Categories
Original Series Season 01 Star Trek

Errand of Mercy

Star Trek ClassicStardate 3198.4: A sudden attack by the Klingons on a vulnerable neutral sector – a location of great strategic importance – puts the Enterprise on red alert, as the threat of another catastrophic war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation looms. Kirk and Spock beam down to Organia, the planet whose security is at risk due to the Klingon threat, and find that the inhabitants, who appear to be humans who have reached the medieval period of sociological and technological development, are not at all concerned that their world is currently being overrun by Klingon troops. Kirk and Spock try to conceal their identities, but fail, leaving Kirk and Klingon Captain Kor at each others’ throats – until the Organians reveal their true nature and intervene in the impending war.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Gene L. Coon
directed by John Newland
music by Alexander Courage

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), John Abbott (Ayelbourne), John Colicos (Kor), Peter Brocco (Claymare), Victor Lundiw (Lieutenant), David Hillary Hughes (Trefayne), Walt Davis (Klingon Soldier), George Sawaya (Second Soldier)

Notes: This episode introduces the Klingons to Star Trek. John Colicos makes two further appearances in the role of Kor in the Deep Space Nine episodes Blood Oath and The Sword of Kahless. The first bloody war between the Klingons and the Federation is chronicled in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, and one of its chief combatants was Kol, a member of the Klingon House of Kor; Kol’s death (Into The Forest I Go, 2017) may explain some of Kor’s warlike zeal here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 02 Star Trek

Friday’s Child

Star Trek ClassicStardate 3497.2: The Enterprise rushes to an underdeveloped planet in an attempt to stop Klingon intervention in the somewhat primitive society. The Klingon Krag is trying to convince the planet’s people that an alliance with the Klingon Empire would be beneficial, and when Kirk breaks cultural taboos – not to mention the prime directive – by interfering with a “routine” killing and saving a pregnant woman, it becomes all too easy for Krag to point out that the landing party from the Enterprise have only come to usurp the planet’s ways of life.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by D.C. Fontana
directed by Joseph Pevney
music by Gerald Fried

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Julie Newmar (Eleen), Tige Andrews (Krag), Michael Dante (Maab), Cal Bolder (Keel), Ben Gage (Akaar), Kirk Raymone (Duur), Robert Bralver (Grant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 02 Star Trek

The Trouble With Tribbles

Star Trek ClassicStardate 4523.3: The Enterprise is summoned to space station K-7 for security duty when the station’s security forces are considered inadequate to guard a shipment of valuable grain by the standards of Federation agriculture administrator Baris. A shipload of Klingons stops off at the station as well, which has all parties concerned even more about the grain consignment. Kirk orders stepped-up security, but that only results in some of the crew – including Scotty and Chekov – instigating a massive bar brawl with the Klingons. All the while, the seemingly harmless huckster Cyrano Jones is trying to peddle furry tribbles off to anyone with a few credits, and Uhura buys one and takes it back to the Enterprise, not knowing that tribbles do only two things: eat and breed.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by David Gerrold
directed by Joseph Pevney
music by Jerry Fielding

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), William Schallert (Nilz Baris), William Campbell (Koloth), Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones), Whit Bissell (Lurry), Michael Pataki (Korax), Ed Reimers (Admiral Fitzpatrick), Charlie Brill (Arne Darvin), Paul Baxley (Ensign Freeman), David Ross (Guard), Guy Raymond (Trader)

Notes: another side of this episode’s events can be seen in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine celebrating the original series’ 30th anniversary, Trials And Tribble-ations. Tribbles are also spotted in the bar in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, but according to the animated series, Kirk and his crew encountered them once more in More Tribbles, More Trouble.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 02 Star Trek

A Private Little War

Star Trek ClassicStardate 4211.4: The Enterprise visits a primitive world where the Klingon Empire has armed one faction of people against another in hopes of eliminating the weaker population and allying the stronger warriors with the Klingons. Spock is seriously injured when he, Kirk and McCoy beam down, and is returned to the Enterprise for treatment as Kirk and McCoy try to make contact with the locals. Kirk is injured by an poisonous indigenous animal, but reaches, with McCoy’s help, his old friend Tyree. Tyree’s mystical wife Nona cures Kirk and then pursues him. Kirk and McCoy, in the meantime, may only be able to resolve the unfair advantage between the planet’s two factions by arming Tyree against his people’s Klingon-backed adversaries.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Gene Roddenberry
story by Jud Crucis
directed by Marc Daniels
music by Gerald Fried

