“Spectre of the Gun”
Written by Lee Cronin
Directed by Vincent McEveety
Season 3, Episode 6
Production episode: 3×01
Original air date: October 25, 1968
Star date:4385.3
Mission summary
En route to establish relations with the Melkotians–a reclusive, papier-mâché-mask-wearing race–the Enterprise is intercepted by a space buoy with a very serious warning:
Aliens, you have encroached on the space of the Melkot. You will turn back immediately. This is the only warning you will receive.
Kirk hears it in English, but Spock hears it in Vulcan, Chekov hears it in Russian, and Uhura hears it in Swahili. It’s using some kind of telepathy to communicate to all of them. Though he understands the message perfectly, Kirk decides to disregard it pretty much immediately because “Our orders are very clear. We’re to establish contact with the Melkotians at all costs.”
Involuntary peace ahoy!
After some failed attempts at hailing them, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and Chekov beam down to what they think is the planet, but is actually just a giant fog machine because planets are expensive. Worse, they quickly discover that their communicators no longer work and the Melkotians don’t like trespassers. A Melkotian appears and calls the men “outside, a disease,” and says that because Kirk ordered his crew to do this thing, “yours shall be the pattern of your death.”
They are then instantly transported to a low-budget, flimsy Hollywood set of the Old West.
You can tell it’s the Old West because a building reads “Saloon”: a word which, like the rest of the French language, died out hundreds of years ago. All of the buildings are hollow shells–just facades, with no other walls. Kirk notices a newspaper, which tells them they’re in Tombstone, Arizona, on October 26, 1881. That seems familiar somehow, but not enough to jog Kirk’s memory. A sheriff runs out and seems to know the Starfleet officers. He calls Kirk “Ike,” Spock “Frank,” Scotty “Billy,” McCoy “Tom,” and Chekov “Billy” as well. And that’s when Kirk connects the dots: they are the Clanton gang. Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Claibourne, and Billy Clanton fought the Earp gang: Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil Earp (along with “Doc” Holliday) on that day in history. The Melkotians have created a surreal recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and cast our heroes as the losers!
Well, maybe it’s just a game, right? Alas, they enter the saloon in time to see Morgan Earp take out a random bar patron with his six-shooter. McCoy proclaims that in this place “death is real,” and they take uneasy seats inside the bar. An excitable blonde runs straight for Chekov and showers him with kisses. She seems to be Billy’s girlfriend, but Morgan Earp doesn’t like the competition. Morgan nearly shoots them right there until Kirk diffuses the situation (sort of). Then Kirk tries to convince the bartender that he’s not really Ike Clanton, he’s a spaceship captain–and the bartender just laughs in his face.
Hello, Plan A! Kirk tries to make peace with Morgan Earp, who will hear none of it, and slugs him right in the face. And if they can’t talk their way out of a fight, that leaves just one thing left to do: run. Hello, Plan B! Running! They try to leave town but find themselves trapped by forcefields, because there’s still 40 minutes left.
And now we’re at Plan C: what kind of weapons can they use? They don’t want to duel the most accomplished pistol-whippers in the West, so they brainstorm alternatives. Chekov mentions that “those Western Cossacks” had venomous snakes and cactus plants–aha! We’ll make a stew! A gas grenade stew! McCoy takes off to the dentist to find some necessary drugs; Chekov goes to find a mortar and pestle; Scotty heads to the apothecary for some cotton wadding; and Spock begins work on the grenade itself.
McCoy tries to coax the dentist into giving him the drugs he needs, but the assistant seems awfully wary. It turns out the dentist is none other than “Doc” Holliday, and he’s got a sawed-off shotgun to emphasize his point. He gives Bones what he needs, though, figuring the man’ll be dead in just a few hours anyway.
Meanwhile, Chekov is working very hard to get that mortar and pestle. In fact, that he’s off with Sylvia being nagged about getting engaged. She’s already bought the material for the dress, so won’t he just propose already? He tells her it’s impossible but clearly has formed enough of an attachment that when Morgan Earp breaks up their little lovefest Chekov tries to defend her. He gets a direct shot in the gut for his trouble. The rest of our boys show up and scramble to Chekov’s side, but he’s dead, and there’s nothing the doctor can do.
Back at the saloon, the men grieve for Chekov as they put together the finishing touches on their gas grenade. But something isn’t right: in actual history, Billy Claiborne survived the shootout at the O.K. Corral. So how could he be dead? They must be able to change history! Kirk decides to try one more thing before giving in to the gunfight–he tries to get the law on his side. In Plan D, he finds the sheriff but fails to persuade him to intervene:
KIRK: I can’t kill them! I can’t kill them!
BEHAN: Kill them any way you can! There’ll be no questions asked. Honest. I guarantee that!
So… why is there law enforcement again? Back to Plan C. The grenade is done and Kirk wants to try it out before the big showdown, though, so Scotty volunteers (after a deep draft of bourbon). He inhales deeply but the grenade doesn’t do anything. What’s going on? Spock has a theory: if some of the laws of science don’t apply here, than none of them must apply. It’s all some kind of vast, space douchey illusion. Which leads us to Plan E: wait in the saloon and just let the clock tick to 5pm! Don’t play the game!
Unfortunately, they’re warped instantly to the spot of the fight just a few moments before the shootout is to take place. They try again to run but a forcefield once more blocks their paths. They must fight.
Maybe?
SPOCK: We judge reality by the response of our senses. Once we are convinced of the reality of a given situation, we abide by its rules. We judged the bullets to be solid, the guns to be real, therefore they can kill.
KIRK: Chekov is dead because he believed the bullets would kill him.
SPOCK: He may indeed be dead. We do not know.
KIRK: But we do know that the Melkotians created the situation. If we do not allow ourselves to believe that the bullets are real, they cannot kill us.
SPOCK: Exactly. I know the bullets are unreal, therefore they cannot harm me.
