Star Trek – The Cloud Minders

★★★★ February 28, 1969 Season 3 Episode 21

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, Margaret Armen, and David Gerrold

The Enterprise arrives at the planet Ardana to obtain Zenite, a rare mineral that they need to combat a botanical plague on another world. Kirk and Spock beam down but find themselves caught in the middle of a class struggle between the intellectual rulers dwelling in a city in the clouds, sustained by some anti-gravity technology, and Troglytes, the miners who mostly dwell in the caves on the surface of the planet, where such items like Zenite are obtained.

This is essentially a reworking of the worker class story penned by H.G. Wells in his famous novel The Time Machine. Extrapolating from such a premise of basic inequality, where-in the elites get all the benefits through the sweat of the workers.

It proposes that, sometime in the past, one race experienced an extreme branching-off separation into two, though, scientifically, they are still all the same race. Kirk and Spock see them as the same, simply a division of the rich vs. the poor, but the egotistical intellectuals of Stratos, the hovering city, have come to see themselves, over the centuries, as a different, superior race. 

Star Trek: The Original Series

I liked seeing Spock liked by Droxine. She didn’t know it was a dead end but it’s nice seeing Spock, McCoy, or Scotty be involved instead of Kirk every now and then. Over all a good solid episode. 

SPOILERS

The ending was left open…will the Cloud Minders and Troglytes get along? 

From IMDB:

The rest chamber on Stratos is furnished with the iconic “Ribbon Chair” by french modernist designer Pierre Paulin, upholstered here in day-glow orange.

This was one of the first TV roles for football star Fred Williamson, who later became a prolific film actor.

According to John M. Dwyer (on the TOS season 2 DVD special features), the metal artwork and sculptures that appear throughout the city were mostly parts of metal furniture, like tables, etc. that he had rented from “a guy up in Topanga Canyon”, minus the glass tops, and much care had to be taken to return them in their original condition.

It is interesting that Jeff Corey was cast as Plasus, the leader of the privileged people on Stratos. For a number of years he had been blacklisted from working for allegedly being a Communist.

The phrase “For what purpose?” is uttered several times by several characters, in different contexts.

The story line is similar to Metropolis (1927) about a two class society where the upper class lives in the utopian city Stratos in the sky, enjoying their privileged life, while the cave-dwelling Troglytes’ only existence is working in the mines for the pleasure of a few – which is a key philosophical topic about ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’ in the Star Trek universe.

When Kirk, Spock, and McCoy explain the benefits of the filter masks to Plasus, they do so from a monitor in the transporter room. This is the first and only time in the series we see a visual communication take place here.

The mine “entrance” is the same set piece that was used for the entrance to the defense computer cave in That Which Survives (1969).

The script was written by David Gerrold, one of four writers of Star Trek who had no prior TV writing credits. The other three were Jean Lisette Aroeste (‘Is There in Truth No Beauty?’, ‘All Our Yesterdays’), Judy Burns (‘The Tholian Web’) and Joyce Muskat (‘The Empath’).

Just before leaving Stratos, Captain Kirk suggests to Plasus that the Federation Bureau of Industrialization (FBI) might be of assistance to mediate the difficulties with the Troglytes.

This takes place in 2269.

Jeff Corey and DeForest Kelley appeared together in Canon City (1948).

The name Droxine supposedly means awareness, audacity and gentleness.

Jeff Corey, who played Plasus, was also a director and teacher. In fact, he was one of Leonard Nimoy’s acting instructors.

 

Summary

Kirk and the Enterprise arrive at the planet Ardana to collect a supply of Zenite, needed to combat a botanical plague. The Stratosians live in a city literally in the clouds, far above the planet. They are highly intelligent and devote most of their time to art and intellectual pursuits. On the planet however live the Troglites, a primitive people who work in the mines. The Stratosians face a rebellion from the planet’s populace by a group of Troglites known as the Disruptors. In the city above, one particular Stratosian, the beautiful Droxine, takes a particular interest in Mr. Spock. Kirk soon realizes that the Disruptors may have legitimate complaints and is forced to deal with them when they steal the Zenite shipment. They also discover there may be an explanation for the Troglites’ limited intellectual capacity.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Jeff Corey … Plasus
Diana Ewing … Droxine
Charlene Polite … Vanna
James Doohan … Scott
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Kirk Raymond … Cloud Guard #1 (as Kirk Raymone)
Jimmy Fields … Cloud Guard #2
Ed Long … Midro
Fred Williamson … Anka
Garth Pillsbury … Prisoner
Harv Selsby … Guard
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (archive footage) (uncredited)
Louie Elias … Troglyte #1 (uncredited)
Dick Geary … Cloud City Sentinel #1 (uncredited)
Jay D. Jones … Prisoner #2 (uncredited)
Bob Miles … Cloud City Sentinel #2 (uncredited)
Marvin Walters … Troglyte #2 (uncredited)

 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

35 thoughts on “Star Trek – The Cloud Minders”

    1. Oh yes…next Saturday will finish it up! It will be a while before I ever do another tv series if ever…although this was easy compared to the TZ which was twice the episodes.