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Nancy Kovack (Nona), Michael Witney (Tyree), Ned Romero (Krell), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel), Booker Bradshaw (Dr. M’Benga), Arthur Bernard (Apella), Janos Prohaska (The Gumato), Paul Baxley (Patrol Leader), Gary Pillard (Yutan)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 03 Star Trek

Day of the Dove

Star Trek ClassicStardate not given: Having both received distress calls from a besieged planet, the Enterprise and a Klingon ship arrive simultaneously, and Kang, the Klingon captain, forces Kirk to beam a party of Klingons aboard the Enterprise. The ship then runs into an area of turbulence, and automatic emergency systems close bulkheads on most of the ship. The Klingons escape into the Enterprise to battle an equal number of the ship’s crew. Both Klingons and Federation officers blame the ship’s problems on each other, and some individuals even see the opportunity to settle scores with their arch-enemies, but nobody realizes the real catalyst behind the violence.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Jerome Bixby
directed by Marvin Chomsky
music by Fred Steiner

Guest Cast: James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Michael Ansara (Kang), Susan Howard (Mara), David Ross (Lt. Johnson), Mark Tobin (Klingon)

Notes: Michael Ansara reprised the role of Kang in 1994’s Deep Space Nine episode Blood Oath, and in Flashback, the 1996 30th anniversary episode of Voyager.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 03 Star Trek

Elaan Of Troyius

Star Trek ClassicStardate 4372.5: The Enterprise is ordered to ferry Ambassador Petri of Troyius to up the dohlman of Troyius’s sworn enemy, the world of Elas. The dohlman turns out to be Elaan, one of the most striking examples of the women of Elas, whose tears, according to legend, leave any man susceptible to her charms. Petri’s duty on the slow voyage back to Troyius is to train the savage Elaan in the more civilized ways of the Troyians, a lesson she does not willingly take on. After stabbing Petri, throwing numerous tantrums, and ordering her guards to refuse Kirk permission to resolve any disputes, Elaan sheds a tear, which infects Kirk, clouding his judgement at precisely the wrong time when a Klingon warship enters the sector.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by John Meredyth Lucas
directed by John Meredyth Lucas
music by Fred Steiner

Guest Cast: James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Frances Nuyen (Elaan), Jay Robinson (Petri), Tony Young (Kryton), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel), Lee Duncan (Evans), Victor Brandt (Wilson), Dick Durock (Guard #1), Charles Beck (Guard #2), K.L. Smith (Klingon)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 03 Star Trek

The Savage Curtain

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5906.4: Over the planet Excalbia, the Enterprise is intercepted by who appears to be Abraham Lincoln, floating through space. Beaming aboard, Lincoln is welcomed by Kirk, who is somewhat awed by the presence of one of his most revered figures of history. “Lincoln” extends an invitation to Kirk and Spock to visit the planet, whose normally lava-covered surface sprouts a zone of Earthlike safety just for the landing party. Kirk, Spock and Lincoln are joined on the surface by an image of Surak, who initiated the doctrine of emotional restraint on Vulcan. A rock-creature appears and introduces Kirk and Spock to four more illusionary figures from history, this time the fiercest conquerors, tyrants and villains of the past, from Earth’s Genghis Khan to Kahless the Unforgettable, who, as Surak did for Vulcan, set the standard of behavior for the Klingons. The creature pits the best and most noble – Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak – against the most vile historical figures. The rewards for Kirk and Spock, should they survive, are their lives, and the lives of everyone aboard the Enterprise.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann
story by Gene Roddenberry
directed by Herschel Daugherty
music by Fred Steiner

Guest Cast: James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Lee Bergere (Abraham Lincoln), Barry Atwater (Surak), Phillip Pine (Colonel Green), Arell Blanton (Chief Security Guard), Carol Daniels DeMent (Zora), Robert Herron (Kahless), Nathan Jung (Ghengis Khan)

Notes: Colonel Green was seen again in one of the final installments of Star Trek: Enterprise, depicted as a xenophobic warmonger whose rants inspired John Paxton’s attempt to oust all alien influences and visitors from Earth a century before Kirk’s tour of duty on the Enterprise.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series (Animated) Season 01 Star Trek

More Tribbles, More Trouble

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5392.4: Escorting two automated freighters to Sherman’s Planet with their precious cargo of quadrotriticale, the Enterprise is diverted when a distress signal is received from another Federation ship under Klingon attack. The sole occupant of the besieged vessel is rescued, but the Klingons destroy his ship and then turn their attention to the Enterprise. Koloth, commanding the Klingon vessel, claims that the pilot of the smaller Federation ship is wanted for the crime of introducing the ravenous (and rapidly-reproducing) tribbles to the Klingon ecosystem. When the pilot turns out to be shady trader Cyrano Jones, peddler of tribbles, Kirk wonders if Koloth doesn’t have a point. Jones left Space Station K-7 after using a tribble-munching life-form known as a glommer to clean up the station’s tribble overpopulation problem. Koloth reveals that the glommer was genetically engineered by the Klingons…and therefore Cyrano Jones could be doing real damage to the Klingon Empire.

