STAR TREK
Elaan of Troyius

From Wikipedia:

"Elaan of Troyius" is a third-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast December 20, 1968. It is episode #68, production #57, and was written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

Summary: Captain Kirk hosts a spoiled princess, who must bring peace to a star system at war.

More here.

Watch it here.

Notes and pics:

* Complicated set up, wordy conversation on turbolift, lame ass and confusing exposition.



* Ambassador Petri is really goofy looking, and shares the same last name as the lead character in The Dick Van Dyke Show--what were they thinking?



* What's with the faggy Buck Rogers suits? This is 1969, not 1979. Go figure. Is this part of the Fred Freiberger influence?



* You take Elaan about as seriously as Veruca Salt. And the Wonder Woman villain costume just fails miserably.



* Nice Kirk and Scotty exchange on using impulse power instead of the warp drive.



* Petri gives an amusing reading of his "for your lovely neck" line, but if he's supposed to be comic relief, he's not funny enough, and if we're supposed to take him seriously, he's far too funny.



* I kept thinking that this guy would be good in a Sid and Marty Krofft kind of show, and it turns out I was more right than I imagined: actor Jay Robinson went on to play the title role in the Krofft's Dr. Shrinker a few years later. If I recall correctly, he was much better in that role.



* Extremely well done introduction of the new Klingon ship design, good music, nice dramatic tension.



* So, you hate Elaan, but you kind of hate Petri, too, which is why the stabbing scene is so satisfying.



* Actess France Nuyen is pretty good at playing big huge bitch.



* It's hard not to enjoy Kirk being a big dick to her.



* Good red shirt death. What, is he squeezing his head until his skull is crushed or something? Whatever. Nice weird termination.



* Elaan kind of grows on you. Really, it's the acting: you've got somebody who's really good trying to salvage something out of a horribly written role; sometimes she actually succeeds.



* Kirk, look out for those super love bewitching alien tears!



* Oh god. Not again. All this "yes, my love" shit just sucks.



* The Klingon spy is just about the best thing in the episode, and this is his moment in the spotlight: "Captain, you must know I will tell you nothing." I fucking love that smarmy look on his face.



* Nice suicide.



* Cool closeup of Spock's scanning device. It actually seems to move.



* The episode picks up a bit once they get the warp drive back online, some cool bridge procedure stuff.



* Shitty cardboard Klingon.



* Kirk's love for the Enterprise cures him of the super love bewitching alien tears? This is so fucking stupid.



* One star. This one really sucks. I mean, it's got a couple of good moments, and there's some funny stuff, too, but not enough in either direction to make watching it all that worthwhile. Sure, it's Star Trek, in the end, and if you're a fan, you ought to check it out once every half decade or so, but it's also kind of embarrassing for everyone involved, viewers, actors, costume designers, you know, everyone. Watch it alone, late at night.

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