That’s a pretty big gamble and McCoy knows that he’ll never really be able to convince himself that is the case. There’s only one way to effectively brainwash them: the Vulcan mind meld. First Scotty, then McCoy, and then finally Kirk.
SPOCK: The bullets are unreal. Without body. They are illusions only. Shadows without substance. They will not pass through your body, for they do not exist. […] Unreal. Appearances only. They are shadows. Illusions. Nothing but ghosts of reality. They are lies. Falsehoods. Spectres without body. They are to be ignored.
The Earp gang shows up just as they’ve completed the mind melds. They order Kirk and the others to draw, and though Kirk reaches for his gun, he does not fire. The Earps, however, don’t care–they empty their ammo into the men, but Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty all remain unharmed. Kirk engages Wyatt Earp in some man-wrestling, and once he’s pinned him to the ground he considers–and then rejects–the idea of shooting him.
They are all then instantly transported back to the Enterprise. Chekov is alive and well, babbling still about the beautiful Sylvia. In an example of logical gymnastics we are told he escaped death because the only thing real to him was the girl.
The space buoy explodes, and the Melkotians hail Kirk:
MELKOTIAN: Captain Kirk. You did not kill. Is this the way of your kind?
KIRK: It is. We fight only when there’s no choice. We prefer the ways of peaceful contact. I speak for a vast alliance of fellow creatures who believe in the same thing. We have sought you out to join us. Our mission is still one of peace.
MELKOTIAN: Approach our planet and be welcome. A delegation will come out to meet you. Our warning threats are over.
What luck! They plot a course for the planet, but Spock has something nagging him. He knows that Kirk wanted to kill Wyatt Earp. But he chose not to. How did mankind ever survive that kind of barbarism in their pasts?
KIRK: We overcame our instinct for violence.
Analysis
Did anyone else get Ghostbusters II flashbacks watching this?
“Spectre of the Gun” has a dreamy and imaginative vein running through it, and it’s a shame the episode isn’t just a little better. Reality is subjective, of course, but what does that mean in the face of a sufficiently advanced holodeck/space douche? Human beings are easily suggestible; gullible, even. People can believe a lot of crazy, unsupported things, but can we believe that we will die? And if we believe it, can we make it happen? It’s not a rhetorical question, really–the answer is yes. Psychosomatic medicine has been well documented, from the placebo effect to people giving themselves diseases like diabetes simply because they’re sure they have them. We tend to accept the information our senses feed us even if it doesn’t quite compute logically. Paradoxically, we trust what we see and hear more than what we know to be true. It works both ways, actually. When Kirk tries to explain to the Barman that he isn’t Ike Clanton, the Barman says to him: “Don’t make no difference who I think you are. Your problem is, who does Wyatt Earp think you are?” It doesn’t matter what Kirk can do to show he’s a different person, Wyatt is going to believe he’s Ike, and that’s the reality that matters.
I wish the episode had dispensed with the “reveal” of the illusion much earlier. We all know it can’t be real–space douches are clever, but they don’t usually jettison people back through time just to kill them in ironic and morally appropriate ways. (Besides, they’re not in a realistic version of the town.) For me, the real tension–one that McCoy spoke to–was the way in which people struggle with doubt. You can be told over and over again that something is so, and intellectually you can believe it, but doubt still exists. When here just the inkling of doubt could kill, the stakes are so high. What if you were wrong? I think that’s more interesting, and yet we only saw our characters struggle with it for the briefest of moments before Mighty Spock (here he comes to save the plot! Again!) fixes everything in a neat little way.
Matt Jefferies did an outstanding job turning a limited budget into a chance to illustrate a central theme. The flimsy facades serve as signs of places rather than places themselves, in much the same way our memories will latch on to a detail or two and let the rest fall away to time. I remember the little green rhinestones my mom used to embroider into my jeans, but I can’t for the life of me remember the pants themselves, or anything else I wore in grade school. The Tombstone, Arizona of this episode is a hodgepodge of recognizable signs and symbols, unreal, dreamlike, and as much in shadow as it is illuminated. It’s a spectre of the town it’s attempting to represent and just enough to seem real, while at the same time just enough off, wrong, and unfinished to make you doubt the place. The lighting is haunting, particularly in the final sequence, and the way the bullets blow apart the wooden fence behind Kirk and yet leave the men themselves unharmed is very, very cool.
But like a bad dream, most of the episode never adds up. Why on earth is the Enterprise tasked with establishing contact with an alien race “at all costs”? What could they possibly gain through aggression and force in that way, if they’re attempting peaceful diplomacy? I’m not condoning the Cardassian-like court system of immediate execution but I think the Melkotians have every right to tell the UFP to buzz off, if that’s their wish. And for all that talk of venomous snakes and cactus plants, did anyone SEE either of those when they were preparing the gas grenade?
The illusion really falls apart in its contradictions, though. Kirk confidently proclaims early on that history can’t be changed, but this obviously isn’t history (unless buildings seriously didn’t have walls or roofs back then). And if it’s all an illusion, and all you need to make the place real is the belief that it is real, shouldn’t the gas grenade work? Shouldn’t Scotty, believing it to be effective, collapse as promised? To say that this reality is real if you believe it while simultaneously saying that the laws of science don’t apply here and thus it can’t be real conflates objective measure with subjective measure. If, objectively, the gas grenade doesn’t knock out Scotty, then objectively those bullets shouldn’t hurt Chekov.
I’m no expert on Westerns but I did enjoy the little cues they threw in from time to time. The Earps speak slowly, in almost comic deliberateness, while Kirk and the others rattle on quickly. The back and forth had a lot of the silliness of Western dialogue, too. McCoy, caught off guard that “Doc” Holliday is the dentist, insists “The emergency is real.” Holliday responds after a moment: “Sure is real.” It’s not Shakespeare, but it does feel Hollywood-Westerny.
