Star Trek – Plato’s Stepchildren

★★★1/2 November 22, 1968 Season 3 Episode 10

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog. 

This show was written by Gene Roddenberry, Meyer Dolinsky, and Arthur H. Singer

This is one of the more famous episodes of Star Trek but certainly not one of the great ones. It’s famous for the “first” interracial kiss on television. Whether it was the first is debatable but this was in prime time and remembered. The kiss happened between Captain Kirk and Uhura and within the storyline was forced by the enemy so to speak. It’s sad that it was such a big deal…and it shouldn’t have been.

What’s funny is Kirk…he had kissed green aliens and all kinds…the Captain loved women…so, in theory, this shouldn’t have been a big deal. I have to give Shatner a lot of credit here. The network wanted two shots…one of them kissing and one that they don’t. Time was running out while shooting and they could NOT go in overtime so Shatner messed the one up that they didn’t kiss on purpose so they would have to use the other. After hugging Uhura he crossed his eyes knowing they would not use that one. 

For me…the kiss between Spock and Nurse Chapel was more compelling in the story but not history of course. Kirk and Uhura were just work colleagues who respected each other. Nurse Chapel had feelings for the unemotional Spock. Nurse Chapel said:  “For so long I’ve wanted to be close to you. Now all I want to do is crawl away and die.” In other words, she wanted it to happen naturally and not forced which was a violation of both of them. 

 Kirk, Spock, and  McCoy beam down to a culture patterned after ancient Greece, to treat an infection suffered by the group’s leader. However, the resemblance to the old-time Greek philosophers and intellectual is mostly superficial… the jerks here possess vast telekinetic powers and enjoy using them on ‘lesser’ beings for purposes of humiliation, to satisfy their sadistic need for vicarious entertainment. In other words, they’re bored as hell after an existence of over two millennia and the Enterprise crew offer a brief respite from the doldrums.

A cautionary take on the ‘power corrupts’ principle, the episode shows how these Platonians are unable or unwilling to hold back from using their power for even the briefest of periods. Kirk gets the first sampling when Parmen, the leader, forces him to slap himself repeatedly. It gets worse, much worse.

Their powers have allowed them to live here for centuries undetected. After saving the leader’s life, they ask McCoy to stay and be their doctor. He quickly declines but they won’t take no for an answer, even if that means torturing his friends in the process. We see Kirk continuously punching himself in the face, Spock almost crushing Kirk’s skull with his foot, and all sorts of bizarre interactions and movements. McCoy is able to isolate why this planet gave the people these powers. He creates a concoction in Kirk’s blood that allows him to battle the leader telekinetically. Kirk wins and warns the people to be better behaved or the Federation will come down and give them a shiner in the future.

SPOILERS BELOW

Michael Dunn who plays Alexander stole the show to me. His dialog was excellent as was his acting. My only criticism with the ending…is they didn’t show Alexander’s reaction to the Starship when he was beamed aboard. 

From IMDB:

Network executives ordered director David Alexander to shoot a take where Kirk and Uhura did not kiss, just so it would be available. However, William Shatner crossed his eyes at the camera, making the take useless.

Nichelle Nichols said this was her favorite episode, due to Uhura’s being allowed to do something plot-crucial as opposed to her usual role as a glorified receptionist.

Leonard Nimoy composed the “Maiden Wine” song himself.

Nichelle Nichols has said that the Star Trek production offices received more mail on this episode than any other episode in the history of the series and, surprisingly, none of it was negative.

There is some dispute about whether the kiss actually occurred. According to the on-screen footage, it appears that the actors’ lips touched. However, both William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols claimed in ‘Star Trek Memories’ that NBC exerted pressure to forbid lip contact and to use a clever camera technique to conceal the “separation”. Looking closely, it appears that the actors’ lips are not touching; the angle only makes it look like they might be slightly touching.

In the UK, where interracial romance had already been depicted on television, the BBC dropped this episode and subsequent repeats purely on the violence factor, on the grounds that the sadistic treatment of the Enterprise Crew was not suitable for its early evening time slot. It was first shown in the UK on satellite television some 25 years later and on the BBC in December 1993.

This episode features the first and only time both Uhura and Chapel were beamed down to a planet together, and both are a part of the central storyline.

The musical number that Kirk and Spock are forced to perform consists of lines from different parts of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ (sequel to ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’) by Lewis Carroll.

Contrary to popular belief, this was not the first interracial kiss on American network television. This occurred previously in Movin’ with Nancy (1967) when Nancy Sinatra kissed Sammy Davis Jr., and it was also voluntary. When Captain Kirk (William Shatner) kissed Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), he kissed her involuntarily. The studio expressed some concern, and it was suggested instead that Spock should kiss Uhura ‘to make it less of a problem for the southern [US] audience’. Some stations in the South originally refused to air it.

Michael Dunn died of natural causes, just five years after this episode was shown, at age 38.

This is Alexander Courage’s last score for Star Trek. This episode was also the last episode to have an original score, although new songs for The Way to Eden (1969) and a Johannes Brahms paraphrase for Requiem for Methuselah (1969) were composed.

Michael Dunn (Alexander) was best known for playing villains such as Dr. Loveless on The Wild Wild West (1965). Dunn had previously been considered for the role of Little Balok in The Corbomite Maneuver (1966).

As Kirk and Spock are forced to perform at Parmen’s will, their faces are momentarily contorted into a manically happy face (Spock, ironically) and an overtly pouting one (Kirk). A re-occuring image of theatre masks doing these faces is very common in symbolizing the world of theatre.

Liam Sullivan, who plays Parmen, was cast because the producers thought (incorrectly) that he strongly resembled British actor Sir Laurence Olivier. (He looks nothing like Olivier.)

As with other episodes from this season, George Takei was unavailable due to his working on The Green Berets (1968).

Philana says she stopped aging at 30. Barbara Babcock was 31 at time of filming.

This takes place in 2268.

The fictional compound ‘kironide’ could be a reference to Cyranides/Kyranides, a Greek text on alchemy and magic from nearly 2000 years ago.

This is an illustration of how immune system may become less effective if not challenged (e.g., by pathogens or antigens). In this case, the Platonians had weakened their bodies from lack of use, greatly diminishing their resistance to infections and the ability to repair the most minor injury. The body’s internal “safeguards” always have to be working in order to be totally effective. In the next, Wink of an Eye (1968)(#3.11), the Scalosians have the same weakness but the reason is not explained.

 

Summary

Paste HerThe Enterprise responds to an urgent distress call from the planet Platonius. There, they find Platonius’ leader, Parmen, delirious after a small cut on his leg that has become massively infected. The residents of planet are an ancient civilization and, since relocating to Platonius after their original planet was destroyed, have developed telekinetic powers. Having cured Parmen, McCoy finds that they will not let him leave. Working with Alexander, the only Platonian not to have telekinetic power, Kirk, Spock and McCoy try to find a way to gain an advantage.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Michael Dunn … Alexander
Liam Sullivan … Parmen
Barbara Babcock … Philana
James Doohan … Scott
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Ted Scott Ted Scott … Eraclitus
Derek Partridge … Dionyd
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)