk pointing out that using germ warfare against your people is hypocritical if you think life is sacred, is a satire in any way of contraceptives and the death penalty.
  
  Are you equating germ warfare against your own people to executing people through due process? That is a heck of a leap. And by the way, even under your supposed satire, it would then be equally hypocritical to be in favor of contraceptives/abortion and against the death penalty.
• From Chris on 2019-03-23 at 7:22pm:
  Utter nonsense, top-to-bottom. Just plain stupidity...!
  Other than the idiotic gymnastics of trying to get Kirk to infect Odona, This episode has way too much nonsense!
  
  Where'd they get the specs to make an exact duplicate of a Star Ship which other than actually flying, appears to be fully functional!
  
  Where'd they get the technicians and engineers to build such a thing?!?
  
  Everyone else here has already asked the obvious questions about eating, pooping, and pro-creating...
  
  Surely the Gideons realized 'Paradise Lost' long before they got to this point of their civilization and would have taken some action long ago!
  
  The obvious bungling by the bureaucrats along with Spock is always hyper-irritating to me but I guess a necessary evil to carry a plot home.
• From Anon8 on 2020-10-18 at 1:31pm:
  I often wondered why it took so long to figure out the transporter coordinates that the Gideons gave for Kirk were different than the ones for Spock. It would seem that would immediately set off that steel trap memory of Spock's.
  Ridiculous they could get the intelligence needed to produce such an accurate replica. Neither the Romulans nor the Klingons could pull that off.
• From Steve on 2020-10-27 at 6:32am:
  What's with your constant bemoaning of aliens looking yet again like humans? You do know when these were made and what the budgets looked like? Seems like we should have expected CGI or some sort of major film production.
  
  The overpopulation theme was drawn from real concerns and conversations regarding the POPULATION BOMB. At least someone in entertainment tried to speak to that concern, and that itself elevates this episode to be one important.
• From Turbo on 2021-01-28 at 6:53am:
  I thought this episode was really enjoyable. Sure, it has a couple of plotholes to help the events along when you examine it more closely and sure, the presentation of the dilemma was rather hammy and makes you wonder how a civilization in such a state can even operate. However - once you view the sardines in a can style presentation as more metaphorical than literal the underlying premise of the overpopulation moral dilemma is a strong one nonetheless and might've gotten a far better reception with the more grounded or scientifically accurate presentation style of a later show. Furthermore I found it engaging to see what first appeared like a scientific mystery turn into a moral dilemma unexpectedly, it's an episode of different facets. And lastly I found the scenes of Kirk and then Spock exploring the empty "Enterprise" some nice character pieces and the awkward diplomatic dialogue between Spock and the ambassador while McCoy and Scotty were egging from the sidelines to be absolutely hilarious! Though that may just be my specific sense of humor.
  
  And to address a few of Keth's points: The Gideons' dedication to building a replica Enterprise despite their lack of space may just be testament to their desperation. Maybe they were simply too proud or embarrassed to ask the Federation for help, a lot of people and sometimes entire belief systems and cultures are and will go to incredibly convoluted extents to hide their faults. And lastly it's incredibly easy to judge someone's actions from afar by your own moral code, but if the Gideons think that shooting squads are immoral but lethal infections aren't then that's the moral compass they're entitled to. Laying out an entire civilization's moral belief system is a bit too much to ask for in 45 minutes anyway, and sometimes we just have to take things for what they are.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jem Hadar on 2009-05-16 at 11:08pm:
  Some problems:
  
  - Doctor McCoy says he has no idea how long Spock can last without his brain, and then says he has 24 hours a minute later!
  
  - Why did Chekov only heat one rock? He can heat all the rocks around him and they wouldn't have to huddle around one rock.
  
  - When McCoy was operating and started forgetting what he knew, how would Kirk know he would die if put the Teacher on again? Also, why wouldn't Kirk himself (or Scotty) put it on and then finish the operation after McCoy forgot what he knew?
  
  However, I like this episode. I'd give it a 7.5/10.
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2010-09-29 at 2:07am:
  I totally agree. Spock's Brain isn't as bad as its reputation. In fact, it's about an average episode for TOS, which, in all honesty, is a stunningly bad series (but would be a magnificent mini-series if whittled down to about 15 episodes).
  
  Granted, the premise of Spock's Brain is stupid and the story that unfolds gets increasingly absurd. But its deadpan presentation has a farce-like quality that makes it kind of fun to watch and poke fun at. Plus, I think the episode deserves credit for NOT following one of these recurring plot patterns in the Trek repertoire:
  1. someone acquires and abuses superhuman powers, 2. a machine grows powerful enough to threaten everyone
  3. they go back in time to pre-warp earth
  4. they go to a planet where a pre-warp earth colony (somehow) exists
  5. they encounter an alien culture EXACTLY like some culutre on pre-warp earth
  6. they encounter an alien culture moedeled after a specific pre-warp earth culture because of an early human traveler's inexplicably significant influence
  7. they encounter a superior alien speicies (or a single member of such a species) who, for some reason, takes a deep interest in some aspect of pre-warp earth civilization and recreates it for amusement.
  8. they encounter a disembodied "mind" or "consciousness" that (a) has somehow managed to exist outside of the biological body in which it emerged, or (b) for some reason has a gender and the same desires as biological beings even though it emerged through non-biological processes. [for some reason we're supposed to assume it's nothing supernatural like a "soul" even though there seems to be no scientific explanation for its existence]
  
  Also, the stuff I find most obnoxious in TOS (the nauseating misogyny I've come to expect from just about ANY episode featuring ANY female characters) is sort of kept in check for the most part in this episode. Don't get me wrong, it's hardly free of the usual bits of TOS-style gender politics (and of COURSE there's plenty of gratuitous titilation). But for the most part, Spock's Brain neither dwells on sex/gender nor makes any wildly sexist characterization of gender and its role in the universe. For me that's almost enough to make it tolerable.
  
  Hey, it's TOS. The bar is LOW :-)
• From Orion on 2010-12-27 at 4:10am:
  I just watched the blu-ray version of this episode and it's still a bad episode despite being cleaned up.
  
  The beam down scene has been "enhanced" by adding snow-covered mountains to the background. It looks nice, and it also looks like it's always been there, which is good. However, when they cut to a close up of everyone after the beam down the mountains are no longer visible in the background. Instead, it's just the original blue screen. So they actually created inconsistency in the episode by trying to enhance it.
  
  I do love most of the enhancements they have done with the series, it's just some of the decisions didn't seem well thought out.
  
  As for the episode overall, I think it's pretty bad, but maybe not as bad as some of the other TOS episodes (Omega Glory, That Which Survives). It's important to note that the ribbing this episode gets isn't just from the viewers, both Shatner and Nimoy have stated that they were embarassed while filming the episode.
  
  You do sense that the actors weren't into it. Just watch the part where they're all in sick bay discussing what to do. Not only do Mccoy and Kirk seem detached, but the dialogue is almost too unbearable to listen to.
  
  What's with the scene where Checkov is heating a rock? It seemed like they were trying to kill time because there was not enough material to fill the whole episode.
  
  
• From Dude McMann on 2014-09-16 at 5:07pm:
  I have to disagree. This is an astonishingly dumb episode. The worst Star Trek novels never reached the depths of stupidity and lazy writing that this episode did (and there are some pretty bad ones.) There should be an international vote among fans to remove this from the canon.
  
  That said, I like your reviews and I know that no two fans agree on everything. (I thought Miri was an okay episode.)
• From Kevin on 2017-04-01 at 6:30pm:
  Honestly a very lame episode, but oddly kinda entertaining, in a silly way. The idea was at least different.Years later I find a lot of the silly episodes to be more watchable.
• From Chris on 2018-01-13 at 10:26pm:
  At first, I found this episode to be beyond stupid, silly and totally unwatchable.
  Now, I love it and think it's hilarious!
  
  I give a lot of credit to Shatner, and Kelly for their acting when McCoy first tells Kirk about Spock's brain having gone AWOL. The expressions of disbelief and confusion are spot on to how one might react to the news!
  
  I'm confused as to how McCoy was able to install Spock's brain without so much as a drop of blood anywhere and absolutely no scarring anywhere!
  Yes, I know that McCoy doesn't sew people up like 'garments', but still!!!
  
  Come on, man!
• From Alan Feldman on 2022-08-26 at 12:10am:
  @kethinov:
  
  I think your review is mostly spot-on. Re ion propulsion: Yes, we have that now, but mostly for mid-course corrections. I don't recall launching anything with it. They would need something more powerful than that to move the _Enterprise_ around!
  
  Also, I'm not sure the high-level discussion bout what's moral and ethical about the whole thing is really doable in Star Trek. It's pretty much Kirk is always right. That's one reason I loved it when he was wrong in "The Galileo Seven." It's like the two or so episodes where Bugs Bunny doesn't have the upper hand.
  
  Oh, those controls are amazingly specific in what they do, esp. when Kirk was guiding Spock to grab the girl and press the release button, given how few buttons there are on his remote.
  
  Not a great episode, but I'd rather watch this than the "Mark of Gideon" or "The Savage Curtain" or "Requiem for Methuselah," and maybe also a few others.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2007-01-24 at 9:15pm:
  Ha! This episode basically gave a big middle finger to Kes. I never liked her and was disappointed to hear that she comes back in this episode.
  
  Problem: Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you set a phaser to "kill", it vaporizes the person!!! Kes just kind of fell over when Janeway shot her. Come on guys, this is season 6 and that's Star Trek 101!
• From Rob on 2008-04-28 at 2:37am:
  Not to pretend to be an expert on phasers or anthing, but I thought that a 'maximum setting' results in vaporization (ST: First Contact). That doesn't necessarily translate to the "kill" setting as a setting below complete vaporization could also cause enough damage to kill a target.
  
  Yes, No?
• From Tony on 2008-09-25 at 1:24am:
  I'm no expert on phasers eaither, so I don't know wheather the kill setting vaporizes or not, but if Kes can stay concious when hit with the stun setting, her powers could have prevented her from being vaporized as well.
  As for the episode itself, I did indeed find it distastefull as I was hoping for Kess to have a happy life after voyager. Presumably she still will after the events of this episode, but with much less of her life left. The fast that she lost some of her powers is anoying as well.
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2014-02-16 at 9:56pm:
  Regarding Tuvok's age, "Flashback" explicitly stated that Tuvok was 29 years old in those flashback scenes (which occurred during Star Trek VI, circa 2293). So regardless of how fast Vulcans age, there is simply no way Tuvok could have been less than 100 years old during "Fury" (set in 2376)... unless one of the two episodes was giving Tuvok's age in Vulcan years or something.
  
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2015-07-10 at 10:37pm:
  My friend, this episode is NOT a 2, it's a 0. A BIG FAT zero.
  
  The poster who said it was a "middle finger" to Kes is absolutely right. Except, unlike him/her I don't think it's at all laudable or even interesting (and certainly not very "Star Trek") to give a "middle finger" to a perfectly moral and good character, even if they are unpopular. And she wasn't even all that unpopular, she was just let go to make room for a new character because the showrunners were changing direction. (In my opinion the new character is much more interesting, but that's beside the point here).
  
  "The Gift" was an unsatisfying send off for Kes, but at least the idea behind it was that she had gone on to a bigger, more enlightened existence (like Wesley Crusher)... This redux, on the other hand, is totally unconscionable! WTF??? Really! If I was Jennifer Lien, I'd refuse to come back for a guest spot like this!
  
  Kethinov, I know your require a canon-defying continuity error to give something a zero rating, does the Tuvok's age thing count? Make it count :-)
  
• From parkbench on 2016-03-02 at 10:36pm:
  agreed that this episode was a mess--an there interesting premise, but almost seemed like an excuse to do a 'bottle show'--recycle a lot of old clips and slightly alter them.
  
  it also had a flimsy premise for kes petulantly getting mad as she got older and exacting revenge, and the second time when she already knew what was coming, somehow forgetting and falling into the same trap. maybe you could stick in things there about 'fate' and whatnot, but they didn't, so it just seems arbitrary.
  
  also tuvok's age thing--i'm confused because wasn't it just a few episodes ago that they were guessing his age, i think tom was, and they said it was already in the hundreds? forget 29...so yes this seemed inconsistent.
  
  anyway a confusing episode which ruined a not-great character=flop. i don't mind them soiling the memory of a "nice" character if they want to, but they didn't even do it well. kes somehow goes off the deep end and doesn't only want to revenge but actually becomes a heedless jackass who tries to condemn the entire crew to death? nope. don't believe it.
• From tigertooth on 2017-07-26 at 4:39am:
  I liked how when they went to the second run-through of the birthday cake scene, the director "crossed the line" and shot it from the reverse angle, almost giving it a mirror-image kind of look from the first time through.
• From Mitchell O on 2023-10-19 at 12:15pm:
  In the season 2 episode “Meld”, Tuvok mentioned that he has studied violence for “over 100 years”, leading further credence to Tuvok being far older.
  
  Either Janeway was incorrect in her calculations and Tuvok was humouring her, or the script writers stuffed up. Likely the latter.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion on 2011-12-10 at 10:39pm:
  This is a ridiculous episode to sit through, but it does have that "it's so bad, it's good vibe." Shatner gets to engage in a lot overacting. It must have been his dream episode!
  
  The resolution is a bit of a let down. "We'll keep an eye on your planet, so you better behave." I wanted to see a larger kinetic battle between the inhabitants and the Kirk/Spock duo.
• From Strider on 2012-06-28 at 7:02am:
  I agree that the ending was too quick, too clean, and didn't even go near the ramifications of having a planet like this in existence.
  