As much as we get another moral lesson about the inherent violence of human beings (it’s been done), the lesson seemed out of place for the Old West. For me, the frontier represents a kind of lawlessness that says less about any particular individual predilection for violence than it does about the cultural framework that allows, encourages, and promotes that kind of violence. When Kirk tries to get the sheriff involved, he wants nothing to do with it, and points to his gun as the only law in town. Vigilantism, not the crumbling moral fiber of men, seems to be the issue at hand.
I think what I came away with most of all was that the Old West works a lot better as a metaphor than it does as a literal reality–and it’s a shame, too, considering the parallels between Westerns and SF. This remained true in The Next Generation’s groan-inducing “A Fistful of Datas.”
Torie’s Rating: Warp 3 (on a scale of 1-6)
Eugene Myers: I’ve seen ominous comments from people leading up to “Spectre of the Gun” that led me to expect another abysmal season three episode, but it turns out I’m rather fond of it. I didn’t remember it being bad exactly, but if you go solely by what it says on the tin the premise does sound ridiculous. There isn’t much new here either: it’s basically a story about first contact with another race of powerful space douches (who must have gotten a good deal on a used fog machine from the ornithoids in “Catspaw“). It’s definitely in the best interest of the Federation to make friends with the Melkotians, but the Enterprise is about as welcome as a Fuller Brush Man. (Come to think of it, I wish I could cause unwanted solicitors to hallucinate that they’re trapped in the Old West.)
I felt at a disadvantage because I just don’t know that much about the O.K. Corral and what went down there. I suspect the frontier would have been very familiar to viewers in the 1960s–Gunsmoke was still going strong while Star Trek was on the air, and it was a common setting for films of the era–but my interest in the Wild West is confined to The Adventures of Brisco County Jr and Back to the Future III. The Star Trek: TNG episode “A Fistful of Datas” is one of my least favorites of the series, and in some ways “Spectre” easily could have taken place in a holodeck with the safety systems disabled.
Part of what charms me about this episode is the set design. Kirk and his crew are on an obviously alien world with red skies and incomplete buildings, arranged like a studio backlot, but they seem convinced they’re in Earth’s past, limited by their roles and confined to historical events. There are few walls, yet they respect the doors that have been provided; I was impressed by the clocks and paintings hanging in mid-air, perhaps implying that the walls are merely transparent.
Though the half-formed structures were a cost-saving measure, along with probably-borrowed costumes from another production, the minimalist approach is inventive and makes the episode feel like a stage play with Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Spock, and Chekov poorly cast as period gunmen; the lightning flashes with the shadows of trees projected against the sky also add to this effect during the storm preceding the showdown. Despite his prior stints in Westerns, DeForest Kelley hams it up in places, some of his worst acting since “Spock’s Brain.” The way the Melkotians move the crew around on the planet follows the logic of a television show, whisking them from scene to scene against their will courtesy of a crazy zoom-in on their chests.
Just as the store fronts are mere facades, nothing on the planet is what it seems–in fact, it isn’t even a planet. Spock’s realization that reality is based on their beliefs is, well, fascinating. It’s all in their heads, and they can win via mind meld over matter. We’ve seen this concept in episodes like “Shore Leave” and “The Menagerie,” but I like the poeticism of Spock’s implanted thoughts:
They are shadows. Illusions. Nothing but ghosts of reality. They are lies. Falsehoods. Spectres without body.
(What’s with the British spelling of “specter”?)
As usual, Spock has some opportunities to shine. His subdued manner after Chekov’s assumed death and his comment that “they forget I am half human” ironically adds some much needed emotional weight to the episode. He’s clearly shaken, because a moment later he actually compliments Dr.McCoy’s ingenuity. They’re all working at top form on this mission, as they plan a way out of their predicament and arrive at a creative solution that should work. The moment where Kirk seeks justice from the Sheriff and discovers that the code of conduct actually encourages murder is especially stirring. Similarly, Spock’s question about whether Kirk wanted to kill is a sobering alternative to their usual laugh at the end of the episode. Unfortunately, it all boils down to another test of Kirk’s compassion, the idea that humanity has overcome its “instinct for violence.”
The episode also suffers because it lacks a genuine emotional core. Chekov’s romance with Sylvia is as manufactured as everything else, even if he is briefly tempted by her passion for the man she thinks he is. Similarly, Chekov’s death rings hollow; there’s no chance that a main character would be killed off, so it only tips us off that there’s a trick. However, most of the character interactions are spot on, and there’s a lot of good dialogue to enjoy. Also some inconsistencies to keep us thinking: how can Spock know so much about Earth in the 1880s when he couldn’t master the slang of the 1920s? An even better question: who brings a shotgun to a showdown? They pack a wallop, but isn’t the whole point to be quick on the draw?
Eugene’s Rating: Warp 4
Best Line: CHEKOV: Where are we going, Captain?
KIRK: To exercise the better part of valor.
Syndication Edits: Chekov reporting the buoy’s range; Kirk ordering a course change to outmaneuver the buoy; Kirk asking Uhura to hail the Melkotians again; the landing party discussing the pistols; Spock assuring the Barman that they will watch “it” very closely; Kirk asking Sylvia again to let Chekov go; Kirk telling the Barman he hasn’t been born yet; two chunks of Kirk’s dialogue with the Earps in Wyatt’s office; McCoy cleaning up Kirk’s busted lip and their jokes about bourbon being “for external use only”; Kirk telling Scotty that they can’t beat the Earps with guns; McCoy leaving Holliday’s office and Sylvia approaching the store; the Earps egging on Kirk after they’ve killed Chekov; McCoy trying to console Kirk over Chekov’s death by telling him they all knew the risks of their jobs.