Order the DVDswritten by David Gerrold
directed by Hal Sutherland
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott / Lt. Arrex / Koloth), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel), David Gerrold (Korax), Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series (Animated) Season 01 Star Trek

The Time Trap

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5252.2: The Enterprise undertakes a hazardous exploration of the Delta Triangle, an area of space where starships have been disappearing for centuries. A chance encounter with a Klingon battlecruiser in the Delta Triangle results in a brief exchange of fire – and then the Klingon vessel vanishes. Two other Klingon ships approach, promising vengeance upon Kirk and his ship. Kira orders a course heading for the precise coordinates where the first Klingon ship disappeared, and the Enterprise is sucked into an unknown region filled with the debris of ships, some of them centuries old. Another encounter with the Klingon ship proves that weapons are useless here – and then the captains of the two ships are beamed off their respective bridges to meet with the Council of Elysia. The Council is comprised of beings who have found themselves stranded in this region, including Vulcans, Orions, Romulans, Tellarites, Phylosians, Andorians, Gorn and others – and they implore Kirk and his old enemy Kor to give up their hopes for escape. What the council of Elysia does not anticipate is an agreement between the Federation and Klingon crews to pool their resources …but even as the joint venture begins, one of the two captains is planning to do away with the other.

Order the DVDswritten by Joyce Perry
directed by Hal Sutherland
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott / Lt. Arrex / Kor / Zarius / Kel / Enterprise Security Officer), George Takei (Lt. Sulu / Kiri), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura / Devna / Magon), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel / Lt. M’ress)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Movies Original Series Star Trek

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek MoviesStardate 7412.6: Two and a half years after the end of the mission of Kirk (who has now become an admiral) and his crew, the Enterprise has been refitted inside and out, almost an entirely new ship, and some of the crew have drifted apart – McCoy has taken an extended leave, Kirk has accepted a desk job, and Spock has returned to Vulcan to pursue the Kolinahr discipline, a total purge of emotions. In the meantime, Sulu and Uhura have stayed with the Enterprise during its testing phase, while Chekov has become ship’s chief of security and Nurse Chapel has become a full doctor. Captain Willard Decker, son of the late Matt Decker, is slated to become the ship’s new commanding officer. An “energy cloud” of unknown origin and intent has carved a path of destruction through the galaxy on a direct course for Earth, having destroyed a flotilla of Klingon ships as well as Federation communications relay station Epsilon 9.

Admiral Kirk convinces Starfleet to give him command of the Enterprise, displacing Decker to the position of first officer. The refitted ship still has problems, most notably a transporter malfunction which kills two incoming crew members, including the ship’s new Vulcan science officer, whose duties Kirk again hands to Decker. Once the transporter is repaired, the final crew members board the Enterprise, such as Lt. Ilia, the ship’s new navigator who once had a relationship with Decker on her home planet of Delta IV; and Dr. McCoy reluctantly resumes his position after being called back into service by Starfleet. Kirk’s unfamiliarity with the Enterprise’s new design is proven when he orders the ship to warp speed against the recommendations of Decker and Scotty, plunging the ship into a wormhole which it escapes with a last minute order from Decker. While repairing the damage, the ship is boarded by a ship from Vulcan carrying Spock, who offers to resume his post as science officer. Spock begins by helping Scotty overcome the difficulties with the warp engines, enabling the Enterprise to head for the cloud at top speed.

En route, Spock reveals that he was unable to complete his Kolinahr training because he detected an intelligence which he believes is part of the cloud. Penetrating the cloud, the Enterprise wards off an attack but is weakened in the process. After Spock manages to devise a makeshift message to speak to the cloud-entity in its own language and frequency, the ship delves further into the cloud and is boarded by a beam of energy which tries to access the ship’s records on Starfleet and Earth defenses. Spock damages the computer so the beam cannot gather any more information, but is attacked by the beam, which then seems to envelop Lt. Ilia and disappears from the ship, leaving no trace of Ilia. The Enterprise is trapped inside an enclosed, solid space within the cloud, and Ilia turns up again soon afterward, but this time as a puppet of the cloud-entity, identified by the now-dehumanized Ilia as V’ger. Curious to find more about V’ger, Spock steals a spacesuit and a thruster pack and launches himself into a small opening through which the Enterprise cannot travel, and finds himself floating through the memories of V’ger’s entire journey through the universe, eventually coming to an image of Ilia as she was before V’ger’s invasion of the bridge. Spock tries to mind-meld with V’ger through the image, but the staggering amounts of V’ger’s memory and thought overloads Spock’s mind, and he is ejected back to the Enterprise, where he is recovered and given medical attention.