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    1. Yes…but controls his emotions. In a past episode some spores made him lose control of his emotions and he was basically happy in love…but of course that ended.

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    1. Yes it was…this was a very good episode and it would have fit in the 1st or 2nd seasons. 3 more Lisa…I can’t believe we are down to that now.

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      2. I know…the TZ was around 154…I can’t imagine that now!
        If I ever do it again…I might look for someone to do half and half and split them up. The biggest problem is what show? It’s hard to make this work with comedies. The only other show I would attempt off the top of my head is The Night Gallery.

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      3. 154??? How soon we forget. Do you get many searches on your TZ write-ups? Just curious. The Night Gallery would be good. I always wanted to do one on The Waltons, but I bet that would be a big commitment. Or maybe Northern Exposure.

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      4. Yes I do get hits on them constantly. Also the index I made…I think people search and find it as an episode guide which it works for.
        I would visit every day! I like both of those.

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      5. Happy to hear about the hits on them. I see that series as an anchor of stability, despite the “out-there” raimant it is dressed in. Like you said before, it is because it’s out there that it was able to get away with a lot of political commentary.

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      6. I dont’ understand hits as much…Google search is my life line… it’s so funny Lisa…a Burger King commercial post I have gets hits every single day at least 10 times…. “Hold the Pickles Hold the Lettuce”…. You never know when you write them.
        The TZ…you are correct…the political undertones that still hold today…draw new viewers in.

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      8. There is one more thing I’ll bore you with and I’ll drop it….I hardly ever look at my stats…I just like commenting on posts…but…Wednesday…my numbers were through the roof. An old post about the 1970 Love Valley Rock Festival all of a sudden got like 115 views that day. Days after they kept coming in….I mean why? Why that? I got more views than I did when I posted it.
        Sorry Lisa…I don’t get to talk about this much to anyone who can relate.

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      9. That’s fantastic, Max. Happy you are getting good traffic on your posts. It is a mystery of why 115 views in one day, unless they are doing another concert by that name? Whatever it is, it helps your stats.

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      12. Yea…I know what you mean. When I go on a break it happens as well except google searches. You get what is most important…your readers like to comment. To me…that is what matters the most…the interaction….likes and views are way behind comments to me…I like our community here.

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  6. This was a great episode and I have to get around to rewatching it! Sorry Max I know I have missed a couple of these but between the grandson visiting (which was wonderful) followed by all the service interruptions I have not kept up!

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    1. Oh man…I totally get it! Dont’ ever worry about that.
      We have only 3 more to go and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve enjoyed it but man it’s a marathon. For a while…I’ll stick with music, books, and a movie here and there posting wise.

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  7. Yep, bravo for doing a full three series review of a show that still has a following years and years down the line- what with researching and writing it, and- Hey, for some reason when I see the term ‘Troglyt’ I think of that Jimmy Castor Bunch song or ‘Wild Thing’- answering random and inane comments like mine now!
    It had a three year run, but even with a budget cut back to the bare Bones it left a legacy, and having watched all but one or two I missed, or was interrupted in watching, I have seen them all in sequence.
    It shows its age, of course, but overall it has/was been a very entertaining watch. Without ST would there have been a slew of Sci-Fi TV? No ”Buck Rogers’ no ‘V’, no ‘Quantum Leap, no ‘Red Dwarf,’ no ‘Resident Alien,’ no ‘Lost. And that would sad. Well, after a good half the first series I was left ‘Lost.’

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    1. Thanks Obbverse…I enjoyed doing it but I’m also glad it will be ending soon. You can’t do these with a comedy…I guess you could but it would be so boring. Barney Miller would be one of the only ones I would even attempt it with as far as a sitcom…because of the guest crooks.
      Lost had a good story line to start off with…but then yea…it lost me.
      Star Trek amazingly has endured…those wonderful stories and most importantly…characters.

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      1. Just a note on ‘Barney Miller.’ This is such a great character driven series, showing ’em flaws and all. And how, pre CSI did they solve any crimes? All legwork, computers just a dream, fingerprinting powder was about as high tech as it got.
        And what would it have been like trying to work with- and what a great name- Inspector Frank Luger and his friends Curly, Muldoon, Shorty and Knuckles- or whoever they were.

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      2. The set also…it has to be the dirtiest looking set I’ve ever seen on a show and probably the most realistic for that time. The characters…yes….that is one show that I never saw a bad episode. No dream squences or musical numbers…just some great writing. When you have those characters…they can almost write themselves. Dietrich is one of my favorite TV characters period.
        I hate saying this…but it wasn’t hugely popular…I think it’s because they didn’t stoop to the level of most watchers.

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      2. I agree with that….is this the one you were talking about? I like tomorrow’s episode also…though it’s bizarre.

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