  However, the plot isn't the point of this episode at all. The point is the relationships--primarily among the Big 3, but also with the other 2 officers who were drawn into the terrible games. I LOVED McCoy following orders even when he had to watch Kirk and Spock humiliated, and I loved seeing McCoy's only outburst come at when Parmen was forcing emotions out of Spock.
  
  The two best moments were both Spock-and-Someone moments. First, Spock asking the other two men about their anger and hatred, then admitting his own and declaring that he must master it...and then giving a show of strength so that we have an idea how bad it could be if he can't get his anger and hatred under control. It's really something--we've seen Spock hurt and out of his mind before, but we've never seen him humiliated, or seen him watching Jim humiliated.
  
  The other best moment was with Christine. She's so mortified and you can see on Spock's face how miserable he is. He is a compassionate person, whether he admits it or not, and he doesn't like seeing Christine humiliated, either.
  
  Those were the moments that made this episode. That, and the vision I got of Alexander crawling around in the Jeffries tubes on the Enterprise.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-10-01 at 12:49pm:
  ‘0’. This episode is unwatchable dross that oscillates between bland and embarrassing. Not only is it bad, it is incompatible with the whole Star Trek universe. Apparently Earth scientists have missed for centuries that some form of wheaties gives you godlike powers of telekinesis that is cheaply duplicated and therefore would transform the culture of the entire galaxy within a decade. Oops.
• From Rick on 2017-02-17 at 4:01am:
  I had the same thought as you regarding a request for different doctor from the federation, but I think that is easily explainable given the fact that the Platonians were so drunk with power. People like that want what they want and they want it now. They have no empathy and they do not care that there may be an easier path. What is the difference to them? Bones resisting actually gives them more people to torture, it is a win-win.
• From Chris on 2018-03-25 at 10:30pm:
  I like this idiotic episode for some reason. Despite all of its nonsense, it's still fun to watch, and I agree with other commenters about Chapel and Spock's interaction. Of course, Kirk and Uhura are making history!!!
  I read elsewhere that Kiranide only has a half-life of 30-40 minutes. That might explain why it isn't widely put to use? It's also native to Vulcan which probably explains their mind-melding abilities among other talents... Of course, this is all established outside of the show and in most cases, long after, as canon is being established!
  Perhaps it is outlawed, like cocaine or other nefarious concoctions!
  The ending is way too anti-climactic! Also, 38 odd people alone on an Earth-sized world? Jeez! Everyone would have some of the bitchinist homes in the galaxy!!!!
  I've often wondered how all these tiny societies exist on these huge planets!!! The good folks in 'This Side of Paradise' all living together in tiny communities is simply stupid and bizarre! Everyone should have mansions on beautiful shorelines or in the mountains... just like Flynt with his robot girlfriend.
  
  Just an observation...
• From Chris on 2019-03-12 at 1:27am:
  I have a follow-up comment that just occurred to me about this episode (Yes, I watch these a lot!).
  
  It may come across as a bit crass, but knowing that Roddenberry dated both and then married one of these women, he must have been having a fantasy reel running when the show was written!
  
  Just sayin'!
  
  Did the Greeks carry maces back in the day? I wonder!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-22 at 6:31am:
  - When Pulaski decides to test her theory that the genetically perfect boy is harmless, she has Data pilot the shuttle. Why can't they pilot the shuttle by remote or have Data beam back to the Enterprise before they beam the boy over to the shuttle? That way, if something goes wrong, they will lose only one senior staff member, not two.
  - Because this cure with the transporters filtering Pulaski's DNA worked, everyone in the Federation can now remain eternally young. All they have to do is take a sample of their DNA when they are young. When a person approaches death, they can have the transporter redo their DNA. At this point, they should become young again.
  - When the Enterprise reaches the Lantree, Data reports that all systems seem functional. This seems reasonable. The problem with the Lantree wasn't the ship, it was the people. So why was the first transmission from the Lantree full of static and the voices garbled?
• From CAlexander on 2011-03-23 at 2:54pm:
  I agree with your points. I especially liked the efficient way they investigated the Lantree disaster and the respectful sendoff at the end. But the technical flaws were really noticeable. The genetic engineering is a huge discontinuity with both Space Seed earlier and DS9 later, where it is made clear that even subtle forms of genetic engineering are illegal and heavy discouraged. In this episode they proudly announce that they are creating fast-growing superbeings with flying hunter-killer biological defenses, and the crew doesn't seem bothered in the slightest. Then there is the cure. Let me paraphrase the scene where Picard comes up with the cure:
  
  Picard: "Chief O'Brien, I just had an idea. Could we modify the transporter into a magical plot device that can modify the molecules in the target in any way we choose?"
  
  O'Brien: "Sure, Captain, but I'll have to make a few modifications."
  
  I'll imagine what must have happened after that scene:
  
  Data: "Fascinating that no one ever thought of that before. A 10 second conversation has resulted in a discovery that will have massive repercussions throughout the galaxy."
  
  Picard: "No, Mr. Data, I'm a modest man. Let's forget about my little invention and never use it again."
  
• From Inga on 2011-12-29 at 11:59am:
  The planet, Gagarin IV, was named after Yuri Gagarin (???? ???????) - the first human in space
• From One Moonie Pants on 2012-02-22 at 8:49am:
  Rename: In which Pulaski makes a complete ass of herself. Once again she is quite rude to Data and then complements him later. She is outright nasty to Picard. Many medical officers learn to pilot a shuttle craft, I can only guess that she never learned cause she thought that particular skill would never come in handy on a starship?! Where is Crusher, I dislike this lady very strongly.
  OK done ranting about Pulaski, the positive points of this episode were the introduction of O’Brian who is an excellent actor (unlike Pulaski). The techno babble in this ep. I think is just to show that this new guy knows his stuff and therefore is awesome and worthy of hundreds of hours of screen time in future. Up until now he was just some dude standing where so many others have stood before (like the good looking women who the "rouge" hits on in 2x4.
  I thought the transporter cure was very far fetched and brought up to many questions, it was too much like cloning an earlier version of her. If that were the case why did she retain memories from her time over on the station. Also if she is in some way a clone then this would solve the death of every crew member…… ever. Just make a new copy from a hair when they get really old, human aging problem solved...?
  Early in the ep. The computer takes control of the ship and shows view screen of the bridge, trick was pretty cool. I wonder how many times that could have been used to solve problems on other episodes? :)
  All around this ep was just, put up with annoying character that we have to live with this whole season. As well as intro of new awesome character. The plot of this one is pretty dull and the philosophical eye brow raising was nonexistent.
  
• From idiotek on 2012-09-04 at 6:10am:
  I want to believe you're trolling with the Pulaski love-in, seeing as she's the worst recurring character out of any TV show ever (never mind the trek franchise). Don't think you are though. McCoy 2.0 is probably the biggest blasphemy you could have gone for. Picard facepalm.
• From McCoy on 2017-11-13 at 8:24pm:
  Sorry, Idiotek. Pulaski is my favourite character from TNG:) What a shame she was only for one season. I'm serious, really.
  And this was nice episode with good interactions between her and Picard.
• From jeffenator98 on 2019-10-02 at 5:04pm:
  They did use this technique before in TAS episode the Lorelei signal. I also like Pulaski.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-15 at 6:56am:
  The treknobabble in this episode is just .... mwa! *chef's kiss*
  
  "Well, I'd have to get into the bio-filter bus and patch in a molecular matrix reader. That's no problem. But the waveform modulator will be overloaded without the regeneration limiter in the first stage circuit." ... Makes me wonder if the Trek writers read their own scripts sometimes.
  
  Amazing job that transporter did on Pulaski's makeup!
  
  I don't dislike Pulaski as much as I dislike Crusher's absence. Nice to see her learning to be a little less of a jerk to Data.
  
  Data emotion-spotting: he smiles a little bit when Pulaski says he has a way with computers. He's clearly programmed to crave human approval and display signs of vindication when he gets it.
• From The USS Obamtry on 2023-04-23 at 4:13pm:
  Pulaski is great, she is more interesting, fun interactions with some of the crew, finally someone who rembers that Data is an android, and she was in TOS a few times!
  And to that guy who says she is a bad actress, ridiculous! Unlike for most of the usual trek cast, including the Crushers, she had a multifaceted acting career besides Trek.
  
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-04-21 at 5:55pm:
  I just watched this again for some reason, and I'm in almost total agreement with the review here. This is embarrassingly bad. Although I like the general premise of a messianic Vulcan cult leader, I think it's riduculous to make him Spock's brother, and his character is, as the review mentions, very broadly drawn at best.
  
  To me, this seems like a Trek movie made by folks who didn't really know or understand Trek. The Klingons are broad parodies of Klingons. The "Planet of Peace" idea is too stupid for words, and the people inhabiting the bar there look like they belong in Space Balls, especially the incredibly stupid cat woman stripper who attacks Kirk. Another really terrible scene is Uhura's song-and-dance routine used to distract the cult leaders at the outpost. The sound mixing is horrible here, but the bigger problem is that their reaction to her little song and dance is ridiculous, a failed attempt at comic relief at best.
  
  And then we have "god" himself. I love the idea that the movie kills "god," as it's in fitting with the Star Trek philosophy, but this character was rendered in an exceptionally stupid way. And why make Spock the gunner on the Klingon ship?
  
  One side note: there's more than a little hint about a budding relationship between Scotty and Uhura here. Is my memory failing me, or is this an isolated thing?
• From Glenn239 on 2012-10-25 at 12:56pm:
  ‘4’. I liked the general idea of this movie and hated Shatner’s execution. It’s not too bad before they pass through the galactic barrier, but it’s literally unwatchable from that point on. Where to begin. Row, row, row your boat, Shatner’s insane free-face rock climbing bit, Sulu and Chekov getting lost and then going to ridiculous lengths to cover up, Scotty and Uhura – WTF was that?, Uhura’s embarrassing song scene, the ship’s silly malfunctions, the overall ‘cheap meets cheese’ feel to the costumes, sets, and special effects. The sloppy script problems. Worst of all, the epically bad ending.
  
  It could have worked. The idea of a messianic figure leading an unauthorized mission was solid. A little like Asimov’s Mule from Foundation and Empire. Sybok was a good character idea. He’s just as conflicted between selfishness and honor as was Khan, but oohh, he’s ten times more mysterious.
  
  Keep Sybok as is, but Darth Vader did not build C3PO and Sybok is not Spock’s half brother. Lose the planet of peace. Sure, have a solar system with 3-way jurisdiction, but make it a credible arrangement. Presumably Enterprise can rendezvous with a Romulan and Klingon ship, to go as an international force to restore order, because of the divided political status of the star system. So now the Klingons are in the movie with a credible motive. You know, something other than being tired of shooting at space junk. At the planet, the three commanders naturally fall out about how to handle the situation. And Sybok, when he does take over the remaining ships, he’s is not looking for God. Maybe he’s on a dangerous political quest. Say to Organia or something.
  
• From Jeffenator98 on 2013-08-01 at 7:15pm:
  When Kirk says "I lost a brother once" McCoy should have said "Oh that's right George."
• From BrentNorth on 2013-12-15 at 3:09am:
  The one brief moment in Star Trek V that I truly love is the beautiful shot of the Enterprise in front of the moon, along with the quote, "All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
  
  Otherwise, The Final Frontier strikes me as a wasted opportunity. It gets points for at least trying to tackle interesting subject matter (God), but of course fails miserably for the most part.
• From kevin on 2014-02-12 at 12:11am:
  Starts off interesting, Sybok seems to be a good character, then it turns into a mess. Does not know when to be serious or silly. Way too many silly jokes and silly stuff going on, but they are not even all that funny. Great music, good visuals tough. The Rocket shoes SUCK during both scenes they are used in. Really silly. The singing at the campfire....blah. They could have done SO much more.
• From Daniel on 2014-08-03 at 12:06am:
  This is definitely a bad Star Trek movie, although it is fun to watch. It's full of slapstick, sight-gags, and one-liners. If you want a silly Star Trek movie, this is the one. One detail I noticed that has always bugged me; in the scene where Kirk and the others go down to the planet 'Shakari', they cut to the bridge, where everyone is gazing in wonder at the view screen. Then, they focus in on a computer display warning of the approaching Klingon ship. Naturally, everyone is too busy watching the planet to notice. Shouldn't there be a distinct audio warning when the computer detects an approaching enemy vessel???
• From thaibites on 2015-07-19 at 10:20pm:
  I agree with everything negative being said here about this movie. I would like to add that the music bothered me greatly. I kept expecting to see #1 coming out of the bathroom after doing a #2. Make it so! Anyway, it just seems like a cheap, subliminal way to get old trek fans interested in the new series. If I see Kirk, Spock, and Bones, I want to hear that hair raising theme music I grew up with!
  And what's up Shatner's hair?!? Was that real?
• From Luke Somers on 2016-07-05 at 5:38pm:
  I've read that if you take everything between the two camping trips to be a dream of Kirk's occurring during the trip, then works a lot better; it seems to me like this is true (though I haven't rewatched it since, I can recall it fairly clearly). The story is then true to his character and the conflicts he experiences in respect to other characters. And of course it explains the consistency errors and general silliness.
  