Trivia: The episode was originally called “The Last Gunfight” and Chekov wasn’t in it at all–instead a random redshirt was killed and never came back. There was also no warning buoy, which adds to the douchiness factor of these Melkotians. In town, the people walked to and fro as they pleased, and only Kirk and his men were trapped by forcefields. And McCoy, knowing that Holliday had tuberculosis, offered to cure him–Holliday declined. The ending was completely different, as well. Kirk and the crew ambush the Earps, who cry that the “code of the West” has been violated, and then disappear. The Melkotians (in this draft, the “Shawnians”) don’t understand why the “code” was in Kirk’s memories and he violated it anyway–so they assume he is insane, and being merciful creatures, let the ship go because they don’t believe in punishing irrational creatures.
The voice of the buoy is James Doohan. The Melkotian is Abraham Sofaer, who was the Thasian in “Charlie X.”
The episode aired one day before the anniversary of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Historical errors: Kirk’s character, Ike Clanton, also survived the gunfight (both he and Billy were unarmed and ran away); Morgan Earp, not Wyatt Earp, was the marshal of Tombstone, and despite the accusation that he “killed on sight” he was apparently one of the more moderate lawmen; and the actual shootout took place outside Fly’s Photographic Studio (not really near the O.K. Corral) and was fairly spontaneous, at 3pm, not 5pm.
Other notes: Before Star Trek, DeForest Kelley was ubiquitous in Westerns, including numerous depictions of this particular gunfight. In 1955 he played Ike Clanton in an episode of You Were There, and two years later played Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He usually played villains.
Bonnie Beecher, who played Sylvia, retired from acting shortly after this episode. She’s an ex-girlfriend of Bob Dylan’s (they went to college together) and went on to marry Wavy Gravy (Hugh Romney), the counterculture icon. She now goes by Jahanara Romney.
The Earp gang were no strangers to Westerns: Ron Soble, who played Wyatt Earp, was in True Grit with John Wayne; Charles Maxwell (Virgil Earp) was in The High Chapperal, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza (and was the voice of the announcer on Gilligan’s Island); Rex Holman (Morgan Earp) was on Wagon Train and countless others; and Sam Gilman (“Doc” Holliday) was on Gunsmoke and The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp. To be fair, saying anyone in 1968 had appeared in Westerns was like saying an actor today appeared on Law & Order.
Mike Minor, who created the Melkot mask, designed the refit of the Enterprise in ST:TMP and was the art director for Wrath of Khan. He also did visual effects work on The Beastmaster, if that brings back any memories.
Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 5 – “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”
Next episode: Season 3, Episode 7 – “Day of the Dove.” US residents can watch it for free at the CBS website.
Man, you both are far too kind to this episode. It’s another set of smug aliens testing humanity, but even that premise falls apart. If they can reach into Kirk’s mind deep enough to pull out the details of the shootout — and clearly Kirk got his details from watching videos ’cause his history is bad — then the smug aliens would already know that Kirk is peaceful — mostly.
Clearly this was thrown together at the last moment as a budget saving episode. Partial sets, and a script that was unable to hang together based on character. It felt like a bad RPG where the gamemaster constantly has to throw hard barriers before his players to keep them on his appointed adventures.
bah!
You guys really did manage to tease a lot more out of this episode than I ever got from it. The whole McGuffin really doesn’t hold together for me. The “Kirk decides not to kill at the last moment” is straight from “Arena” (with the exact same result) and we’ll getter better done space douches later this season. That said, I do have a greater appreciation for the sets now that I know something about German film in the 20s. There’s a very similar feel to films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
The OK Corral would have been very familiar to the audience at the time. Wyatt Earp moved to California late in life and promoted himself pretty heavily in Hollywood. He had a lot to do with the first film about the incident ever being made. What would have been odd to the viewers is the presentation of the Earps as ruthless, blood-thirsty killers – bad guys. There was the beginning of a tendency to present them that way (as part of the whole anti-western mythos trend), but it was far from mainstream. The pendulum has since swung back.
Eugene, if you want to learn a little about the whole Earp vs. Clanton thing, I recommend the movie Tombstone with Kurt Russel, Dana Delaney, and an absolutely awesome performance by Val Kilmer. They stuck pretty close to the facts and took very few liberties in Hollywood terms. Actually, I’m surprised you don’t have much exposure to the Wild West. I’d have thought both of you were in the right age range for the western revival in the late 80s/early 90s.
@1 bobsandiego
Believe it or not, I almost rated it even higher. Possibly it was a matter of it exceeding my expectations, or simply wanting to like this one more. I really do think that most of the random plotting does fit with the disjointed memories the Melkotians were drawing on and the fact that there was a hand guiding events–much like a game of D&D with the aliens as DMs.
@2 DemetriosX
If you have an opportunity to re-watch it, maybe you’ll find more to like. I fully acknowledge that it borrows from many different episodes, but I think it ties them all together in an interesting way.
I did catch that wave of Western revivals, but it never did much for me. In addition to the ones I mentioned, I also liked the short-lived UPN series Legend starring Richard Dean Anderson and John DeLancie, a steampunky sort of Western. I never saw the film version of Wild Wild West, but now that I’ve grown to appreciate Westerns more (particularly Unforgiven), I am eager to check out the TV show.
I found it a little implausible Kirk would have rattling around in his head the intricate details of who shot whom and who survived in the back lot of the OK Corral centuries past. His knowledge of obscure frontier history is then seemingly transmitted through osmosis to most the landing party, with even Scotty (!) seeming able to dredge up Tombstone Trivia.
I did like the cliched mannerisms, the slow drawls, of the Tombstone gang. They used a lot of stock character actors out of the Westerns of the time (like Deforest Kelly!), and the whole thing had the Gunsmoke schtick going for it.
Something that started nagging me this morning: if having doubt about the illusion means it could kill you as if it were real, then wouldn’t having doubt about it being real mean that you could survive?
@ 1 bobsandiego
I thought about giving it a 2, but decided that on the whole I enjoyed it and the disjointed nature of the episode could be forgiven as incomplete memories. It does have that RPG feel, though. But really, aren’t all space douches just unforgiving GMs?
