STAR TREK
Journey to Babel

From Wikipedia:

"Journey to Babel" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #39, production #44 and was first broadcast on November 17, 1967 during the second season. It was repeated on July 5, 1968. It was written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney.

It features the first appearance of Sarek and Amanda, the parents of Mr. Spock.

Overview: The Enterprise must transport dignitaries to a peace conference, with an assassin on the loose.

More here.

Excellent, solid episode.

"Journey to Babel," as yet another tight, well crafted Star Trek tale, succeeds across the board. I mean, it's a lot of fun simply because of the kind of story it is, a diplomatic mission spiced with intrigue. You've got a lot of Star Fleet pomp, dress uniforms out the wazoo, a red shirt honor guard, and the biggest array of weird aliens seen on the American screen until George Lucas gives us the cantina scene in the first Star Wars film a decade later. You've got what I think is probably the absolute best Kirk fight in all of Star Trek, one that he wins, but not without suffering a near-deadly knife wound, resulting in a marvelous moment as he calls for security while passing out.

There's definitely some good shit here. But it is the acting that really makes this episode shine, anchored, as it is, by some fabulous guest stars.

For starters, there's the return of Mark Lenard, who played the Romulan commander in the first season's "Balance of Terror," this time playing Spock's estranged father, Ambassador Sarek. He is the only other actor besides Leonard Nimoy, out of all the various incarnations of Star Trek, who understands playing Vulcans. And he makes it count here, especially in one scene with Spock's mother, Amanda, played by Father Knows Best's Jane Wyatt, where Leonard makes it clear that Sarek deeply loves his son, all the while keeping up the traditional Vulcan facade of stoicism. And Leonard's chemistry with Wyatt is fantastic. He dryly teases her from behind his emotionless front, and then shows tender affection by simply touching his fingers to hers. Wyatt betters Leonard in a marvelous and gut wrenching moment begging Spock to save his father's life.

The featured alien dignitaries are pretty good, too. John Wheeler as the bellicose Tellarite Gav serves as a nice foil to the cool Sarek, but it's the fantastic Austrian actor Reggie Nalder, who plays the Andorian ambassador Shras, stealing the show with his intensity and weird accent. Indeed, he outshines Spock during a conversation about the unmasked faux Andorian spy, pointing out the limitations of Vulcan philosophy when it comes to understanding crime:

Perhaps you should forget logic. Devote yourself to motivations of passion or gain. Those are reasons for murder.

All with that fabulous Eastern European dialect. The perfect Hitchcockian touch of exoticism for a suspense thriller such as this.

The regular cast is, as usual during the second season, solid, too. Kirk is flawless in this one, especially when he takes command of the bridge in spite of the knife wound in his lung. Spock is great, as well, playing out, in subdued Vulcan form, the Oedipus family romance with Amanda and Sarek. Given the centrality of Spock and his parents to the overall plot, I'm tempted to call this a Spock episode, but Dr. McCoy's utter glee at seeing his Vulcan friend/nemesis so vulnerable within the family context, coupled with all his over-the-top medical work, kind of pushes me toward giving "Journey to Babel" to the good Doctor. After all, the episode ends with Sarek, Spock, and Kirk all laid up in sickbay, shushed into silence by their physician, which makes him so excited that he can't help but exclaim, "Well, what do you know? I finally got the last word!"

Go decide who this one belongs to for yourself. It's good stuff.


A teddy bear?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$