  Of course, it wouldn't deserve to have a movie made of it, just as Kirk's dream.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Psycroptic on 2012-07-20 at 10:22pm:
  This is probably my favourite arc on DS9, so much going on and so much great character development. A bit too much time spent on Ezri and Worf's bickering though.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-28 at 10:32pm:
  I loved Martok telling the proud warrior story of a proud warrior's wife and his proud warrior, honorable targ...that's basically the tale of a door being left open so the dog gets away. It's amusing the way Klingons put their stories into a framework. J. G. Hertzler gives such a great Klingon performance.
• From L on 2013-08-18 at 8:13pm:
  Kai Winn and Dukat making pillow talk in bed together is the single most disturbing thing I've ever seen in Star Trek; because they've been so well-written as characters over the series we know how truly ruthless they really are and that together they will be a major force of evil.
  
  I continue to hate the religious messages as the show still seems to be tacitly approving them, rather than showing how stupid blind obedience to authority is and how contrary to notions of humanity's freedom to choose their own destiny within the larger universe, but it's still a very compelling dramatic build-up to the final conflict.
  
  I don't know how but Ezri seems to get cuter every episode.
• From Scott Nolan on 2018-11-18 at 6:49am:
  I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the excellent acting of Louise Fletcher (Kai Winn) in this episode.She was brilliant in 5he scene where she was begging the Prophets to speak to her. She thinks she’s being religious, but she’s really being self-absorbed.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rob UK on 2019-01-18 at 5:04am:
  Well i'm sad to say I have decided I am boycotting ST Discovery, speaking with my eyes you could say.
  
  Anyone out there watching The Orville? I loved season 1 and so far season 2 is even better, makes it all the harder to go from watching a great little piece of sci-fi to trying to watch that contrived drivel replacing Star Trek.
• From Rob UK on 2019-02-10 at 12:57pm:
  Well folks i'm struggling, The Orville is doing that mid season break thing and ST Discovery S02 is sitting there unwatched, I nearly started watching season 2 last night but instead I ended up watching videos from other ST Fans on YT about what they thought of season 2 so far, like a buffer zone if you will.
  
  Anybody reading out there who has not yet read any of my other mad ramblings on here (Thanks Kethinov) let me explain something, i totally love Star Trek, all through my 43 years so far it has been in my life but i realised just because they call something Star Trek it does not 'make it so'.
  
  This show is no longer Star Trek, it bears zero resemblance to Star Trek except for stolen character names and ideas, Star Trek should sue this show for copyright defamation! For taking it names and characters and logos and branding and tarnishing a story 40 years in the crafting.
  
  You are all here for your own love of Star Trek, simply because I have read every single review and reader post on this site so far I know we all totally love it for our own unique reasons, but, we share many commonalities in our love and hate, even the hate is a love/hate kinda hate like you watched it so many times to even get to it kinda love hate, it is through that shared love and hate that we found this blog site and why we contribute and share with each other on it about how and why ST emotes us, I get a little buzz when i pop on to check and see that there is a new fan comment, a juice little mind morsel to consume, i've been reading and posting on here for about 5 years now.
  
  So then, my reason for commenting again here even though i have not watched anything related to ST Discovery S02 (so far, you guys are telling me how bad it is, i trust i'd feel the same, therefore no need to put myself through it, thanks folks), whilst watching fan vids (as mentioned above) I stumbled upon the legendary Leonard Nimoy RIP from way back when explaining how and why Star Trek is Star Trek.
  
  
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFTsctYfWEw
  
  and coincidentally why Discovery is not Star Trek

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jim on 2010-12-16 at 4:03am:
  Could I care any less about Chakotay at this point in the show? 7 o' 9 has made half of the cast irrelevant and Beltram seems more wooden than ever. "Forgettable" is more apt.
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-17 at 1:21am:
  Truly horrible. Plodding and lifeless.
  
  I kept watching, thinking that the alien would surprisingly turn out to be a fugitive criminal or something interesting, but the ending was exactly what we were told in the first ten minutes.
  
  Plus Virgina Madsen looks nowhere as cute here as she did in the movie "Dune."
• From Rob UK on 2014-07-18 at 1:23pm:
  I only have one thing to say
  
  This gets my vote for worst Star Trek episode ever
• From tigertooth on 2016-11-05 at 5:00am:
  I loved the line as the alien tracker guy was leaving the ship with the woman: "Oh, by the way - I infected your computers with a virus that's going to wipe out a bunch of data. Trust me, it's cool."
  
  hahahahaha!!!!
  
  This was garbage.
• From RodimusBen on 2020-11-16 at 4:31am:
  The concept behind this episode isn't bad in theory, and variations have been done before, such as TNG's Clues where the crew starts to realize that their memories of a certain time were erased, or Voyager's own Latent Image. The execution is just weak. Janeway and Chakotay put up surprisingly little resistance to the practices of this culture, which seems fine just stealing away people's memories as a form of oppression. Sure, there's the obligatory scene where the the characters all wax philosophical on the merits and vices of the system, but by the end of the episode they're just shrugging their shoulders when the alien tells them he's placed a virus in their computers!?
  
  Another dud for Chakotay, who is not necessarily a bad character, just badly written more often than not. And a waste of the lovely and talented Virginia Madsen, who under different circumstances, could have been one of Voyager's more memorable guest actors.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Axel on 2024-03-12 at 2:26pm:
  That’s it? I guess this whole season was ultimately the story of Picard’s coming to terms with the loss of Data; everything else was just filler. I agree, the finale had some touching moments but the assisted suicide of Data combined with Picard’s magical revival made for a rather poorly executed end to an otherwise exciting season. But I guess Star Trek has had multiple characters that died and then were brought back again, so nobody ever really dies off in this franchise, until they do.
  
  There was plenty of intrigue in the finale: constantly shifting alliances between characters, hidden agendas, conflicts, betrayals, etc. That part was nice. But I do agree that so many storylines were just dropped and unresolved. The intergalactic, trans-dimensional synthetic life forms that clearly have the power to wipe out all life in the galaxy, and oh by the way, can apparently move stars around? Any investigation into the Romulan/Federation conspiracy to instigate the Utopia Planetia destruction? The fate of the Romulan Free State that was using the Borg cube as the basis of its economy? Are Commodore Oh and the Zhat Vash totally cool with how things ended here, giving up on their centuries-long quest to eliminate all synth life? And how about the synths on Coppelius Station; will they just peacefully return to their life knowing that huge swaths of organic civilizations wanted them to be destroyed, and maybe still do? But oh well…we got to see Data turn into an old man, I guess. Overall, a disappointing end to a season that had plenty of excitement, drama, nostalgia, humor, and intrigue.
  
  That said, I do think ST: PIC did it right. The writers were clearly paying attention to canon, but they adapted Star Trek to a more modern TV format and visual. Some fans may pine for the older version, where a crew explores new worlds each week. But at this point, the Star Trek franchise is kind of running out of surprises in the Milky Way. We pretty much know what’s in all four quadrants of the galaxy now, and in the center. THere’s stuff in other galaxies too. If Star Trek is to continue being a kind of American saga, as Brent Spiner has described it, then it needs to reinvent itself with each generation. ST: ENT and ST: DIS fumbled things, in my opinion, by going backward on the timeline. PIC finally went forward, which was a much better approach. I look forward to seasons 2 and 3.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Bryce on 2009-08-28 at 1:52pm:
  This has to be my least favorite episode of the series is so slow a boring and the music doesn't help.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-16 at 1:10pm:
  It's not necessarily the worst episode, but it's really bad. The premise is absurd, the music grating, and the ridiculous number of times somebody tries to sacrifice themselves to save somebody else is nauseating.
  
  It was one of the few episodes that made me glad when it was over.
• From Jem Hadar on 2010-08-25 at 6:43pm:
  What are the two below me talking about? Were you watching the same episode I was? This is one of my favourite episodes of the Original Series! I loved the black background throughout, it gave it a very mysterious and supernatural feel.
• From Orion on 2012-01-30 at 1:29am:
  I give this episode credit for being artistic, but there's just too many problems to for the viewer to come away satisfied. It's hard not to be restless when the camera cuts to the close-up shots of Gem's face. The music during these shots make them even more unbearable. Why run such a slow experiment while the star system is about to destroy itself? Why did the Enterprise not offer assistance?
• From Strider on 2012-06-28 at 3:51pm:
  A Christian theme (and I strenuously argue the premise that it's present here) is not at all the same as Christian evangelism. Themes are drawn from all sorts of cultural mythologies--just because a story has an archetypal Greek mythos doesn't mean the creators want us all to worship Zeus.
  
  Any themes of self-sacrifice will resonate with the Christian mythical system, as well as with the many other cultural expressions of the high virtue of sacrifice for the good of another or of the whole. It's encapsulated in the Vulcan maxim of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one or the few." Of course, that can be taken too far and is only valid when the "one" or the "few" sacrifice their needs voluntarily and not by force.
  
  Actually, if there's a Christ figure in all this, it's McCoy...who is dying from the exact wounds that Christ died from on the cross: heart damage and lung congestion.
  
  The theme of self-sacrifice is one that strongly resonates with me, and I never tire of seeing these 3 men sacrifice for each other, even if they have to lie and manipulate in order to ensure the others' safety. I do prefer, however, when it just happens, and we don't have self-satisfied bighead aliens taking up valuable time lecturing on it.
  
  The episode has some other serious problems. The "Gem" character is SO annoying! I've known people who can't speak, and they still manage to communicate. They have facial expressions, for example, and don't just sit around looking doe-eyed all the time. Also, empathic healers (which is what I think "Gem" is supposed to be, rather than a pure empath), relieve the pain of others by taking it into themselves. I didn't see an indication that she was in pain...though maybe that was what her almost non-existent acting was trying to convey.
  
  And why was "Gem" the one that had to take the test for her whole people? Why not bring in a few of them and average the results? And are they ALL mute? You'd think a mute race would have developed some writing or sign language.
  
  And the music...God save us from meaningful 60's sound tracks. And WHY weren't those Vians arrested and tried for kidnapping, abuse, and torture? And I don't see why "Gem" should be called a pearl of great price. She was useless. Yeah, she healed them, but she was the reason they were being tortured anyway. And, what will happen to the people on the other planets--is the Federation just going to let them die when the sun novas? And everybody's okay with that?
  
  For me, the only value in this was in the loyalty of the 3 to each other.
• From Mosh on 2012-08-02 at 2:33am:
  Yeah, every time someone quotes the bible in this show it just rings false. It just ruins my optimistic view of the future. I guess maybe that's my fault.
• From Alan Feldman on 2012-09-05 at 2:44am:
  Frankly, I'd rather watch "The Alternative Factor". At least there are a couple of exciting scenes in that one.
  
  This episode is simply awful. Overall it makes no sense.
  
  The reasoning behind the test is invalid and the test itself is unjustifiably cruel.
  
  And I find it really, really painful to watch Gem. (Yeah, I know -- I'm not the only one. Just seconding it, so to speak.)
  
  All it takes at the end is a 30-second speech by Kirk to make the Vians change their minds.
  
  After the Vians heal Bones and pick up Gem, why do they leave flying backwards? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair
  
  And all they say as they leave is "farewell".
  
  AEF
• From Glenn239 on 2012-11-28 at 1:07pm:
  '0' Worst episode of the entire series.
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-11-17 at 3:43am:
  The Vians look pretty cool.
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-26 at 7:46pm:
  This episode has my vote for the worst of the series.
• From Mal on 2015-06-13 at 8:56am:
  To be a fan of sci-fi/fantasy/horror is to accept plot holes. Often the difference between great, good and bad of genre fiction is how egregious the viewer or reader perceives those plot holes to be.
  
  When I first saw this one as a kid, I hated it and would have given it a one. Too static, no action and overly sensitive. But now, I have a different view of life, suffering and mortality than the twelve year old who first watched this episode in 1968.
  
  This episode speaks to friendship, compassion, self-sacrifice, loyalty and the ability to both acquire those traits and amplify them. These are the very traits that give us our humanity. Wish there was more of it in this world.
  
  The actress who played Gem annoyed me to no end in my first viewing. I now see in those lingering close ups she so often got that she spoke volumes with just her eyes, leaving no need for physical histrionics or excessive facial contortions. The music that accompanied her was mysterious without being sinister, poignant without being maudlin.
  
  There is one thing I could have done without: the biblical pandering.
  
  I gave "The Empath" an 8.
• From Chris on 2018-08-07 at 6:11pm:
  Great review!
  You know, not once did I make the connection to the religious themes in this and your analogy of Gem and Jesus is spot on!
  Considering that Roddenberry was supposedly an atheist, I'm constantly irritated by the religious references in the series and now that my eyes are opened on this episode, I'm even more irritated! Argh!
  Could they have gone more over the top? Hardly!
  Still though, I did kinda like the episode and found the actress who played Gem very expressive and she conveyed her feelings very well.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Benjamin Baxter on 2008-07-16 at 5:43am:
  Problem: Julian's comment that the lock to Quark's isn't that complex, contradicting a scene from an earlier episode that involves a very complex lock created by Rom. Ironically, that's a lock that Julian and O'Brien tried to pick in that episode, if my memory serves.
• From MJ on 2011-01-29 at 1:56pm:
  On it's own, I like this episode a lot. But the way this whole thing gets swept under the rug is a bit too much for me to give it a full 10. Bashir lures a member of Section 31 to the station, kidnaps the guy, tries to use an illegal device to scan his memory, keeps him alive for the sole purpose of scanning his memories, and then eventually the guy dies in what could only be considered murder...or at the very least, manslaughter. And not only does nothing ever happen to Bashir, but it isn't even mentioned. Ever again.
  
