A Rogue Planet! Dear God! Denying the laws of known-physics! Holy Lord! And what would be on this rogue planet? A Rogue and Eccentric Omnipotent Squire! (insert dramatic music here...)
We have "The Squire of Gothos"!
Trelane, the rogue, eccentric omnipotent rider of a rogue and wayward planetEpisode Quick Summary
Again the Enterprise is in the midst of a supply run, this time across wide open space. In this midst of the crew romanticizing the situation Spock discovers a vast space disturbance reading--a planet inconceivably located where science would deny its existence. The planet appears to be a natural radio source. As the Enterprise moves away from the planet, Sulu simply disappears, and then so does Captain Kirk leaving Spock in charge. Instrument sweeps do not reveal any sign of either of the crew members, or of any life on the planet. Shortly after measuring what to do about the situation, strange messages come through to the bridge crew sending greetings of a pirate sounding nature. Spock, therefore, transports an away team down to the surface to search for the missing crewmen. On board the surface the away team locate both Kirk and Sulu, as well as a humoid appearing power calling himself Squire Trelane. He explains himself as having the ability to move things from matter to energy and back to matter again, able to rearrange the shape of matter in doing so. He also can apparently outthink our crew, and is keen to demonstrate his authority over them.
Episode Tidbits
The previous episode didn't adequately challenge Kirk's authority. It turns out the intervention of a High Commissioner in Kirk's care for his crew did not really threaten his identity as Captain. So, a new challenge enters with this episode--an omnipotent nutbag able to defy the known laws of physics while dressed in velour and ruffles, living in a castle.
Let's just admit it. Star Trek is intensely full of camp. This episode shows similar choices to many of the set and storyline features found in I Dream of Jeannie episodes. There too we had the possibility of almost unlimited potential for exploration--through the power of a magical genie in the case of that series, through the uniqueness of space travel in Star Trek. In each case what we repeatedly discover through our almost unlimited exploration are campy renditions of 20th century interpretation of 19th century expressions of the middle ages--multiple levels of fetishization, in other words. Here we are in the presence of an omnipotent being celebrating old Italian tapestries, medieval armor, a Renaissance style harpsicord, and English castles.
We could think of our Squire Trelane as a kind of prototype Q--that observing, omnipotent being that appears in The Next Generation. He is determined to speak as though he is simply studying the tendencies of the human species, while also demanding that the crew do as he wishes. What he wishes, he claims, is friendly fellowship. Like Q, he also turns out to act in a more juvenile fashion than he claims we are to believe of him.
Episode Excitement
If you want to see how well The Original Series actors are able to stand frozen, this is the episode for you. Trelane "freezes" them repeatedly.
Quotations
"I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose." --Spock
"Oh Mister Spock, you do have one saving grace, afterall. You're ill mannered. The human half of you, no doubt." --Trelane
"Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected. In this case, I should think interesting would suffice." --Spock
"[Unexpected?] That his food has no taste, his wine no flavor? No. It simply means Trelane knows all of the earth forms but none of the substance." --Spock
Again the Enterprise is in the midst of a supply run, this time across wide open space. In this midst of the crew romanticizing the situation Spock discovers a vast space disturbance reading--a planet inconceivably located where science would deny its existence. The planet appears to be a natural radio source. As the Enterprise moves away from the planet, Sulu simply disappears, and then so does Captain Kirk leaving Spock in charge. Instrument sweeps do not reveal any sign of either of the crew members, or of any life on the planet. Shortly after measuring what to do about the situation, strange messages come through to the bridge crew sending greetings of a pirate sounding nature. Spock, therefore, transports an away team down to the surface to search for the missing crewmen. On board the surface the away team locate both Kirk and Sulu, as well as a humoid appearing power calling himself Squire Trelane. He explains himself as having the ability to move things from matter to energy and back to matter again, able to rearrange the shape of matter in doing so. He also can apparently outthink our crew, and is keen to demonstrate his authority over them.
Episode Tidbits
The previous episode didn't adequately challenge Kirk's authority. It turns out the intervention of a High Commissioner in Kirk's care for his crew did not really threaten his identity as Captain. So, a new challenge enters with this episode--an omnipotent nutbag able to defy the known laws of physics while dressed in velour and ruffles, living in a castle.
Let's just admit it. Star Trek is intensely full of camp. This episode shows similar choices to many of the set and storyline features found in I Dream of Jeannie episodes. There too we had the possibility of almost unlimited potential for exploration--through the power of a magical genie in the case of that series, through the uniqueness of space travel in Star Trek. In each case what we repeatedly discover through our almost unlimited exploration are campy renditions of 20th century interpretation of 19th century expressions of the middle ages--multiple levels of fetishization, in other words. Here we are in the presence of an omnipotent being celebrating old Italian tapestries, medieval armor, a Renaissance style harpsicord, and English castles.
We could think of our Squire Trelane as a kind of prototype Q--that observing, omnipotent being that appears in The Next Generation. He is determined to speak as though he is simply studying the tendencies of the human species, while also demanding that the crew do as he wishes. What he wishes, he claims, is friendly fellowship. Like Q, he also turns out to act in a more juvenile fashion than he claims we are to believe of him.
Episode Excitement
If you want to see how well The Original Series actors are able to stand frozen, this is the episode for you. Trelane "freezes" them repeatedly.
Quotations
"I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose." --Spock
"Oh Mister Spock, you do have one saving grace, afterall. You're ill mannered. The human half of you, no doubt." --Trelane
"Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected. In this case, I should think interesting would suffice." --Spock
"[Unexpected?] That his food has no taste, his wine no flavor? No. It simply means Trelane knows all of the earth forms but none of the substance." --Spock
1 comment:
I originally read this as 'an omnipotent squirrel' and was like, wtf? This IS like Q and Liberace crossed! I like your 'fetishization of the 1800's' analysis - is there a gender/class element in here too, that the more 'male' and 'classless' Starfleet is superior to the softer/girlier/upperclasses?
This ep sounds AMAZING.
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