@ 2 DemetriosX
I don’t really see the German Expressionism connection. Shadows do not make a noir, and flimsy set pieces do not make GE.
Eugene and I were actually talking about how weird it was to see the Earps cast as the villains and not the heroes! The Western craze in the early 90s… happened. I haven’t seen Tombstone but, to the extent that they were memorable, I vaguely recall Wyatt Earp and The Quick and the Dead. Does City Slickers count? :) I watched many of the older ones when I was a kid but don’t think I’ve seen a western in years.
@ 3 Eugene
I saw about 20 minutes of the new Wild Wild West on TV at a gym or something. It’s shockingly bad.
@ 4 Lemnoc
That didn’t surprise me. I remember some really random things from history, and presumably the Melkotians chose that incident because it’s the one Kirk knew the most about.
An episode I’ve always been “meh” about; like bobsandiego, it feels to me like a bad computer RPG, one with a succession of chokepoints, each of which is an annoying and arbitrary puzzle (wait, you mean the lever that opens the only door to the labs is on a platform above a lava pit, and this is how the scientists get to and from work every day?).
Never was much interested in the Western stuff – but then, it’s not the history of either of my countries (UK-born Canadian).
Meh.
Torie @5: Maybe not a direct connection with German Expressionism, but I think it’s there. Perhaps through Brechtian theater theory. Still, the starkness of the sets, the camera angles, the lighting, and the way certain things emphasize the stagey aspect of everything feels that way to me. Mind you, it’s been 25 years since I had a major exposure to Expressionism.
I wouldn’t count City Slickers, but Silverado does. And Eugene, if you’re going to dabble in the Wild, Wild West then settle for nothing less than the original series. It was fun. Not as campy as Batman or Lost in Space with better writing and acting. And I highly recommend Tombstone to both of you (on as big a screen as possible). Great movie and Val Kilmer kicks seven different kinds of ass.
@4 Lemnoc
I definitely thought that it felt like a Western. Those guest stars were obviously comfortable in that genre. I wonder what it was like for Kelley though. It must have been surreal having his two worlds collide like that.
@7 DemetriosX
I will definitely check out Tombstone, though I’ll probably keep saying, “Hey, that’s not how it happened on Star Trek!” as I watch it.
I think you’ve hit most of the important notes of this episode pretty well. But one thing I was surprised at — these days don’t we usually portray the Earp gang as the “heroes” or “good guys” of the OK Corral shootout? I seem to recall that being the case . . .
@ 6 CatieCat
Ha! That reminds me of when I went to the UK in high school. I went to school with the kids of the host family I was staying with (just for a day), and when one of their classmates learned I was American she asked if I lived near the cowboys. When I said that we didn’t have cowboys anymore–not for a looong time–she seemed very, very disappointed. I didn’t bother mentioning that I didn’t live near them anyway.
@ 7 DemetriosX
You’re just making me wonder what a REAL GE episode of Star Trek would be like. Hmm…
Speaking of Wild Wild West, it looks like Ron Moore–of DS9 and the new Battlestar Galactica–is remaking it for CBS.
*collective groan*
@ 10. Torie Atkinson
Actually, Wild, Wild West—as the original steampunk—could perhaps lend itself to some revisioning, retelling. The movie never really made it ’cause it focused too heavily on being a vehicle for Will Smith (a tragically absurd-on-the-face-of-it racial anachronism) and what passes for 21st Century camp. We tend to forget just how modern the 19th century really was, and treated that way we might come up with something startlingly relevant (Deadwood meets James Bond).
I do think the overall terrain was fairly well covered by Briscoe County Jr, though.
Suggested Westerns for those who don’t like westerns. I am not a big fan of westerns myself, but I have three in my collection; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance You can’t go wrong with this timeless and perfect film. High noon The ORIGINAL of course, not the made for TV remake. Lastly Unforgiven there’s a reason it won Best Picture.
15 years ago I liked this episode more than I do now. The older I get the more contrived it looks. I do subscribe to the theory in fiction that you are allowed one coincidental incident and everything after that should flow from character. The ‘oh no you can’t’ of the forcefields and teleportation is too much for me.
Lemnoc @11: Good points about WWW, although I’m not sure if the grittiness of Deadwood and the new Bond really fit. The original was always a bit lighthearted, closer to the Roger Moore Bond than any of the others.
bobsandiego @12: That’s a good list. I would add Pale Rider. Really, just about any western made before 1969 or so is likely to surprise you as long as there isn’t any singing in it (although Rio Bravo is an exception). After that, there was a tendency to turn tropes on their heads, use anti-heroes, and generally react against the earlier cinematic language of the genre. (But then that can be said of most film from the period. Generally speaking, the 70s sucked.) I’m surprised the western hasn’t caught on more as a gaming genre. One comes along every now and then and stands out, but the genre itself doesn’t seem to have much of a niche.
BTW did any notice that some other Star Trek re-blogger had actually given this episode a Warp 6 rating? Calling it the best of third season? There’s a reason I am here and not there.
LOL, bobsandiego, I’m impressed you even read it. Their style is…not for me. :)
And yeah – six for this, you must be mad! I wouldn’t give you a single shekel for it.
@ 11 Lemnoc
Oh make no mistake, that was a Ron Moore groan, not a WWW groan. Damn you, Ron Moore!
This. I think the best example of this is Sherlock Holmes, which is continually reinvented in a way that remains relevant and sometimes illuminating.
@ 12 bobsandiego
Noted, and added to the Netflix queue. :)
Coincidence is one thing–bad writing is another. I still wish I could give this episode a 2.5. I think if it had been in the first or second season it would have been a solid 2 and now I’m grading on a curve.
@ 13 DemetriosX
So I guess I should scrap those Zardoz and Soylent Green rewatches, eh? The 70s were actually pretty good to SF films, if you ask me. We got Alien, Clockwork Orange, Close Encounters, and Solaris, not to mention Star Wars. SW in particular is responsible for the morphing of SF into an action genre–a transformation that, whether you like it or not, was absolutely revolutionary in terms of the kinds of SF that got made.