  At first I thought it might be because Section 31 is secretive and also frowned on by the Federation. But secret or not, it seems to hard to believe they wouldn't send their own people after Bashir having so closely guarded the cure to the changeling virus for so long. And as we find out in the next episode (spoiler alert), the Federation Council apparently approved the changeling virus anyway, so clearly Section 31 has plenty of sympathizers that they could use to help stop Bashir.
  
  That aside, I like the episode. The Odo scenes are nicely done, and it was good to see Bashir and O'Brien have one last adventure together before the series ended.
  
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-12-25 at 7:41pm:
  This is a nice episode - a light comedic break in this final nine-episode arc. Has heart, giving us some more of that bromance between O'Brien/Bashir, and doesn't take itself too seriously - the writing as the two are about to enter Sloan's mind is just so deadpan about a very silly premise. Simultaneously, it builds towards the conclusion, curing the morphogenic virus and tying up that loose end of Section 31. Not a great standalone episode, but at this place in the story it is most welcome.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Kyle on 2015-05-19 at 4:56pm:
  Actually, bio-memetic gel, was mentioned before in the TNG episode Firstborn.
  It didn't seem to be tightly controlled then as Riker used 1/2 gram of it to trade for some ore from a Yridian.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-12 at 4:32pm:
  Hey, it's "Remember Me" but this time it's for Dr. Bashir instead of Dr. Crusher, and half as interesting!
  
  I do like the exchange at the end, when Garak essentially commends Bashir for continuing not to trust him.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Psycroptic on 2013-04-11 at 1:38am:
  Finally an episode where tuvok gets to do something
• From The Emergency Obumpresidential Hologram on 2022-03-07 at 4:45pm:
  Chakotays phasor test was pretty unreliable, Tuvok should have just aimed to miss Janeway. No risk.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From CAlexander on 2011-04-07 at 2:44pm:
  Amusing to see the women finally get to do something. But not a very sophisticated episode. I practically predicted the whole plot just from the name.
  
  - I too am annoying by the transporter de-aging effect. Totally unnecessary to the plot, just an attempt to milk some extra drama.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rhea on 2008-04-27 at 3:46pm:
  All in all great episode, and I am happy that they recycled it in The Menagerie. However, it's a feminist's nightmare. Women are either intelligent, in which case they are not sexual, or sexual, in which case they are dumb. The worst, however, is that Pike is such a macho. Not only does he not want the new yeoman on the bridge because she irritates him with her femaleness, he also "agrees" with Mina's decision to stay on the planet so she can live in an illusion and be beautiful instead of going back with the Enterprise and be ugly, but among real people. Who but the most vain person (i.e. a 1960s regular woman, obviously, at least in the writers' eyes) would chose illusion and loneliness instead of a chance for a real life?
• From Alan on 2009-06-24 at 2:16am:
  "Who but the most vain person (i.e. a 1960s regular woman, obviously, at least in the writers' eyes) would chose illusion and loneliness instead of a chance for a real life? "
  
  Wel,i sure would if the illusion was happy and the real life was misery.Let's face it,looking like that what happiness could she have had?
  
• From Jem Hadar on 2010-09-03 at 3:59am:
  Loving the new reviews, keep them up! Great pictures too!
• From Tallifer on 2011-02-19 at 10:08pm:
  "Sol" is simply the Latin word for a "sun," which is the central star of any system of planets. Scientists in former times preferred terminology derived from Greek and Latin, hence the term solar system. Of course, originally "sol" was only our sun, but now we know that there are many other stars which have planets.
• From wes on 2011-03-23 at 10:13pm:
  Does anyone actually say what Spock is in this episode? I don't recall anyone saying that he is a Vulcan.
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-12 at 2:53pm:
  Whenever I watch the Cage, I find myself wishing I could see more of the adventures of Captain Pike. They say the Cage was rejected as a pilot for being "too cerebral." That sounds about right, that's why I like it. Pike comes across as more human that other Star Trek captains; he lets you know what he is thinking and feeling. You learn a lot about Pike in one short episode.
• From Mike Meares on 2012-01-21 at 11:46pm:
  First, I have to say what a great Website! Thank you Keithinov!
  
  And like Jem Hadar wrote, I have to say what great photos. I have searched and searched the internet for Star Trek TOS photos and just can’t find good ones. You have come up with some fantastic ones.
  
  As to your review of The Cage, I thought your rating of 6 was a little low. However, I think your criticisms are correct but I feel the story and presentation holds up very well even after all these years.
  
  Rhea’s criticism is correct in that the issue of women was never handled properly by Star Trek producers. I think this is a ongoing weakness of Star Trek that was handed down by the great Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry had a marvelous vision of the future but had a terrible view of women in general and the role of women in Star Trek in particular.
  
  And while I do agree with Alan that given a choice I too would have preferred the illusion over reality, you have to ask yourself if the Talosians knew nothing of human beings could they really care for Vina and all her real health issues better than Humans could? I understand her staying behind made for a good story and she was with the Talosians for 18 years ( although it makes you wonder how they kept her alive all that time not knowing human physiology ). However, I still feel Humans could have done more for Vina health wise than the Talosians.
  
  And I have to totally agree with CAlexander! Captain Kirk will always be my favorite Star Trek Captain, but I always wonder how I would feel if I had seen more of Captain Pike. Christopher Pike was such an interesting character and I wish we could have seen more of him.
• From Stephan on 2012-05-17 at 7:58am:
  Nice site, I've just started watching the old star trek and reading your reviews after I watch each episodes.
  
  I wanted to go back here and make a point in regard to your comment in the problem section about how it's wrong for them to say they are "American". Well, I re-watched it and they didn't specifically say that they were Americans They said exactly: "We're from the American continent". That doesn't mean that they thought the United States still exists or that they have American citizenship, but rather points to the general area they are from.
  
  Nowadays, when people from the same country encounter each other while traveling meet abroad, they frequently exchange information about which part of their home country they are from. It's not a far stretch to see they would do that too in outer space considering which part of Earth they are from.
• From Chazz on 2012-07-27 at 3:27am:
  What a great website! I just discovered it and absolutely love it! The Cage is actually one of my all-time favorite Star Trek episodes. I love the overall theme we humans are insignificant specks in this universe and there are other beings infinitely more superior to us who would view us as less than an amoeba for science experiments. People forget this was still a revolutionary idea in the 1960's when many still thought we were made in the image of you-know-who. As for Captain Pike, I think he would have made ineffective leader, had he continued, especially with his self-doubts, weariness, bizarre fantasies and overall lack of self-motivation. Captain Kirk was a far better leader as he portrayed the real qualities that a ship captain would need to possess to command a crew of 400.
• From Schreck on 2013-05-22 at 5:59am:
  My brother and i have been going through the star trek chronology watching every episode in order by stardate and i must say i have used this site as a constant reference for comparing as well as seeing how you view some of these episodes and i would like to post my ratings on here in the comments section as well...our ratings scale goes from 1-10 but on a .25 incremental basis...i also rate the episode based on how i would compare it with the rest of entertainment and not just trek so it is likely not going to have any 0's or 1's...
  I give the cage a 6 and my brother gave it a 7
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-06-13 at 1:33am:
  "The Cage"
  
  The best thing about this episode is that it is "high-density" material. In other words, there's little or no filler. There's always something interesting happening. Another great thing about this episode is all the elaborate sets -- nothing like the regular show.
  
  The worst thing: the ridiculous idea of humans preferring death over captivity (more on this later).
  
  At the beginning we see radio waves distort the view on the screen. Radio waves are not visible! Also, notice that the right half of the sky is just a mirror image of the left! (Well, small parts of it not, but the vast majority of it is.)
  
  Right after Pike leaves the bridge we see a girl wearing a red top and a white mini-skirt walking next to a guy dressed more for the beach than for a starship. Notice he's wearing shorts and sandals! A pretty lax dress code if you ask me.
  
  Notice the yellow sheet coming out of some machine on the console. It appears to be a very slow printer producing a rather low quality printout! And this is supposed to be two or three hundred years in the future? Maybe it's "retro," cheap-fax-machine style.
  
  I love the scene with Spock, Pike, and the blue leaves. It looks like they get some sort of buzz out of the leaves, especially Spock. Look at his smile! Yep, yet another emotion from the "emotionless one." If Spock were truly totally emotionless, he'd be boring.
  
  Notice the display window containing flowers that the Talosians walk in front of when they make their first appearance. I guess the Talosians just wanted to spruce the place up a bit. And just to the right of that you can just about see one of their specimens moving about and watching from its cage. If you blink, you'll miss it.
  
  Regarding Vina, Dr. Theodore Haskins said that "she was born almost as we crashed." No. 1 later said she was listed as an adult crewman on the ship. Somewhat contradictory, no?
  
  Starting a race of humans from two people would result in incest between the offspring. Better to start with unrelated pairs of males and females, no?
  
  At the end when we see that Vina is in reality grossly deformed, we learn that the Talosians didn't have a model for a human to go by when they "rebuilt" her. Would it be a large stretch of the imagination to at least assume bilateral symmetry, at least for the exterior? I mean, really now. And they knew how to give her an illusion of beauty. Why couldn't they just rebuild her to look like that, or as close as you can get? And if you can get everything to work, how far off can you be? And how could she still have been alive if she was so injured that "putting her back together" would result in something so malformed?
  
  The transition from pretty Vina to ugly Vina is extremely well done. Her eyes, lips, and eyebrows are even moving during parts of it! Although, admittedly, there is a difference in the overall look of the scene when the transmutation is done and it cuts to Pike and then back to her. During the transmutation it's like she's holding her head still for the hairdresser, but after that her head's sort of bobbing and we're back to "live action." There is a small lack of continuity there, but still pretty good. IOW, the last frame of the transmutation doesn't look quite like the first frame of her after cutting to Pike and back. Slightly overlapping sets of eyes at one point, but still very impressive.
  
  For some reason I find Pike's continual endless outrage to be annoying. And, while on top of this, parts of the episode strike me as really awkward, I still find the episode compelling to watch.
  
  Near the end, The Keeper says: "We had not believed this possible. The customs and history of your race show a unique hatred of captivity. Even when it's pleasant and benevolent, you prefer death. This makes you too violent and dangerous a species for our needs." If this were true there'd be mass suicides in prisons everywhere. Please.
  
  The idea of forcing one to experience an illusion instead of reality can only go so far. I mean, you can "override" reality only so much. If it's all in your head, that's fine (though you would have to synchronize the "dreams" that Vina and Pike share together, etc.). But if you're firing your phaser full blast at the Talosian elevator, and one of the flying rocks hits you in the head, I don't see how any illusion is going to fix that!
  
  I don't understand why you say, "Technically, it's the rest of Star Trek which is a continuity error." This is only a pilot -- a sales pitch, if you will. I would say the rest of Star Trek is the main thing.
  
  AEF, aka betaneptune
• From John H Adams on 2017-09-22 at 6:09pm:
  The average fan rating is closer to a 7 than the stated 3.05.
• From zontar on 2020-01-05 at 1:25am:
  I have been re-watchign all sorts of Star Trek as it is streaming on various platforms, and I am finding new appreciation for episodes I have seen many times.
  I tired watching The Cage as if TOS never happened, and to imagine what it might have looked like if this pilot had sold.
  
  It would have been different for sure, with some overlap with TOS-but it would still have been better than most of the other shows out there.
  
  I really appreciated The Cage watching it that way-not for differences, but to see what it was like on its own-which is not as easy to do if watching the clips in The Menagerie.
  I rate this one highly

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tallifer on 2011-05-13 at 11:14pm:
  The climactic fight was horrible. These were fully armed Klingons and yet no one died: not much of a lesson for the Klingons. (Perhaps T'pol wisely advised them that killing any Klingons would only instigate a bloood fued, but I never saw that mentioned.)
• From belvedere_hedon on 2012-08-17 at 8:51pm:
  Deuterium is a form of hydrogen, but it cannot be separated chemically and (at least on earth) it is found in very low concentrations in naturally occurring hydrogen sources (i.e. water). Purifying deuterium is energy intensive with modern technology, and it is not unreasonable to assume that refining it would be a self-sustaining service as it would provide a fuel for fusion reactors in a remote part of the galaxy. Indeed, much of our justification for establishing permanent presence on the moon is that it would provide a valuable source of deuterium to fuel space exploration since the natural concentrations are higher there, and the lower gravity makes sending it into orbit cheaper.
• From Roger on 2015-05-22 at 12:13pm:
  Was this the first episode that established that Klingons have transporter technology? The Klingons were mischaracterized as utter wimps. And why didn't they just beam back down behind Archer and Company at the end and open fire? Or just drop a photon torpedo on the camp before they departed! Instead of just leaving with their tails between their legs.
  
  This episode was like "Magnificent 7" in outer space. Not that that in itself was bad, but the writing was really poor, in that they couldn't find a better way to defeat the Klingons that didn't make the Klingons look like utter wimps.
  
  And as already noted, the fight scene was not credible. Very bad shooting, even after practicing - I thought I was watching an old "A-Team" episode! And T'Pol as Rambo wasn't idiotic - why fight hand to hand when you have phase pistols, presumably with a stun setting? I find politically correct Trek to be very annoying...
  
