Star Trek – Elaan of Troyius

★★★★★ December 20, 1968 Season 3 Episode 13

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, John Meredyth Lucas, and Arthur Singer

If you take Veruca Salt, Scarlett O’Hara, and mix her with Bellatrix Lestrange… you might come up with Elaan. She is a flat-out…handful (and I’m being nice)… to deal with as her first teacher and now Kirk can testify to it. But as it goes on…you do start having sympathy for her and understand her a bit more and why she is like she is. 

Federation space politics and diplomacy are at the forefront of the plot. The Enterprise is directed to transport a princess (Elaan) from her world to their enemy’s world in an effort to marry her off to the enemy and thus ensure peace.

The problem is that Elaan is barbaric and has no intention of fulfilling her duties. And, once she comes aboard, she is a prima donna who needs civilizing before she’s ready to marry anyone. So, it’s up to Kirk, after she injures the other teacher,  to civilize her. There’s a subplot of an assassination attempt through sabotage that’s thrown in for a little bit of tension.

Kirk becomes infected by Elaan’s tears. According to legend, and 23rd-century biochemistry, the tears of such a female enslave all men. This provides another excuse for Kirk to, uh, fraternize with an alien woman (see Wink Of An Eye) who is generally regarded as off-limits. 

I started to feel a twinge of pity for her by the conclusion, despite her earlier antics. She seems doomed and forsaken at the end to spend the remainder of her life behaving in a certain fashion, contrary to her nature. France Nuyen does a great job playing Elaan. They cast her perfectly with her exotic looks. Even Kirk is hurt also seeing her go.

There is also a good space battle with a Klingon ship. 

From IMDB:

France Nuyen is believed to be the first person of Vietnamese descent to appear on American television.

The story includes elements of both Homer’s “Iliad” (Helen of Troy, represented as Elaan of Troyius) and William Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” (the battle between the clever rational male and the unreasonable temper-tantrum-throwing female).

Mel Brooks based many of the characteristics of Princess Vespa in his classic Star Wars spoof Spaceballs (1987) on Elaan.

When the camera slowly tilts up Elaan’s skimpily clad body (bikini bottom and top) in the transporter, her belly button is covered as per the 1951 Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters, which prohibited female navel exposure. However, by the fall of 1966, this guideline was no longer being enforced. While it’s true costumes on Star Trek often obscured women’s navels, the network did not require it, contrary to a popular myth. In Mirror, Mirror (1967), both Nyota Uhura’s and Marlena Moureau’s navels were often seen, and the first time this happened was in Shore Leave (1966).

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated during the filming of this episode. France Nuyen, a big supporter of Kennedy, had been deeply shocked by the news while shooting her parts as Elaan.

The red “armor” of the Elasian guards’ costumes was constructed from a popular 1960s table place-mat, made of tiny plastic discs embedded in a plastic sheet. This is the same as the red stand-up collar worn by Galt in The Gamesters of Triskelion (1968).

When Mr. Spock scans the Dohlman’s necklace, the sound the necklace makes is the same as the sound made by the Martian tripods in The War of the Worlds (1953).

This episode features the first appearance of the classic D7 Class Klingon battle cruiser, designed and built by Star Trek art director Walter M. Jefferies. (Klingon ships previously had been represented by blobs of light or blips on a computer screen). Day of the Dove (1968), which was filmed later, but aired earlier, reused shots of the Klingon battle cruiser from this episode.

This is the only “TOS” episode that was written and directed by the same individual, in this case John Meredyth Lucas.

France Nuyen, who plays Elaan, starred opposite William Shatner on Broadway in “The World of Suzie Wong” from 1958 until 1960, and they would reunite again in A Small Beheading (1974).

A scene with Spock playing his Vulcan harp in the recreation room set was filmed but then edited out.

The Saurian brandy container makes an appearance in this episode. The bottle is actually a George Dickel commemorative edition “powder horn” whiskey bottle.

In Relics (1992), this was one of many adventures which the revived Scotty reminisced about.

The Klingon Captain says “No terms. Surrender must be unconditional and immediate,” paraphrasing the famous policy of US Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant.

Marked the only time in the series that McCoy actually spoke the line “You’re out of your Vulcan mind”. Because the line was frequently quoted and parodied throughout pop culture, it was only assumed to have been spoken multiple times over the course of the series.

The Perfect Mate (1992) is essentially a retelling of this story.

This and Errand of Mercy (1967) show a Klingon flip-top communicator similar to the ones used by Starfleet. This communicator was originally seen as an Eminiar VII communicator in A Taste of Armageddon (1967).

This episode takes place in 2268.

In A Small Beheading (1974) where William Shatner and France Nuyen are reunited, he plays a ship’s captain and she plays his wife, who is also a member of the Chinese royal family.

William Shatner and France Nuyen had previously starred together in the original Broadway cast of “The World of Suzie Wong.”

The sound effect heard as Kryton sabotages the dilithium crystal assembly is the same one heard in the episode “Arena” when the Metron speaks.

One of the only TOS episodes to have its score composed specifically for it (by Fred Steiner). Many of its cues were used in other third season episodes.

The episode title was inspired by the legend of ‘Helen of Troy ‘.

Summary

Kirk and the Enterprise crew are on a diplomatic mission to transport Elaan, a princess of her people, to Troyius where she is to marry the ruler in the hopes establishing peace between their two worlds. She’s rather a handful for Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise – imperious, demanding and completely lacking in anything remotely akin to manners. She even stabs the Troyian ambassador when he enters her quarters uninvited. It’s left to Captain Kirk to try and get her under control, but she does have the power to entice men, and soon Kirk is passionate for her. All the while, the Enterprise is being followed by a Klingon warship that is bent on destroying them. It is also apparent that the Enterprise has a saboteur on board.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
France Nuyen … Elaan
Jay Robinson … Petri
Tony Young … Kryton
James Doohan … Scott
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
George Takei … Sulu
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Majel Barrett … Nurse Chapel
Lee Duncan … Evans
Victor Brandt … Watson
Dick Durock … Guard #1
Charles Beck … Guard #2
K.L. Smith … Klingon
Hal Baylor … Guard (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci … Transporter Operator (uncredited)
Roger Holloway … Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Bridge Yeoman (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Leslie (uncredited)