@ 15 and @ 16
This is one of those rare occasions when you all seem to think I have given too high a rating. That never happens!
Torie @16: Actually, I meant 70s films in general, not just SF films. There’s a general flatness to them – sound, lighting, everything – that gives them a layer of boring. I’ve always thought that one of the reasons Star Wars was such a hit is that it overturned a lot of the styles that had predominated in previous years, not least a bad guy who was actually bad and not just misunderstood/needed a hug. It was different. Stylistically, Alien belongs to what came after it, not before. Again, it was atypical of 70s films (and Scott was influenced by SW). Clockwork Orange was 71 and has more in common with 60s film making. Close Encounters sucks; Spielberg at his most self-indulgent. Soylent Green is
peopleOK, but lots of motionless shots and those lighting and sound problems I mentioned. And I would totally skip a Zardoz rewatch. It’s meandering, largely plotless, and makes slightly less sense than “Spock’s Brain”. You might get something out of a young, scantily-clad Sean Connery, but that’s not my thing.@ 16 Torie — I’d join you in those rewatched (well for Zardoz wouldbe a watch.) Pre-Star Wars the 70’s produced some awesome SF. Colossous: The Forbin Project, The Andromeda Strain, Logan’s Run, Rollerball (the best proto-cyberpunk before there was cyber punck)
Here in San Diego a firend form theSan Diego Vintage SF club, we gather once a month to watch SF and genre films from before 1968. I ahd argued, and lost, taht the cut off should be 1977, cause the whole genere and game changed with Star wars.
@ 17 DemetriosX
Sarcasm doesn’t work on you, does it…
Also, I love CE3K! But I can be a patient movie-watcher.
@ 18 bobsandiego
Zardoz is only worth watching as a drinking game. It’s probably the most absurd movie I’ve ever seen. And I don’t mean absurd in a fun, silly way, like Barbarella—I mean absurd in a “oh my god why is this happening to me” kind of way, like Manos: Hands of Fate. Once you’ve seen Sean Connery in a diaper and bandoliers you can’t unsee it. Never ever.
I haven’t seen any of those movies! Oh this is exciting. I am jealous of your film club. I agree about SW, of course, as I said above. SW’s pace of one action scene after the next was unprecedented, and we haven’t ever really gone back. As much as I love many of the great SF action movies, I prefer more thoughtful ones.
@ 19 Torie
NONE OF THEM? Now I know how people felt when I kept telling them I had never read Lord Of The Rings. I won copies of all those films on DVD. (and I growl that there isn’t a widescreen DVD or Blu-ray of The Forbin Project. and I omitte The Omega Man part of the Charlton Heston Trilogy of SF films.
It’s a shame you’re on the wrong coast, otherwise I correct the lack of cinema SF history for you.
Torie @19: See, that’s the problem with the Internet. Sarcasm doesn’t come through.
My problem with CE3K is that it never goes anywhere from a shaky starting premise. The whole thing is backstory. I would rate Zardoz above Manos, but mostly because Connery can actually act and there is at least a suggestion of a plot. Most of the films that bobsandiego mentioned are pretty good. Colossus is a bit slow (though it may be where the idea for Skynet came from), but not bad. And make sure you see the original Rollerball, not the bad remake.
@ 21 DemetriosX
I grant you that Colossus had a slow and steady pacing, but it is a much more realistic appaorach to the mad self-awar computer than any film with running gun battles and count-down clocks. Of course a lot of these films had slower paces than the frenetic films of the future. I blame MTV and George Lucas, Rock vides first gave us the really fast editing and George Lucas made it possible on a grand scae with his non-linear editing decks.
In many ways Star wars set Sf film back a decade. Between 2001 and The Planet of The Apes Hollywood had learned that SF could be an adult medium about adult themes, (even though Apes had a G rating.) by the 70’s we saw a slew of SF films dealing with serious topic in serious ways. Right up until Star Wars made oddles and oodles of money and it was back to kiddie theater and cute robots.
Geez, spend a day debugging code instead of surfing the ‘Net, and I miss going from ‘Spectre* of the Gun’ to Zardoz….
I actually think this was a pretty decent episode, all things considered. Logically, it probably doesn’t hold up, but that’s not really the appeal. It’s an interesting exercise in minimalist set design, lighting, effects. It’s as though the entire landing party is having a bad dream. And the clocks in the sky are cool.
They’ll use the same sort of spartan set design in ‘The Empath’, but there it just annoys, rather than enhances.
I always attributed the historical innacuracies to Kirk’s poor memory, but, then, yes — why does Spock get it wrong, too? And how in hell would he know, anyway? Do they teach Arizona history in Vulcan schools, too? Or — oh, here you go: maybe he picked up the faulty information from one of his several mind-melds with Kirk in the past. How’s that for rationalisation? (Scotty just jumps in with his rubbish so he doesn’t feel left out.)
I never quite figured out what Chekov thought he was doing, striding right into that bullet without ever drawing his gun. If he didn’t think the gun was real, why did the bullet ‘kill’ him? And if he did think it was real, why didn’t he draw? Maybe just the deeply ingrained resistance to senseless killing. Shame we don’t have more of that in this century….
Speaking of which, I always liked the way Kirk can’t bring himself to kill the Earps — ‘I can’t just kill him!’. It’s not just Star Trek, either; it seems to me that most shows of this vintage had heroes who were tough and all, but decidedly non-homicidal. Think how many times the Six Million Dollar Man threw the bad guy’s gun away — far, far away — instead of turning it on him.
These days kids have Jack Bauer as a role model. Feh.
And so many great films to re-watch. Colossus was great, and Eric Braeden’s finest hour, really. The Omega Man, Soylent Green, Rollerball, Planet of the Apes — and don’t forget Fantastic Voyage (Raquel Welch in a form-fitting scuba suit — sigh), THX1138, Logan’s Run, Genesis II, Quatermass and the Pit … on and on. So many afternoons spent watching these on TV….