  One of the hallmarks of good Trek is believeability. There is not much to be found in this episode, including the deuterium mining issue. The premise was good, but bad writing killed it. I'll be generous and give it a 2.
• From Dstyle on 2015-09-09 at 3:00pm:
  As I've been reading the comments on these second generation Star Trek reviews, I regularly see someone (or a few someones) complain about "politically correct" Trek, and I'm always left wondering what the hell they're talking about. The original 1960s Star Trek, with their pluralistic, multi-cultural crew (including a real live woman! On the bridge! With her lady parts and everything!) was pretty damn "politically correct" for it's time. In this instance, Roger is upset because a lady is doing martial arts, I guess because ladies doing anything besides being quiet, demure, and obedient is some sort of betrayal of Star Trek core principles. Let me reiterate this point, because it really boggles my mind: commenters like Roger consider T'Pol (T'POL!) to be "politically correct" and problematic. Well, don't worry, Roger, the show still objectifies the hell out of her! She's basically T and A that sometimes talks! The fragile masculinity of your like-minded male Star Trek fans is in no danger of being threatened, trust me!
  
  It was particularly interesting to me to see that comment by Roger on this episode, because as I watched the episode I was thinking about how Star Trek consistently casts almost exclusively white actors in supporting roles. Any time they encounter an alien species, they're almost always white people with some sort of forehead prosthetics. The implication is that "white" is a default race and that any other race, alien or human, is just a variation of whiteness. Even the Klingon captain in this episode--the only Klingon with any significant lines, mind you--is played by white actor Roberson Dean! As with any science fiction series (or any show, for that matter, but it especially holds true for science fiction), you can learn a lot about the contemporary culture and climate by paying attention to things like this, and as such the various second generation Star Trek series reflect the racial milieu of 90s and 00s America. It's interesting to see, and, in my opinion, Star Trek is getting increasingly less progressive as the series of shows run their course, largely because they're being less intentional about their representations of these kinds of issues.
• From Zorak on 2016-09-29 at 12:16am:
  This was by far and away my least favorite episode of Enterprise so far. I don't even want to get into the specifics. This is the writers telling us, the audience, that they have no respect for our intelligence. Utterly predictable down to no one getting hurt (including Klingons), the "Home Alone" style tactics, and the Klingons deciding they would never be back. So completely cliché and predictable that I knew exactly how the rest of the episode would play out within the first 10 minutes. They should be ashamed to have made this.
• From Hugo on 2017-09-14 at 5:15am:
  Reasonably entertaining, but what stops the Klingons from a) just shooting at the camp from space, or b) come back with reinforcements?
• From President Obummer on 2020-01-21 at 10:58am:
  Terrible episode, two big problems aside from all the deuterium science:
  1. The miners would not have just let these murderers go, 5 (plus 3 in battle) of their friends and family were massacred, nobody seems to care?
  2. Klingons live for battle, the miners putting up a fight would give them more incentive to come back.
  Just terrible...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From 0mcn on 2012-01-12 at 7:25am:
  
  Ok, can we remember that when Worf and the "other" Dax first had some hanky panky they both were injured... severely, broken ribs etc. Take a look at Worf standing next to Ezri. Ummm it is not believable that she would have been only slightly injured, she would have been totally crushed... I am just saying...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Abigail on 2009-02-26 at 3:02am:
  The plot was a mediocre, but I can handle that. What I cannot take is all the stereotyping. Why is “Enterprise” incapable of giving us a respectable female character? We have Hoshi, who is brilliant, yet constantly panics and second-guesses herself. [Interesting that she’s the linguist. Apparently even in the distant future, the math and sciences will continue to be male-dominated.] Apart from Hoshi, all we have is T’Pol, whom I cannot really classify or define. The episode “Precious Cargo” adds to my outrage by giving us the rich, spoiled brat who looks down upon the “lower class” male, yet depends upon him 100% for her own survival. The two bicker constantly but then somehow discover their deep passion for each other. All feminist rage aside, it is, at the very least, an old cliché.
  
  On a side note, what was with Trip having to remove his uniform due to a wound? This is not TOS; the shirt need not get ripped.
  
• From Inga on 2015-01-30 at 7:45pm:
  I also found Kaitaama's personality a bit annoying. Also, another civilisation that developed high heels :D
• From Zorak on 2016-10-01 at 6:38pm:
  Despite this being a rather cliché story we've all seen done before, I found the episode pretty charming. The actress who played Kaitaama did a good job portraying her character. Although this commoner/princess dynamic has been done many times, it reminded me most specifically of Lonestar and Princess Vespa from Spaceballs.
  
  All in all an enjoyable episode, though not a great one. The Archer/T'pol stuff was a bit ridiculous. As it was played off as humor though, Archers antics didn't bother me quite as much as they usually do.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion on 2012-02-11 at 2:21am:
  This one is very entertaining. It's hard to believe it's a Season 3 episode. Elaan is a strong guest star; much more interesting than we are used to. Of course, being filmed in the 1960s, we still get some sexism in there (Kirk finds another way to slap a woman, and he comments how Vulcan is the only place where women are logical).
  
  The space battle feels a little confusing and takes up more time in the episode than is needed. But hey, this is season 3 and my expectations are low. Good episode.
  
  For those who are watching TOS on Blu-Ray, this is the episode that has been enhanced the most. The long battle with the Klingon ship has been completely redone. Also, the planet (from orbit) has been replaced by a very lush and detailed-looking one.
• From Glenn239 on 2012-11-16 at 1:20pm:
  Great episode - '8' The retelling of The Taming of the Shrew, Trek style. Lines like, "Vulcan is the only planet in the galaxy where the women are rational". Pure comedy gold.
  
  The third season had its moments, and this was one of them. This time around the Klingons are thrown in to the plot create the dramatic background for Kirk and his latest (but well acted) tart. The Klingons look a bit tacked on, but it worked and serves to underscore how much better some of the earlier episodes might have been had more use been made of them. Think of it - The Apple? Klingons. Return of the Archons? Klingons. They're like the ranch dressing of plot devices.
  
  
• From Alan Feldman on 2013-01-19 at 10:37pm:
  Elaan of Troyius
  
  I can't believe the opening shot of the Dohlman -- scanning slowly from toe to head! She looks pretty good.
  
  I found it painful to watch Kirk explaining a fork and knife and such to the Dohlman.
  
  Why the incredibly abrupt change of her from super brat to totally smitten? It takes like 3 seconds. Did I miss something?
  
  Kirk also did a quick switch, "curing" himself of the tears-spell: still under the spell in the transporter, but cured, once back on the bridge. But at the end he didn't look quite cured to me. He looked a little bit struggling in his mind with the whole thing. He just didn't seem quite back to normal. Maybe it's just me.
  
  How can Petri be up and about so soon after having been stabbed in the back? Not only is he up and about; you'd never know he was critically injured!
  
  The combat part was pretty good.
  
  I'm sorry, but the head of the Klingon ship looks ridiculous to me. It looks like it's wearing a hat.
  
  AEF
  
• From Chantarelle on 2013-06-18 at 8:50am:
  Thanks for the review. I'm very new to the Star Trek world and was curious whether my opinion matched other peoples. Your review matches exactly what my brain thought, just a lot better worded :-)
• From Scott Hearon on 2014-04-12 at 7:57pm:
  I'm sorry, but I give this one a 4/10.
  
  There are definitely some strong elements to the plot, but I thought that their execution left much to be desired.
  
  Firstly, unlike some viewers who find Elaan "hot" or "charming," I found her infuriatingly annoying. Arrogance is never funny to me, and it's even less humorous when someone is so arrogant as to start attacking and stabbing people. That's not cute. That's flat-out crazy.
  
  On top of this, Kirk's method of going all Dr. Phil on Elaan was foolhardy at best and outright irresponsible at worst. He was charged with getting Elaan to her destination in a more congenial, enlightened state; so what does he do? He charges right in a starts berating her and literally manhandling her. Not a very diplomatic approach, and it clearly failed miserably.
  
  And then, for no obvious reason, Elaan suddenly lightens up and decides to accept her fate. Sure she had seen some of the trouble that she caused, but it certainly was no worse trouble than she had already been causing everyone from the moment she beamed aboard the ship. The shift was extremely abrupt. The shame is that it didn't have to be. If Elaan had been given more time to explain her situation, essentially being "gifted" to another group of people, we might have been able to empathize with her a little more. Yes, this notion is brought up, but it was not explored in the depth that it could have been.
  
  I know Kirk is the star of the show, but I almost feel as if Spock would have been the better choice to deal with such an emotional hot-head like Elaan. Without someone reflecting her own agitation and fury back at her, she probably would have calmed down more quickly.
  
  Finally, Kethinov's observation about the Troyians technology is dead-on. How, if they only have "nuclear" power, are they even embroiled in a war with a distant planet and civilization? And how, exactly, do they even pretend to superiority over groups of people whose technology and power must far surpass their own? It didn't jibe.
  
  I will say that the way that the Klingons were incorporated into the story was well-done. It's one of several interesting ways that the Federation and the Klingons continue their Cold War chess match.
• From Peter on 2015-01-09 at 4:57pm:
  Not the best episode, but I was intrigued to see this again recently on TV here in the UK by one thing in particular - we often hear of the 'first interracial kiss on TV' between Nichelle Nicholls and William Shatner (though I understand there's some disagreement about it being the first) - and here we are, just a few episodes later, and isn't it happening again? Only this time it's between a white man and a woman of Vietnamese/French ancestry. Is it not also worthy of comment? Star Trek was truly ground-breaking in many ways for its time.
• From Mal on 2015-06-20 at 8:40am:
  Yes, Star Trek had the first black-white kiss and the first Asian-white kiss all thanks to our resident horn dog, James T. Kirk.
  
  It was also said, "She looks pretty good." That my friend is an understatement akin to saying the surface of the sun is kind of hot. She was stunning, sexy and sultry. That face, that body, that voice! France Nuyen was the most beautiful and sexy guest star of the show IMO with Barbra Luna coming in a close second. If you count recurring characters, then Nichelle Nichols comes in a solid third.
  
  As for the actual episode, it was not one of the all time greats but it was solid. Considering he was under a spell Shatner's performance was reserved, almost understated at least by his standards. Compare that to how he responds to being under a similar love spell in 'A Private Little War'.
  
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete on 2006-05-03 at 10:41pm:
  In my opinion, they feature Lwaxana troi waaaaaay too often on this show. Her character is NOT enjoyable dammit!!!
  
  A really stupid episode
• From DSOmo on 2007-10-01 at 4:09am:
  - Does it strike anyone odd that Troi - a person who has never had children and can't even get along with her own mother - is providing parenting advice to Worf?
  - During Lwaxana and Alexander's first mud bath, an almost nude dancer entertains them. Is this acceptable entertainment for a young boy?
  - After Geordi and Data discover the metal parasites, Data claims the sensors cannot detect the metal parasites. He also suggests a strategy to slow them down, but Geordi comments, "The problem is finding them." Why don't they scan the ship for nitrium, wait a few seconds, and scan the ship again? Wouldn't the parasites be wherever nitrium is disappearing?
  - Just before the Enterprise flys off to the asteroid field, Campio and Erco board the ship. After Data successfully cleans the Enterprise of the bugs, the wedding proceeds. There is no mention that Campio departed and rejoined the ship later. Did Picard drag Campio and Erco all the way to the asteroid field with them? During the trip, life support is lost, and people started passing out. The structural integrity of the dilithium chamber decayed, and the entire ship almost exploded. Picard knew the danger involved, and he allowed a person of royalty to stay aboard anyway?
  - As the Enterprise prepares to fly back to the asteroid field, Picard and Data board a turbolift for the main bridge. During this entire scene in the turbolift, Picard has only three pips on his collar.
• From Remco on 2008-01-22 at 9:25pm:
  @DSOmo regarding:
  "During Lwaxana and Alexander's first mud bath, an almost nude dancer entertains them. Is this acceptable entertainment for a young boy?"
  
  Lwaxana has no problem with nudity. It's even the preferred 'dress' to wear at wedding ceremonies. I suspect Betazoids are a lot less sensitive about their sexuality. And what else do you expect from the care-free holodeck people?
• From JRPoole on 2008-08-19 at 3:40pm:
  I generally like Alexander episodes, but this one is embarrassing. The wedding subplot is interesting (if you overlook the broadly-drawn Alien of the Week) but the whole holodeck thing is so stupid that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth for the whole episode. I can buy this as a holodeck destination, but I have problems seeing it as a real colony. Are there really that many lame performance artsts in the galaxy? this was absurd.
• From Mr. Awesome on 2016-01-14 at 7:57am:
  Overall this episode was pretty weird. I like how it sort of predicts online dating. However, I don't see how in the world Troi and Campio's profiles could in any way be compatible, seeing as how they're completely different. Also, I have no clue why they would jump straight to marriage when they've never even met. I mean who does that? Also, why would someone who's supposedly royalty need to hook up with chicks online? Also, even though Troi's nudity is understandably surprising to everyone to say the least, I'm confused as to why Campio and his assistant were so appalled at her, with the assistant shielding Campio's eyes. If she is to be Campio's wife, wouldn't he ENJOY seeing her naked? I'm sure one doesn't choose to marry someone they don't find attractive unless some ulterior motives are at play.
  
