Oh dear lord oh my god! It turns out Paradise, or apparently uninhabited husbandry-supporting planets covered in glorious vegetation, can be DEADLY. Remember that episode where Spock falls dearly in love with a woman on a planet they investigate that is covered in radiation and yet somehow still has people thriving on it? In that episode, there is a flower that senses people's approach and then blasts them in the face with euphoria plus health-generating pollen, causing them to regrow any organs they've lost, and to live in peace and joy. In "The Apple" we revisit the idea of flowers that sense the approach of people and then blasts them with pollen. But this time, the pollen is deadly. DUN DUN DUN!!!
Episode Summary
The crew visits a beautiful, but frightening planet only to discover their crewmen killed by poisonous plants, some mysterious humanoid watching them, lightning that can attack people unexpectedly, and a rock that looks remarkably like multicolored toffee candy that explodes on contact. Further, the rest of the crew still on board the ship discover that their anti-matter drive is being drained by an enormous generator on the planet's surface and the Enterprise is slowly descending in orbit towards the planet atmosphere (which would burn the ship up).
Then, just as Kirk and McCoy seem to be making progress, one of the mysterious poisonous planets moves to attack Kirk, but Spock intervenes just in time to get shot full of poison instead. Dear lovely wonderful Spock. He is strong enough to resist the poison momentarily, but then collapses. McCoy announces they must get him immediately to the ship for treatment, just as Scotty discovers "the entire transporter system is inhibited!"
The Enterprise visit to the planet, then, has become a nightmare. Miraculously, McCoy shoots Spock up with a treatment that actually recovers his life. Surely, Spock is as good as a holy man.
Unable to beam aboard the ship, the crew make due on the planet's surface, only to discover a massive lightning storm that strikes one of the crew men dead. More lightning strikes near the away team, just as they dive out of the way. Thank the gods they came down with so many previously unidentified red shirted security personnel! Otherwise, with the number of attacks this planet is dishing out, main characters would be dying.
Yet another security detail sets out towards the coordinates of a village settlement on the planet. The security personnel radio back to Kirk, but then in the middle of the communication, the tricorders cut out. Then, the security men panic, run back towards the rest of the away team, and end up blowing themselves up accidentally with exploding rocks. Don't worry! Again, more red shirts are still present in the original away team. And we all know that it's always the red shirts that die in Star Trek.
While investigating the security crewman's eruptive death, Spock realizes that the mysterious humanoid has returned. Kirk sets up a diversion and succeeds in catching him. They discover that the man's name is Akuta, and he serves as "the eyes and ears of Vol", an unidentified ruler, or guide for the people of the planet. Akuta agrees to take them to the other people of Vol, just as Scotty contacts Kirk to warn him that the Enterprise has been grabbed by a tractor beam pulling them towards the surface of the planet. Scotty is unable to fight out of the pull of the tractor beam. The Enterprise appears to be on the verge of burning up in the planet's atmosphere.
Who is Vol? Will Scotty succeed in bolstering the power of the Enterprise? Will Kirk ever get back aboard the ship?
Akuta finally takes Kirk to the face of Vol, which turns out to be a giant papier mache snake head with glowing red smoke emanating from its mouth. Incredible that a papier mache head with dry ice and a red light in its mouth could control and protect an entire, deadly paradise planet.
Akuta Introduces the Away Team to his Papier Mache Snake Head God, VolLater, visiting the people of Vol, in the village, they turn out to not have either children, or love, though they are quite friendly and welcoming to the Enterprise crew. Much like the stereotypical hippies of the American 1960's, actually, with bare mid-riffs, flower tied hair, maxi-length skirts, and flower chain necklaces and decorations. Kirk and his away team are whole heartedly welcomed in by the people of Vol, who turn out to be ageless according to McCoy's examinations. In other words, just like episode 24 mentioned above, we have found ourselves on a planet where people do not age, but are instead protected by some outside force. Star Trek, then, has actually written a number of episodes exploring this idea of paradise--a place where we seem to have everything we need to survive, and that is beautiful, but ultimately turns out to be limiting in some way that humans "should" expect to surpass. (McCoy is usually the voice of "rights discourse" in these situations--the one to point out that their freedom is being kept from them. In this way, McCoy seems to be the modern day liberal character on board the Enterprise.)
After realizing that the local inhabitants are ageless, Spock confirms that the atmosphere of the planet entirely negates the possibilities of any harmful effects on the local people. Soon, after the crew's introduction to the village, the locals enter Vol's snake mouth, apparently giving food offerings to the inside him. This leads Spock to confirm through his studies that there is no living being within the snake's mouth, and yet, whatever it is it needs to eat, and seems to need the power of the ship too.
Episode Tidbits
We get to see Chekov expressing love interest for a new female yoeman in this episode. They actually kiss and make out in the woods of the paradise planet. There is no Sulu, evil or otherwise, in this episode, which is disappointing considering his dramatically anti-good, sexually potent performance in the last episode.
Chekov's enthusiasm is the driving source of virility here, and serves as a counter point to the asexuality of the planet's inhabitants. The planet dwellers claim to have no sexual activity of any kind, and ultimately the episode actually asks a question as plain as: how does sex happen in a culture where sex never happens? In other words, according to this episode meeting a sexless culture in a world full of attractive, ageless people is unimaginable. We discover, however, that Vol has forbidden "the touching, the holding." But, later, Chekov, and the female yoeman, Martha, exhibit "the touching, the holding" off in the woods thinking they are on their own. It turns out though that some of the planet's hippy locals see what Chekov and Martha are doing and start to feel confused about the motives behind such activity. "What is to be gained? It is not a dance. It does not gather food. It does not serve Vol. But it did seem as though it was pleasant to them," one of the local men asks. Then, suddenly, the hippy planet dwellers discover the power of free love, just like Americans did only a few years prior to the release of the episode "The Apple." Oh! to revisit the 60's in a papier mache snake head controlled planet!
In his people's discovery of free love, Vol grows angry, threatening to eradicate the strangers as a result. They are dangerous, Vol says. The strangers, as we know, are the away team from the Enterprise. Our crew, then, we discover, invites danger into their lives through the power of sex.
It's an old story--there are two things that can mess up our lives--sex, and violence. According to Vol, however, sex is apparently the worse of the two. When sex is introduced, Vol demands violent death in response. "The Apple" then takes up classic American morality and illustrates it explicitly. That is, violence is the safer activity when forced to choose between it and sex. An interesting moral choice when you start to think about the values it implies--the loss of life, or serious harm of it, is preferable to that of physical exchange and pleasure through sex. An odd choice when considered in that way, but a choice Star Trek enforces through the planet of Vol. Such an episode is not surprising when considering that the hippy free love "movement" really was in full force around the same time the episode was released. NBC's small attempt to fight the power of sex in America.
Episode Quotations
"Chekov! I understand you two find each other fascinating. But we are not here to conduct a field experiment in human biology!" --Kirk
"Doctor, you insist on applying human standards to non-human cultures. I remind you that humans are only a tiny minority in this galaxy." --Spock "There are certain absolutes, Mister Spock, and one of them is the right of humanoids to a free and unchained environment, the right to have conditions which permit growth." --McCoy "Another is the right to choose a system which seems to work for them." --Spock ... "This isn't life. This is stagnation." --McCoy ... "Gentlemen, I think this philosophical discussion can wait until after our ship is out of danger." --Kirk
"Second degree burns. Not dangerous. But I bet they smart." --McCoy examining Spock's back after he is struck by lightning. "Doctor, you have an unsurpassed talent for under statement." --Spock
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