Zardoz was significant to me in that it turned me on to Beethoven’s 7th symphony as a kid, and to John Boorman, whom I found again later in Excalibur. And, actually, a lot of Star Trek episodes served as gateways to history or science. I remember reading up on the history of the shootout after first watching ‘Spectre of the Gun’, first learning about Jack the Ripper after ‘Wolf in the Fold’, and about Heisenberg and Germany’s dalliance with atomic research after ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’. So many other little tidbits — even when the information on the show is wrong, one’s appetite is often whetted to learn about the real thing. So, inspiration.
And Torie, I’m so with you: give me slow and thoughtful over fast and brainless, any day of the week. Yes, Star Wars was fun, but it’s time to hand SF back over to the grownups again. Lucifer’s Hammer, anyone? Childhood’s End? Ringworld?
Okay, done for now.
* And it’s spelled that way because that’s how it looks best.
@ 23NomadUK
Quatermass and The Pit?? hmm oh! You mean 5 Million Years to Earth! (Ducking now!)
Truthfully it is one of my favorite films and I can’t wait for it to come to Blu0ray. I think that the late 60’s and right through the mid 70’s can be argued to represent a high-water mark for thoughtfull SF film.
Sadly we can’t get Ringworld the movie. I was told by Larry Niven that the rights were bought in the 70’s by a producer and follishly the contract has no expiration on that selling of the rights. The jerk can’t get the film made and refuses to sell. Mr. Niven mentioned that even James Cameron – who wanted to make it into a film — coulnd;t pry the right away from the unnamed producer.
The Seventies was a decade for *relevance* in films. At times that relevance made for a slow slog, but I think that pensive pace was a stylistic thing for the era. They definitely took their time unwinding a plot in those days (what actually happens in the French Connection??).
SF of the era was allegory for something else. I think that’s why Star Wars blew everyone away–it was just good ol’ rollicking cinematic fun and was not intended to BE commentary about anything. Stunning in its simplicity.
Folks have mentioned Alien for visuals, but I think the real trendsetter film for the following decades, to this day, is Bladerunner, employing hot property H. Ford in a very different way. Its dark fatalistic vision of near-future LA blows me away to this day. Grim.
@ 20 bobsandiego
You’ve never read Lord of the Rings?!?!?! :)
@ 21 DemetriosX
Well, I like it, but as we’ve seen with these ST episodes there’s no accounting for taste.
@ 23 NomadUK
That was my chief complaint in the Season 1 wrap-up–our “heroes” today are often violent, homicidal douchebags, and mercy for the defeated is “weak.” ST (and other classic TV) had a more humane view of the world.
I already liked John Boorman when I saw Zardoz, and I still don’t see how he thought that was going to be some epic work of staggering genius.
@ 25 Lemnoc
I would argue that Star Wars is commentary on a lot of things, but you’re right, it doesn’t come close to the deep and meaningful way that SF had been used to discuss difficult issues in the past.
I love both Alien and Blade Runner for similar reasons. BR’s aesthetic… how did that not set off a trend of similar movies? The closest one I can think of is Dark City, which came much, much later.
@ 26 Torie
Oh, I Have now, but I only read the books after the movies came out. I spent 20 years playing D&D and had only read The Hobbit.
@23 NomadUK – agreed about the level of today’s heroes. Theres is a simplicity to simply killing your way out of a problem, but it very weak drama. In part is was an overreaction to the lilly white good guys of the 40-50s.
@25 Lemnoc
Both Alien & Blade Runner were tremendously influential films. Alien is still copied for its core story line of trapped people and an alien monster chasing them down and killing them one by one. IN term of production design, Blade Runner was massive on the movie scene. When Christopher Nolon set out to make Batman Begins he showed his team Blade Runner and told them this was the movie they were making. (sadly I bought my BR set six months too soon, so I own it on DVD and not on Blu-ray)
hmm I’m going to have to make one of these 60’s SF film my Sunday Night Movie tonight.
Thanks for all the movie recommendations, everyone. I’ll add them to my already unwieldy Netflix queue. There are clearly some notable gaps in my film knowledge, but I agree that films of the 60s and 70s that may have lacked in dazzle and polish more than made up for it with provocative ideas and thoughtful scripts. I really liked Soylent Green, Logan’s Run, The Omega Man, and especially Planet of the Apes, but I’ve somehow never heard of Zardoz or Colossus… Is Genesis II actually available anywhere? Or am I mixing that up with The Questor Tapes? (Also, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen Close Encounters identified as CE3K–sounds like modern Hollywood marketing, like ID4, X2, and LXG.)
@28 Eugene
The one sentence description of Colossus: The Forbin Project.
The computer charged with the defense of the United States of America becomes self-aware.
As for Close Encounters – I know I have been calling it CE3K since its release.
I finally got around to looking deeper into this site and it will take me a bit to get caught up.
I noticed the discussion of westerns and wanted to mention Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West. If you haven’t seen this one and want to, make an effort to get the two disk special collector’s edition. Watch the movie first then watch the extras – especially the clip from a Henry Fonda interview where he tells of how he realized what Leone was trying to do with his character.
While some people point to this movie as being the (or part of the) foundation for today’s anti-heroes, I still see it as a separate entity. The studio forced Leone to make another western before they’d give him permission to make the movies he wanted to make. Leone made this movie because he wanted to destroy the western so he’d not be asked to make yet another.
Ennio Morricone’s score is what first drew me to this movie (it was running on network TV) and I have to admit that I didn’t quite understand the story then – being in my early teens – but when I saw it again a few years later in college I loved the story. I still think Morricone’s score has some of the most beautiful movie music I’ve heard.
Now to tie this recommendation back to this episode. The question of the ambiguity of the Earps ties in nicely with the copy used in the promotional material for at least one release of this film.