  Most importantly, I simply didn't understand the point of either plot. The whole thing about the ship's malfunctions wasnt really a big deal, and I'm confused AF about the whole Troi/Alexander relationship. I agree with Kethinov that this episode is mostly filler, serving only to develop characters, but I agree with Pete up above that Lwaxana's character is simply insufferable and featured WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too much on this show! She's not funny or charming, simply annoying AF!!!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Richard on 2012-12-13 at 5:28am:
  It's really not such a bad episode. It advances the Star trek scientific framework pretty solidly, and deserves to be canon - although it clearly did not come off as the writers intended. The notion of "chaotic space", where the laws of physics are in constant flux, is a rich and plausible one. Boothby is a great character. But the narrative is sluggish and unconvincing in several spots, as if poorly edited. Beltran's performance is somewhat stilted, with way too much dissonance with Chakotay's established character traits.
• From L on 2014-04-20 at 6:36am:
  God, utterly awful. The previous episode about the doomed clones was way better than this.
  An episode that amounts to an over-emoted hallucination in a boxing ring? No thanks Star Trek.
• From Dstyle on 2015-07-10 at 1:39pm:
  I have no interest in watching this episode again, but if I did I'd time the hallucination sequences to see how much of the episode they took up (answer=too much). I'm sure hallucination sequences are fun to shoot and edit together, but they sure are a drag to watch.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From J. Poole on 2006-04-20 at 5:43pm:
  This is an episode that I remembered fondly from my childhood, but it stood out as one of the worst when I watched the series again recently on dvd (God bless Netflix).
  
  For the most part, I agree with the review of this episode featured on this site--the problems with the prime directive, the mass murder of the redshirts, etc. are all indicitive of bad TOS episodes. I don't buy McCoy's arrogance when he's debating with Spock about saving these people from their idyll, but I guess you can ultimately justify breaking the Prime Directive because the ship was in danger.
  
  That aside, though, there are still some real problems with this episode, namely the cliched aliens du jour and the "nothing can kill Spock" attitude this episode takes toward the first officer.
  
  The aliens (aside from looking silly with their flowers and make up and spray-on tans) are ridiculous. I like the idea of their "Eden," even if it is a bit over-used, but I just don't buy these guys. And why, why, why does the Enterprise have orders to contact them just because of "strange readings?" This episode tramples on the Prime Directive from the very beginning. And you'd think that the crew would have learned to stay away from alien flowers by now.
  
  The problem with Spock bothers me as well. I realize that he's physiologically different--stronger, able to mentally heal himself, etc.--but he should have died twice in this episode. I can buy the spore-thorns not killing him because of his different physiology, but a lightning strick capable of not only killing but actually vaporizing a red shirt ensign simply gives him some second-degree burns that are never mentioned again. Give me a break.
  
  This episode is a real candidate for my personal "Worst Of" list. The only thing that saves it for me is Spock's analysis after the Feeders of Vaal try to kill the crew: if McCoy was worried about their stagnation, their lack of humanity, he need worry no longer because they have now taken a vital step by learning to kill.
• From Arianwen on 2010-07-26 at 11:43pm:
  Gentlemen/women/variations thereupon, I submit to you one Yeoman Martha Landon, who wears a short dress, is in love with one of the crewmen and shows concern for the natives' well-being. And flattens large, muscular men. Twice.
  
  This is only the third time I remember seeing a woman take physical action against another person and succeed - without screaming. One of the redeeming features of this episode.
  
  I agree with your review - the story is annoying and has many flaws. But it had potential, and with better handling (and laying off Spock for a few minutes) it might have turned out very well. I quite liked the natives - not the hippiness, but the physical portrayal, the facepaints (but don't look too hard at the hairstyles). It would have been more interesting if they had found out just what that machine was, rather than just destroying it and strolling off happily. Although I have a feeling it would have resulted in Kirk talking yet another computer into oblivion. The man is a menace.
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-22 at 4:09pm:
  No, the saving of one's ship is not a justification for violating the Prime Directive. In one of the Captains Log entries from "The Omega Glory" Kirk notes that the prime directive even includes sacrificing the entire crew rather than interfere with the native culture. By the way, remember the redshirt who tripped on a rock and was blown up? The stuntman was severely injured and in fact was hospitalized.
• From Chris on 2018-01-14 at 10:50pm:
  This episode bugged me for a lot of reasons and I wonder how Nichelle Nicols felt when Roddenberry (or whoever) described the natives in this episode. Tanned, blonde, muscular surfer looking types, you know typical good-looking folks.
  I was often fascinated how Star Trek portrayed the good/innocent inhabitants of various worlds... like the Yangs or the Hill People of Neural. All white and good looking with goofy hairdos.
  
  Considering that Roddenberry was an atheist, they sure used a lot of Bible references in their episodes!
  
  Other problems with this episode aside from the ones mentioned are:
  - Spock breaking the stone landmine without it going off in his hands!
  - Spock being selected to give a sex-ed lesson when there is a perfectly good doctor on hand who is far more qualified on the subject. Especially human sex! Yes, I understand the 'humor' wouldn't work my way...
  - McCoy continually unprepared to handle Vulcan physiology, continuously using human drugs on aliens.
  
  There are numerous other problems as well...
  
  I laughed at the 'argument' between Chekov and Spock! "Vhat do you vant, violins?
  
  A factoid that should be listed is that Kirk establishes that the warp nacelles can be jettisoned from the main body of the ship! That's mentioned in another episode as well but I can't remember which... Later in Season 3, I believe.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Tallifer on 2011-04-30 at 10:27am:
  The overall story is good but there are several bad moments:
  
  Dukat and Winn kiss. Shudder.
  Ezri and Worf have lovers' quarrels. Blech.
  Sisko is an indecisive dork.
  
  I hope the Breen plot twist will play out better than in these past two episodes.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2009-05-22 at 12:14am:
  The episode wasn't too bad, but it ran out of juice about half way in. After 20 minutes it was clear where the plot was going. Then it just kind of meandered. Maybe it would have worked better as a special half-hour comedy, complete with laugh track. ;)
• From Jaap on 2010-10-08 at 11:28am:
  Am i wrong or is Quark's mother played by another actress than in the previous episode (3x23)?
  I wasn't too impressed with this one and think the other acted much better.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-14 at 5:36pm:
  I think this episode deserves a much higher rating. Sure, it was a little slow-paced, but it actually did what Star Trek and many sci-fi shows and movies often don't - show that species are not so singular. The following episode, "Soldiers of the Empire" tells us that not all Klingons are courageous - some are cowards and some are weak. Just as Star Wars showed us simplistic planets (Hoth - totally frozen, Tatooine - totally desert), such simplistic representations aren't realistic as life thrives on diversity.
  
  This episode showed us that Ferengi are capable of self-sacrifice. Sure, we've seen it in them before, but the two story arcs of Quark and Nog having to sacrifice a lot for those they love helps us to fully realize that they are not so simplistic a race.
  
  I loved the humor at the end with Brunt in the closet and Quark playing with his action figures.
• From Selador on 2013-06-18 at 11:39pm:
  I hate the Grand Nagus. He makes my skin crawl. If Quark wasn't such a great character and actor, I would hate all the ferengi.
  
  Whoever wrote this episode must have been drunk at the time, it's truly terrible and full of bad jokes and weird script.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From James T. on 2008-09-08 at 5:04pm:
  "Continuity Coto" didn't write this script -- Mike Sussman did. Coto wrote the story for Part II. Just FYI.
• From Nicholas on 2011-11-20 at 10:23am:
  I went into this expecting to dislike it; indeed, I considered skipping the episode on the DVD to get to In a Mirror Darkly.
  
  However, I found it really enjoyable. Look beyond the simple "men are gushing over women" to the sci-fi aspect of the Orion women being able to influence and control them with pheromones. It led to some excellent scenes, particularly the sickbay one - Phlox was great to watch.
  
  I wish they'd played up the disgust of the woman at them a bit more, though - there were a few funny background moments, but nothing much.
  
  The Orion man also had the right blend of menace, sleaze and charm; very well-played.
  
  The joke scene with T'Pol capped it off perfectly, and gave it a real TOS feel.
  
  A pleasant surprise, as far as I'm concerned.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-07-01 at 6:49am:
  - Given Lwaxana's dislike and distrust for transporters, why are they beaming her aboard the ship? She is traveling in a "small transport craft." A shuttle craft? Why not just dock the craft in one of the shuttle bays and let her walk off. But then we wouldn't have had the "Legs, where are the legs?" scene.
  - Doesn't Troi have a dress uniform? Every time the delegates come or go, Captain Picard gets in his dress uniform, but Troi wears the same outfit for the whole show.
  - Troi takes her mother out into the hall to have an intimate conversation about her mother's condition (because Mr. Homm is in Lwaxana's quarters). On top of that, they have the conversation out loud when they could communicate telepathically. Not a very private conversation!
  - After exposing the Antedian assassins, Lwaxana states that it was quite easy for her to read their minds. If it was so easy, why wasn't Troi at least able to get a sense that the Antedians were up to no good?
  - In "The Big Good-bye," Picard begins coughing immediately after lighting up a cigarette. In this episode, Picard just starts puffing away.
  - Also, in "The Big Good-bye" Picard wore his uniform into the holodeck the first time he entered. Several holodeck creations commented that he looked like a bellboy. In this episode, Riker wears his uniform into Rex's bar and no one gives it a second look.
• From JRPoole on 2008-02-15 at 3:20pm:
  I agree with the overall sentiment on this episode, but it makes me smile, so I can't hate it altogether.
  
  I have a hard time believing that Lwaxana doesn't know what a holodeck is, but the bit with she and Picard in her quarters is priceless. The alien-of-the-week here was ridiculous as well.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2009-05-04 at 3:11pm:
  The first half of the show has a lot of funny moments that are fun to rewatch. The seconf half, after Picard steps onto the holodeck for some Dixon Hill, is very boring.
• From Rob Herbert on 2010-06-22 at 2:11pm:
  It's worth noting that Robert O'Reilly, who plays the wide-eyed villain who grabs Dix/Picard's lapels in the Holodeck returns in the future, still with wild, staring eyes, as Gowron.
• From Ry-Fi on 2010-08-14 at 9:39am:
  After Lwaxana passes on choosing Worf as a mate, saying "Pity, you'd have made a fine choice", the shot switches to Worf for a second, then back to her. Is it just me, or does she look down at his crotch for a split second and smile before looking back up and turning around?
  
  I burst out laughing when I saw that! It would in no way surprise me if that was an intentioned little flair that Majel threw in there. What an AMAZING woman she is! Her acting nuances are sublime!
  
  :-D
• From CAlexander on 2011-04-15 at 3:12pm:
  There are a couple of cute scenes, but basically this episode is pointless. Not to mention that I find Lwaxana painful to watch.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-20 at 7:48pm:
  Everyone is always hating' on Lwaxana,when I love her! I suppose she is an acquired taste, though.
  
  This girl has an organizing principle to her life: She just wants to get laid. She is so deliciously ranchy and blatant in her sexual appetites.
  
  The problem is: With her level of nobility, sex must be accompanied by marriage. (I love it when she recites her titles: "daughter of the seventh house, holder of the sacred chalice of reeks, heir to the rings of Betazed". It's particularly great when Deanna points out that the sacred chalice of reeks is just "an old clay pot with mold growing in it".)
  
  You get the imoression that she would love it if she could just blow all of that off and go shag someone.
• From John on 2012-03-08 at 3:59pm:
  re-watching this episode and I just noticed something: when Riker is on the bridge telling Wesley and Data about Ms. Troi complimenting the captain about his legs, Data is shown laughing.
  
  I repeat: DATA IS LAUGHING. At this point he doesn't have an emotion chip and Q isn't helping him, so why is this not a big deal to any of the other crew members. I'm guessing Spiner just maybe adlibbed it or something? Still, it's very odd that it's not a big deal, given that one of Data's goals is to learn to laugh.
• From Dstyle on 2013-08-21 at 8:48pm:
  Maybe I missed a similar interaction in the first Lwaxana episode, but I love the moment when she interacts with the ship's computer. Majel Barrett acting opposite Majel Barrett!
• From Arianwen on 2018-07-26 at 1:38pm:
  @John re. Data laughing: in an earlier episode this season Data is shown practicing laughter, so I think this is only continuity. It sounds quite unnatural, too ("Ha ha ha ha!") and you can even see the moment where he goes "ah, this is a place where laughter is socially appropriate".
  
  ...oh god, this is my life now.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-07-22 at 6:33am:
  Egads, Lwaxana is over the top. This "phase" she's supposedly in doesn't just make her horny; it makes her *stupid.* (Protip to the writers: those are different things!)
  
  Data emotionspotting: do you see how excited he is to get into character and get back on the holodeck? He's like a little kid! It's rather cute.
  
  Those fish-like aliens are fascinating to look at.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jawwad Riaz on 2010-09-21 at 12:36pm:
  The only redeeming quality of the episode is the "beauty is the beast" idea ... but the rest of it a re-hash and mash up of so much earlier sci fi that the science fiction aspect of it (the mind control) is its weakest link.
  
  No explanation was given as to why a warring nation would go to so much difficulty just to recruit one person .. Not one of the worst of voyager .. but certainly the worst of the season so far.
• From Wes on 2012-02-09 at 8:47pm:
  I do agree that while I watched the episode, I found the fighting at the beginning too long and quite boring. I wanted to see more of what was happening on Voyager and how Seven was interacting with the crew and helping in this situation. Then, by the end of the episode, you realize all the fighting is part of actually brainwashing you, the viewer.
  
  (Just a side thought. Seven's knowledge of all these alien races could really end the need to ask Neelix about anything except recipes.)
  
  I thought the overall idea of the episode was GREAT and something that usually happens to me in pretty good, mind bending movies. Wasn't it awesome how you were in the same boat as Chakotay by the end!? I totally felt the same thing as he did when looking at the ambassador. The point of the episode is a pretty good one and another great moral lesson from Star Trek-- it's so much easier to start hating than it is to stop hating.
• From L on 2013-12-23 at 9:48am:
  A potentially powerful anti-war metaphor that was slightly spoiled by where it ended up.
  It would have been better if the alien's appearance was all in his mind and they were actually the same as the rebels, but apparently they really do look like that. I guess that allows for a 'don't judge by appearances' moral.
  
