Tag: 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. 

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)