They weren’t Good Men. They weren’t Bad Men. They Simply Were.
With few exceptions, one could probably find opposing views to our perceptions of any person or event in history. While in some circles such opposing views could (and do) lead to nasty arguments, in terms of writing and storytelling such views can add tension and lead the reader / viewer to ask different questions. The ambiguity of the Earps and the minimal sets are the two things I like most about this episode. The sets told me that this is not in true history and the (series) good-guys being set against the (historical) good-guys led me to the question ‘How can good prevail if someone has to die here?’ then that led to the question ‘What makes either side good and worthy of prevailing?’
But then again, maybe I think too much about such things.
Eugene@28: Genesis II was Roddenberry’s pilot about a fellow who undergoes a suspended animation experiment and wakes up in a distant, post-apocalyptic future, joining a group trying to reunite humanity and spread technology and science. I don’t know if it’s available on DVD or not. The first one had Alex Cord in the lead role; there was a second pilot made, with John Saxon up against a society in which Women Rule and Men Are Slaves — clearly an unacceptable proposition! No mention of ‘givers of pain and delight’, though.
The Questor Tapes was another Roddenberry pilot, with Robert Foxworth as an android trying to locate his creator. At one point, I seem to recall, Questor goes to bed with a lovely lady, noting that he is fully functional in the required department.
No good idea goes un-recycled in the Roddenberry universe.
I recall both (all three, really) as being fun, but I was a lot younger then, so fair warning!
Ludon@30: They weren’t Good Men. They weren’t Bad Men. They Simply Were.
Wonderful point, and I’m sure that, more often than not, this is the case.
In honour of that, and of the recent passing of Dino DeLaurentiis, a quote from another all-time favourite:
Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many — that’s what’s important! Valour pleases you Crom, so grant me this one request: grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!
@ 30 Ludon
Hi, Ludon! Welcome!
I think you’re right about the ambiguity of the Earps, and I appreciated that, too. I still think the episode glossed over too much and took too many shortcuts to be anything more than mediocre.
@ 31 & 32 NomadUK
Oh wow, you busted out the Conan. What are we coming to? My odd Conan-related story: I went to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm and one of the exhibits included a framed picture of our man Conan in all his loincloth glory. I wish I could remember the context…
Torie@33: Conan was most excellent cinema (the first one only; the second was rubbish). I must have seen that film a dozen times. Conan and the Terminator are the two roles Arnold was born to play. Shame he wasted his (admittedly highly specialised) talents on politics.
Late on this one, so I’ll just chime in with my Warp 3 rating (in line with Torie again!) I loved the surreal western sets, and “Don’t make no difference who I think you are. Your problem is, who does Wyatt Earp think you are?” is an awesome line.
The logic of the whole thing is a bit suspect, though, so it remains merely a solid episode. (If Chekov stayed dead, it’d be brilliant.)
I do have to wonder about Starfleet’s logic as well. The Melkotians seem indistinguishable from the forbidden-on-pain-of-death Talosians. Someone should (and probably has) write a story about what Starfleet was really after here.
ahh tonight will be ‘Day of The Dove’ and I’ll get to hear Kirk being a poet. Looking forward to tomorrow.
@ 35 NomadUK
Not a fan of his comedies? There are at least 15 hysterical minutes in Kindergarten Cop. I’m also a fan of True Lies.
@ 35 ChurchHatesTucker
And in “A Private Little War” (? Is that the one?) Kirk tells the natives that if they don’t want contact, Starfleet will go away! So which is it? What’s with the forced diplomacy?
@35 @37 re: forced contact
I read the contact with the Melkotians as being kind of a “Commodore Perry opening Japan” sort of thing — Starfleet is not above compelling isolated space-capable species to open their borders when appropriate.
The fact that the Melkotians seem to totally buy into it once they see Kirk not killing a make-believe dude doesn’t exactly invalidate the Fleet’s approach.
Incidentally, y’all should read the poem on this Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_ships — awesome!
@38 js
“Forced contact”? Very punny.
Good point about the Federation’s curious form of diplomacy being rewarded. I’m not quite sure how much info they had on the Melkotians to start with, and once again, it seems Kirk didn’t bother to do even basic research before setting out on his mission. I suppose that’s what Spock’s for, and it makes it easier to deliver exposition to the audience.
You should write a new poem based on this episode! Also, I need to read more history. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.
“I read the contact with the Melkotians as being kind of a “Commodore Perry opening Japan” sort of thing”
Oh yeah, exactly the kind of thing I had in mind. Without it being exactly the thing I had in mind.
nothing deep from me, but a piece of triva that was overlooked in the analyses:
An almost unrecognizable Rex Holman will reappear as J’onn ( unnamed in the film ), the first follower of Sybok in “Star Trek V”. Poor Rex…stuck in a fair to middling episode of Trek’s third season, only to return in the nadir of the original crew movies series twenty years later.
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode—a sort of “Enterprise meets Twilight Zone”—and I saw in it two important aspects: first, an exploration of reality v.illusion, and second, a solid booo-hisss at Starfleet and its mentality which keeps throwing the Enterprise into hot water yet again. Remember what Spock said once in an earlier episode, about bureaucrats and diplomats achieving the same often-disastrous results? There it is again. But leave it to our favorite team to solve the problem here. Kirk, his brain having gone into warp drive, suggests a mind-meld, and Spock comes through with another tour-de-force performance: an electrifying triple mind-meld, actually a quiet version of the Vulcan mind-fusion coupled with powerful hypnotic suggestion, to convince the rest of the landing party that the bullets are nonexistent and to be ignored. Yet another demonstration of “wuh tepul t’wuh kashek” (Vulcan for “the power of the mind” and what it could be capable of. And, of course, “Kirk-Fu” at its best. The only damage done was to the wooden fence! This may not have been the greatest episode, but it was certainly a high point in an otherwise disastrous season. On a scale of 1-to-6 I’d give it 5.