  The dialogue was fantastic and gave this episode more of a genuine science-fiction feel than is usual for Star Trek.
  If the speech was 'normal' I may have liked this less.
  
  Pretty decent as an 'issue' episode.
  
• From thaibites on 2014-05-29 at 2:00am:
  I thought this episode was pretty good. I knew all you soap opera lovers would hate it because all your "friends" and their relationships had limited screen time.
  I loved how we didn't see Voyager or any crew members other than Chakotay for the first HALF - that's awesome! That's very unusual and helps to break up the monotony. I'll admit that it does start off a bit slow, but once it gets rolling, things start to happen. The scene where Tuvok talks to Chakotay, and we see him through Chakotay's eyes was really cool and disturbing. Poor Chakotay was the victim of one huge skull-fuck!
• From attractionmagnetical on 2015-03-20 at 5:40pm:
  I thought it was strange that Neelix had anything to say about this particular planet and its situation (the war, the factions, what any one thought of the other). Didn't we establish that he didn't have any knowledge of the area once they got to the Nekrit Expanse? Isn't that why he did all that dumb stuff with the drug deals in "Fair Trade"? This area is more than just "beyond the trade station" in that episode -- it's thousands and thousands of lightyears beyond; Kes pushed them beyond Borg space, 10 years closer to home. Why does Neelix have any insight here except, as Wes put it, about recipes?
• From Dstyle on 2015-06-01 at 1:35pm:
  attractionmagnetical beat me to the punch: why does Neelix know anything here? We're waaaay outside Neelix's area of knowledge. I can only assume this script was written for an earlier season and tabled until now, and that continuity error was not corrected.
  
  Also, is anyone else noticing how many shuttlecraft Voyager is losing? It's the third episode in a row where a shuttlecraft is destroyed. I really wish the show took these sort of things more seriously and that there were actually repercussions for losing shuttlecraft and firing photon torpedos and whatnot.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jem Hadar on 2009-04-06 at 10:45pm:
  Hey, long time reader, first time poster.
  
  Problem
  - How would Spock know that the God's name was Apollo when he was talking to Kyle about his location- it was never mentioned until the landing party beamed to the surface, which he wasn't a part of!
  
  Also, I really enjoy this episode. I give it a 7.5/10
• From Flex on 2009-05-22 at 8:52pm:
  Hey, great site - while I often rate these TOS episodes more highly than you do these are all great reviews and entries, very thorough?
  
  I just wanted to say I rate this episode rather highly (a 6, maybe). It's nothing stunningly original, but I find the story rather poignant and sad.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-04-04 at 4:39pm:
  My nitpicks, once again:
  
  -Somebody has mentioned this, but Spock mentions Apollo's before he should have been aware of it.
  
  -This episode reeks of sexism. At the beginning, you here McCoy talking about the woman on the bridge. He mentions that if she meets a man, she'll withdraw from Starfleet and settle down. Also, when that same woman is down on the planet, she acts mindless, and falls in love wih Apollo very easily.
• From Krs321 on 2011-11-01 at 8:01pm:
  I like the new 'filler quotient' ratings; solid addition and I hope you put them on the other series at some point.
  
  However, I have to disagree on this episode. Kirk crushing this guy's spirit is awesome and I genuinely feel bad for Apollo.
  
  I'm not sure the filler quotient should depend so heavily on canon significance as much as how sucky the episode is (Alternative Factor, barf).
• From Strider on 2012-07-30 at 4:58am:
  Even though we have another female officer who falls in love with the bad guy of the week, at least this female officer knows her duty and doesn't put her romance ahead of her captain, crew, and ship. It's an improvement from other episodes, at least.
• From Deggsy on 2013-04-11 at 8:49pm:
  Am I wrong in thinking that the networks used makeup or whatever to hide Apollo's exposed nipple?
• From Alan Feldman on 2015-08-16 at 1:44am:
  "WHO MOURNS FOR ADONAIS?"
  
  I don't think the story is as bad as you make it out to be. Parts are good; parts are bad. I'd certainly give it a higher rating than a 1.
  
  Yeah, the giant hand looks ridiculous, esp. in the remastered version, in which, when it first approaches the Enterprise, looks a little like a twisted-balloon sculpture, or an inflated latex glove. But how else is Apollo going to hold, squeeze, and crush the ship? You kind of have to go with it. I suppose he could just zap it, but it wouldn't have the right imagery. You couldn't have, "And I'll crush it's empty hull." It's worth going with it just for that line. What else could you do? A tractor beam? Doesn't quite fit in with the Greek-god bit. But the hand looks a little better toward the end. Maybe it should have been at the end of a really long arm!
  
  About Spock knowing Apollo's name too early in the story: This type of thing happens elsewhere in the series.
  
  Chekov is clearly wearing a wig.
  
  Re your question about the Greeks stopping worshiping the gods, Apollo addresses this: "We could have struck out from Olympus and destroyed. We have no wish to destroy, so we came home again." What you think of that is another matter.
  
  You wrote, ". . . we've got yet another story where the Enterprise is held hostage by the guest antagonist of the week with an irrational motive, yet another female officer who falls for the arrogant bad guy of the week, and yet another plot resolved by blowing up a concealed power source fueling a bag of magic tricks."
  
  There was only one previous episode where a female officer falls for the bad guy of the week: Space Seed. So that's only two episodes from the first 31. But yes, there were three previous episodes with machines blown up and seven with the Enterprise held hostage.
  
  But you can look at it as what the show is. "What? Another symphony with four movements and in standard form?" "Ralph Kramden did something stupid again?" Trying to be positive here. :-)
  
  Carolyn's dress is pretty good.
  
  I love the special effects when Scotty is propelled across the marble floor by Apollo's lightning bolt. Intense, and well done! (From the remastered version. I don't presently have access to the original and can't recall how well it was done in that. But I do remember being impressed.) OTOH, Apollo should have recoiled at least a little.
  
  How can Apollo be so clueless about humans in the 22nd century? He wants something he can't have from our heroes: genuine worship. You can't force that. He has god-like powers, but this simple fact somehow eludes him. But gods need worship, etc., he says. Still, wouldn't that get pretty boring for after a while, even for Apollo or the other Greek gods? (The 22nd century? Yes, I know. But Star Trek TOS being in the 23rd century is based on an incorrect argument about "Miri." It should be recognized as the 22nd, which it clearly was in "Space Seed" and "Tomorrow is Yesterday." And do you really want to base the TOS period on "Miri" at all?
  
  Scotty was pretty clueless, too. It took two lightning bolts (the second being pretty severe!) and a smack in the face that sent him tumbling over the picnic bench from Apollo to teach him. First time we have Scotty fawning over a woman and showing signs of bad form (getting a bit hysterical in this episode). And as we know, it's going to get much worse!
  
  You ask, "How could mankind have outgrown gods if it still needs to believe in one?" Most have outgrown multiple gods, the kind of gods the ancients worshiped. That's progress. Some have speculated, with good reason, that many are just hard-wired to believe in a personal god. They can't help it. Neil deGrass Tyson gave an excellent talk on this subject, mostly with regard to scientists of various fields. It's on YouTube somewhere.
  
  Man, who would want to live in Apollo's dream world? Sounds pretty boring to me. Well, at least there'd be no war or disease.
  
  When Uhura works on fixing the bypass circuits, the thing she's using makes big sparks and such. Now generally, why does stuff like this on Star Trek always involve bright flashing light? Why is fixing things in TOS always like welding? And dig the 1960's circuit boards in that scene!
  
  Carolyn is a little too taken to Apollo until the end after Kirk talks her out of it.
  
  The scene where Carolyn spurns Apollo is weird. Also: "Carolyn, I forbid you to go. I order you to stay." "Is that the secret of your power over women? The thunderbolts you throw?" The dude just can't take no for an answer.
  
  The scene where the Enterprise destroys the temple is pretty cool. "Stop! . . . Stop, I say! . . ." And the power of the Enterprise vs. the power of Apollo. Intense.
  
  Boy, Michael Forest's neck looks really long after the temple is destroyed, no?
  
  
• From Chris Long on 2018-05-27 at 10:55pm:
  A stupid episode in general but poignant at the end, I found...
  
  Spock says, "No life forms" when there is vegetation all over the place! Something has to be propagating those plants and trees!
  
  Chekov's wig was to make him look like Davey Jones of the Monkees, I believe. It looked ridiculous though!
  
• From Mike Chambers on 2020-10-09 at 5:48am:
  I was surprised to find this episode so poorly rated. Both your rating and the average fan rating.
  
  It's certainly no 10. The largest problem is the standard TOS cheese factor, which brings down what was an episode with an intriguing premise quite a bit, due to the excessively corny dialog and bad acting of Apollo and Lieutenant Palamas.
  
  Still, it's a fun episode and one that stands out in my memory. It's a solid 6/10 for me as far as TOS goes. At worst.
  
  It would be a 2 if it were a TNG episode, but it's not. The bar was low in 1967, and I can enjoy these episodes quite a bit if I keep that in mind and not expect TNG quality material.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From DSOmo on 2007-06-02 at 8:03pm:
  - The Aldeans take only seven children. Will seven children be enough to continue a society?
  - How come everybody's got a cloaking device except the Federation? The Klingons, the Romulans, and now the Aldeans.
  - The Aldeans shield is capable of protecting and cloaking their planet. This isn't a spaceship. This is a planet. What about the gravitational displacement caused by the planet's mass? Scientists should have been able to calculate the existence of Aldea based on the gravitation disturbances caused by its orbit around its sun.
• From The Professor on 2007-09-08 at 6:05pm:
  Seven people is certainly enough to maintain a society. Skipper, Gilligan, Professor, Mr. & Mrs. Howell, Ginger, and Mary Ann. The only other things you need are some monkeys, coconuts, bananas and the occasional visitor with a boat or an aircraft.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2008-09-20 at 4:45am:
  This is one of the better "children" episodes in Trek. Just watch Miri from the original series and you'll see what I mean. Which episode would you want to live out in real life?
  
  As far as the comment about the Federation not having a cloaking device, that is because the Federation refuses to use one. They see cloaking devices as being most useful for sneak attacks, not exactly part of the Federation's mission. They also want to appear with openess open, not hidden and deceptful, to other planets. Of course, there are exceptions.
• From thaibites on 2009-09-13 at 2:14am:
  I thought this was one of the better episodes. If you have kids, you'll be able to identify with it.
  As far as this being "another identical-to-humans race", what do you want? How about a bunch of Star Wars muppets that look silly and detract from the seriousness of this episode? Maybe they could've been like the lizard man in the TOS episode THE ARENA. Then the kids could just run around terrified and screaming. If you can't relate to someone's child being stolen, then you mustn't have much humanity. Maybe a little less computer time and more time interacting face-to-face with real humans would help...
• From geld verdienen on 2009-09-20 at 4:31pm:
  what annoyed me most about this episode is that I was screaming the whole time GET THEM SOME OTHER KIDS, dont they have foster kids or poor people in the galaxy anymore? Tasha said otherwise. The must be millions you would embrace living it up on that planet.
• From Cal on 2017-02-06 at 11:24am:
  The peace Treaty with the Romulans (Treaty of Alegeron) forbids the use and development of cloaking devices by the Federation.
• From Maggi on 2020-01-16 at 2:19pm:
  Strongly disagree with this one, this is one of the best episodes of S1 for me. I thoroughly enjoyed nearly all of it.
  Just as another reader already commented, it seems like utter nonsense that they don't even mention the idea of asking foster children if they would want to live there. Picard was way too "absolutely denying" and ultimately caused this to escalate since the Aldeans felt like they had no other options.
  
  Also I get that all the alien species looking like humans is bleh but c'mon its easy to accept under budget restrictions, etc. Feels like you have a base negative attitude towards every episode that has human looking alien.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-28 at 3:36am:
  I felt really stupid when I JUST noticed in THIS episode that you can pull chairs out of the science and engineering stations on the bridge. I had seen people sitting there before, but never really thought about where the chairs came from. You learn something new every day....
  
  I give this episode a zero not because of its non-canonness, but rather because of its purely political agenda. The fact that it is not taken into consideration in future episodes only proves the point that it is a standalone episode meant to promote a liberal environmental agenda. The warp drive is a metaphor for cars putting out exhaust, and the "rift" is a metaphor for the hole in the ozone layer. Putting restrictions on warp speed is like putting emission restrictions on cars. I would think star trek would be above trying to give Al Gore a pat on the back in the early nineties, but I guess I overestimated them.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-06-16 at 4:57am:
  In response to the other comment. I hope that environmental concerns someday become less political. The automatic knee jerk reaction of placing all environmental movements on the "left" is rooted in bogus thinking. There are religious organizations that are organizing themselves into environmental groups. They believe that we are all caretakers. I advise that people take this under consideration before they post political rants on Star Trek websites.
• From Wing Fat on 2007-10-02 at 4:24am:
  I agree that this episode is terrible and completely motivated by political agenda. The whole basis of Star Trek is the exploration of space. Why would you want to suddenly say that the technology that allows that to happen is bad and has to stop? You wouldn't, that's ridiculous. I kept expecting them to discover something they overlooked and find the whole theory was wrong after all, but they didn't, and when it gets to the end and Picard gives his "I was destroying the very thing that I loved" speech I felt, as a Star Trek fan, that I had been slapped in the face.
  
  Star Trek has always tackled social issues, but if you want to point out the evils of polution do it in a more direct manner by having a mission to a planet that's poluted. You don't say "space flight is bad and needs to be stopped" when your show has always been about what a wonderous adventure space flight is.
• From JRPoole on 2008-10-29 at 2:50pm:
  I don't want to defend this horrible episode, but I do want to cast my lot with the person above who lamented that environmental issues are always political. The fate of the planet is (or at least should be) bigger than any political agenda. If you're interested in this kind of debate, I suggest E.O. Wilson's execeptional book "Creation." It's basically an open letter to a hypothetical Southern Baptist minister. Wilson, who, as an evolutionary biologist, is an agnostic, argues that conservation and taking care of the planet are issues that should be shared by both Christians and atheists alike. I like it because it'a an attempt to bridge the gap and stake common ground, something that people on either side of the political divide have seemingly lost the ability to do.
  
  As for this episode, I agree that it deserves a zero. There is a lame attempt in a handful of later episodes to make in canonical, but it just doesn't stick. The agenda is heavy-handed, especially Picard's moralizing at the end, the whole thing is just plain dull. Trek has always been on the forefront of social commentary, and, as a general rule, it does a good job. Episodes like this one, though, are so thinly-veiled that they become annoying, much like the TOS episode featuring the half black/half white mime makeup aliens. I know that's a fan favorite, but I've always thought it was a really lame, overly obvious comment on race relations, much like this dreadful episode is a really lame, overly obvious comment on fossil fuels.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-01-14 at 2:20pm:
  Regardless of my response from years ago, I think that both sides can agree on one thing: this episode sucked. I think the wrting staff wanted to do an environmental episode, but didn't have a lot of good ideas. In the series, space travel was always made out to be a wonderous thing that helped humanity grow. Now it's a bad thing?
  
  There was another episode where there was a planet with huge amount of air pollution. The race living on this planet created technology to take the pollution out of the air, but it could hardly keep up. It didn't go into any more detail than that. I can't think of what episode that is, but I think it could have been an "environmental episode" if the had fleshed it out more.
• From Paul on 2010-08-19 at 11:54am:
  It would have been better if it was only in this small region of space there was a problem (as opposed to the whole universe). Initially I did think this was the case, that the rifts were limited to the vicinity of the alien planet, but then at the end of the episode they start talking about universal warp drive limitations. Shame
• From Florian on 2011-01-09 at 11:40am:
  I don't see why there is so much hatred against this episode. Basically, I think the central idea is quite witty; it is another real-world problem transferred to a futuristic setting as seen in many successful episodes before. It is not uncommon in our world that many decades after the initial enthusiasm, a new technology turns out to be not that beneficial to our health or environment at all. Reacting to the newly discovered problem takes its time, particularly when the technology is meanwhile perceived as indispensable. Obviously, this always leads to a certain amount of denial before habits are changing. After the initial skepticism, this episode complies with the spirit of TNG's more enlightened mankind that the crew quite quickly accepts that habits must indeed be changed, a process that would probably not happen within the same generation in our current world. As an example, some 50 years ago highways were being extended and increasing car numbers seen as a sign of progress, while environmental concerns were considered the opinion of radical minorities. As opposed to that, only nowadays hardly anyone in their sane mind would actually doubt that car emissions do some harm and must be reduced or avoided in the future; emission restrictions for motorized vehicles, speed restrictions along environmental protection compounds and reducing/rerouting highways so as to preserve or regrow forests are commonplace and it has become totally natural to leave your car in the garage if you can reach your destination by bus or train, unless there are any heavy goods to transport.
  Along the same lines, it is interesting how exactly the fundamental concept that makes the whole Star Trek universe possible as it is is questioned. After all, nature is not an intelligent being (unless we want to consider some esoteric claims) and cannot be reasoned with. No matter what other benefits space travel might bring, this will not reduce the problems caused by warp engines. Thus, reducing the deteriorating effects by imposing a warp speed limit is a straightforward step, even if not all warp-capable species will obey to those rules right away (after all, some third-world countries still polluting the air is not an argument against reducing pollution in the own country - somewhere, a start has to be made). Unfortunately, this is where the episode starts to turn irrelevant, as the speed limit is mentioned a few times later, and that's it. As stated in the episode, the speed limit may be ignored in the precise event that there's an emergency, which is exactly the one situation that we usually see when Enterprise is running out of time. So, the speed limit mostly affects all the off-screen vessels. Another, similar problem is that warp speeds and travel times have always been the archetype of a plot device on Star Trek, so realistically, the speed limit cannot have any deeper impact than being mentioned every now and then. For that reason, it might have been better to make another technology rather used as a tool than as the base of the adventures the culprit, such as phasers, tricorders or the transporter (which could all be replaced with more environmental-friendly, but more cumbersome alternatives).
  Plot-wise, the episode somewhat trickles down and fails to really build up much suspense. Particularly for a problem of this scale, it might have been beneficial to build up the story over several episodes (which was of course not yet usual in the days of TNG). As it is, all we have seen about the problem is a new colorful anomaly. The alien scientists refer to geological problems on their homeworld, but as we don't even get to see the homeworld, we have to take their word for it. Therefore, I'd give this episode a score of 3/10 points.
• From Robert Koenn on 2011-06-27 at 1:39pm:
  Well I rated it a 2 mainly because of technical inconsistencies. It was obviously a blatant plot line written to express an analogy with pollution in our world. But the worst part for me was that the plot line was basically ridiculous and only used for this episode while not be followed up with on future episodes or series in the Trek universe. I thought initially it only applied to this region of space as well and that might have made it more palatable but in the end it seemed that it was for the universe. There have been other episodes that stressed morale significance and I found some interesting as applied to our countries reaction to 9/11 with a much more enlightened view but this was a very poor plot line to express environmental concerns. I wonder if it was simply a vain search for a plot line or the writers coming up with an absurd plot line to stress a point.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-09 at 8:45pm:
  The Enterprise spent quite a bit of this episode being bumped and jarred through subspace rifts and whatnot, which reminded me of an obvious yet easy to forget fact: the set is not moving, the camera is. So when the Enterprise gets hit by enemy fire or a subspace distortion wave or is just having a bumpy ride, all of the actors are sitting there bouncing in their seats, which is a pretty funny mental image to have. You're welcome. :)
• From Bronn on 2015-08-02 at 4:53am:
  I have a tough time with this one. I'm sympathetic to environmental issues, and I get Trek wanting to create an environment aesop. I like that there isn't a cheap solution because that would diminish the struggle of environmental concerns in the real world: we can't just invent a magical device that solves all our energy problems without any side effects.
  
  What harms this episode is that it's picking on one of the necessary plot devices that underly the series. We like Star Trek, so we obviously just want to enjoy our entertainment without thinking that we're contributing to the destruction of reality just wanting to see our heroes go on adventures. We're not going to receptive to saying, "Well...guess they should all stop exploring and go home, then." It'd be like an episode of the Dukes of Hazard where someone tells the Dukes that they should trade the General Lee in for something more fuel-efficient. Viewers of the show aren't receptive to that message.
  
  Moreover, the Enterprise itself is a pillar of eco-friendly ideas. Recycling on a starship is taking to its greatest extreme. I mean, Geordi is talking about energy efficiency of 97.2% on the ship: If we had a process that could do that, we'd solve so many real-world problems!
  
  A better message would have been to say it's a problem with the anti-matter, which is the real source of energy on the Enterprise, and go with Geordi's plot of efficient energy use which is part of the subplot. If you say that Anti-matter reactions are producing small amounts of radiation, you can call the Enterprise crew out on the little ways they can save energy so they're using less, which is a MUCH better real-world environmental message. Have someone wonder if their ship really needs to be so big that they have these lush individual quarters as nice as small apartments. Turn the lights off when they leave a room. Save cups and plates instead of producing new flatware everytime you replicate a meal. It would have been EASY to make little continuity nods to that sort of thing in DS9 and Voyager. And then, it wouldn't be the magic tech creating a magic problem that's contrived to be very important here but will never matter again.
• From Mike on 2017-04-23 at 3:01pm:
  I think where this episode went wrong was in attempting to suddenly make this a problem for the entire galaxy. Initially, it sounded like something that was affecting subspace in the corridor and therefore any warp restrictions would just be in that one sector. Had they stuck with that, they could've gotten the environmental message across and been able to avoid any problems with canon. As the episode itself points out, there's no indication other warp-capable species will all abide by this or even agree with the findings. And, like I say, why this affects Federation warp travel everywhere and not just in the Hekarans' own sector is never made clear.
  
  I get the sense it was Picard's reaction at the end that really soured a lot of people on this one. He basically makes it sound like the entire Star Trek endeavor is destroying the universe, which is a true overreaction. La Forge's reaction fitted the episode a bit better. He's confronted with warp engines-a think he's been working on his whole life-being responsible for destabilizing a particular area of space purely by doing what they do.
• From Captain Obumico on 2021-08-22 at 4:05pm:
  Agreed, I like episodes that annoy conservatives (who strangely never want to conserve the environment) as much as the next guy, but they should have done it without the lame warpspeed limit.
  I see the whole thing not as a climate change analogy, but about the CFC ozone layer thing in the 90s.
  That also got resolved despite conservative resistance and without speed limits :D

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From rhea on 2008-04-27 at 7:40pm:
  The main plot was extremely horrible, I agree. I did like the subplot (Spock in command), though. Granted, McCoy (ad Scotty) with their tendencies to disregard Spock’s authority can be annoying, but here Spock solves the problem quite well without telling the two of them off too harshly in front of the bridge crew.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-05-25 at 4:11am:
  I just watched the Blu-Ray version, and was impressed by how the trinary system looks in the updated graphics. As for the story, I kind've don't like it when Kirk manipulates woman to get free of his circumstance. This episode is the best example of it; one minute he's praising her beauty, the next minute he's slapping her!
  
  On another note, why do the three talking brains need money? Do they get to spend it? Do they have a virtual Wal-Mart?
• From Strider on 2012-06-06 at 1:59pm:
  What I'm getting tired of are all these omnipotent alien races that only let the Enterprise go because they see something noble in Kirk et al, or because Kirk has accomplished something arbitrary. These dudes are still out there and could apparently take over the universe if they wanted to.
  
  And I don't mind McCoy and Scotty disagreeing with Spock, but I don't think they should be doing it in front of the bridge crew. It's just not good military discipline.
• From warpfactor 10.1 on 2012-08-08 at 11:25pm:
  This may well be my favourite episode. If I were an alien being of superior intelligence this is exactly how I would behave. It's a shame that in later series the idea of abducting species from around the galaxy to pit them against one another seems to have gone out of fashion. I was confused a bit though as to why they had to stay on the Nat West sign when they were fighting. What would have happened if they hadn't? I assume that Nat West was a major sponsor of the events, hence their symbol being used, but having evidence of the behaviour of the banks in Earth's early twenty first century I'm surprised that the providers had anything to do with them.
  These are minor points however and could no doubt be explained logically enough. I do like to see alien species fighting and although it's true that Kirk treats Shahna shamefully, when did he ever do any different with women/female aliens?
• From Harrison on 2012-09-04 at 11:47pm:
  Ok, the plot is filled with flaws, and it's a struggle to suspend disbelief. But Star Trek aesthetics owe a great deal to this episode. Some of the best martial choreography of any episode, and even today you'd be hard pressed to find a single 14-year old boy who doesn't respond in a very basic, visceral way to that green-haired babe in the shiny bikini wielding that heavy pike ...
• From jd_juggler on 2015-03-24 at 9:34pm:
  I'm used to implausible plot lines by now; it is a given that in EVERY episode several things do not make sense. But this is not a "skippable" episode. Angelique Pettyjohn is among the most memorable of female guest stars; she couldn't act to save her life, but she is still quite watchable. Not understanding Kirk when he says he wants to help, followed by kissing her, she supposed that the kiss is a kind of "help". The she says "please, help me again" - that may well have been the sexiest thing ever said in the entire series!
  
  Some hilarious moments between checkov and his thrall, who I would have sworn was a female impersonator.
  
  Not that it makes the episode better, but in this episode,
  Uhura is apparently raped.
• From Chris on 2018-01-21 at 1:53am:
  I think that Uhura fought off her attacker, when he bitterly says, "It's not allowed to refuse selection!"
  
  Did anyone notice the re-use of the comical Jetsons plexiglass canopy from The Alternative Factor?
• From Chris on 2018-08-15 at 3:40am:
  I want to add a couple other comments as late to the show as I always am.
  
  Shahna (Angelique Pettijohn) apparently went off to do soft, then hard porn before doing lots of conventions to pay her way. She's actually a pretty cool chick despite her poor (perhaps) choices, but we all have our crosses to bear and need to get by.
  Poor girl died of cancer at 48 while still hot looking. (Vulc cancer!!! Isn't that how McCoy would say it?)
  
  ... and technically... Kirk does say "Scotty, beam us up!" Except it's interrupted by Scott himself!
  
  Kirk: Scotty...
  Scott: Aye, Sir.
  Kirk: ...beam us up.
  Just sayin'! ;-)
  
  I also hate the constant biblical references in a show produced by a supposed atheist!
  Argh!
• From John H Cole on 2020-07-08 at 12:44am:
  I can't help but think of Jiffy Pop when I look at Angelique Pettyjohn's outfit. Lame episode. But I do like the comedic female impersonator that Chechov gets stuck with.