The Ilia-probe tells Kirk that V’ger is on its way to Earth to find its own creator, although V’ger refuses to believe that its creator could be a member of the human race, which it intends to wipe out, if necessary, to complete its search. The cloud has reached Earth and is ready to commence with its task. When Kirk promises the Ilia-probe that he has the information V’ger seeks, V’ger releases the Enterprise and draws it to the center of the cloud, where V’ger itself rests. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker, led by Ilia, find that V’ger is, in fact, a NASA Voyager space probe that was encountered by a race of intelligent machines and, taking the probe’s instructions – to learn all it can and report its findings back its creator – literally, the machines created the cloud-vessel as a means for Voyager to return to Earth and deliver its wealth of information. But the probe is unwilling to transmit its information on command, demanding to become one with its creator. Decker manually forces Voyager to transmit its information, but is absorbed by a wave of energy when V’ger believes its creator – the only being who could operate it – has arrived. Kirk, Spock and McCoy rush back to the Enterprise just in time. The cloud dissipates, leaving the Enterprise in orbit over Earth. Kirk and Spock speculate that Decker’s emotions concerning his relationship with Ilia, the loss of his command of the Enterprise, and other feelings will transform V’ger into a new life form that the Federation may meet again in the future.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Harold Livingston
story by Alan Dean Foster
directed by Robert Wise
music by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: William Shatner (Admiral Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Sulu), Majel Barrett (Dr. Chapel), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Persis Khambatta (Lt. Ilia), Stephen Collins (Commander Decker), Grace Lee Whitney (Chief Petty Officer Rand), Mark Lenard (Klingon Captain), Billy Van Zandt (Alien Boy), Roger Aaron Brown (Epsilon Technician), Gary Faga (Airlock Technician), David Gautreaux (Commander Branch), John D. Gowans (Assistant to Rand), Howard Itznowitz (Cargo Deck Ensign), Jon Rashad Kamal (Lt. Commander Sonak), Marcy Lafferty (Chief DiFalco), Michele Ameen Billy (Lieutenant), Terrence O’Connor (Chief Ross), Michael Rougas (Lt. Cleary), Susan J. Sullivan (Woman), Ralph Brannen, Ralph Byers, Paula Crist, Rik Lane, Franklyn Seales, Momo Yashima (Crew Members), Jimmie Booth, Joel Kramer, Bill McTosh, Dave Moordigan, Tom Morga, Tony Rocco, Joel Schultz, Craig Thomas (Klingon Crewmen), Edna Glover, Norman Stuart, Paul Weber (Vulcan Masters), Joshua Gallegos (Security Officer), Leslie C. Howard (Yeoman), Sayra Hummel, Junero Jennings (Technical Assistants)

Notes: As is generally well known now, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the final remnant of a 1978 attempt by Paramount Pictures to launch its own fourth television network, with a revived Star Trek as its biggest attraction (not unlike the launch, almost 20 years later, of UPN with Star Trek: Voyager). Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins and David Gautreaux were originally signed to series regular contracts, with Gautreaux slated to play the role of Lt. Xon, a full-blood Vulcan science officer. (Leonard Nimoy wasn’t aboard the project until after the release of Star Wars had permanently transformed the new series into a major feature film, and even then he had to be talked into the project by director Robert Wise and several Paramount bigwigs.) Over a dozen scripts were written, including a two-part cliffhanger taking Kirk behind Klingon lines, before the series was abandoned; two of those scripts, Devil’s Due and The Child, would later be resurrected as Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, while a third, World Enough And Time, would be dusted off as an episode of the fan-made video project continuing the Kirk era, Star Trek: New Voyages. Before his death, director Robert Wise revised Star Trek: The Motion Picture, adding and deleting scenes, editing the movie tighter, and replacing some effects scenes with CGI; this is currently the only version of the film available on DVD.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Movies Original Series Star Trek

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek MoviesStardate 8210.3: Heading home, the Enterprise receives no replies from Starfleet regarding the Genesis planet. Most of the trainees have been reassigned to other ships by now, and Kirk is still mourning the death of Spock. Arriving at spacedock, the crew also sees the USS Excelsior, a ship much larger than the Enterprise and boasts the faster transwarp propulsion system. But before the ship can rest easy, someone breaks into Spock’s cabin, which Kirk had declared off-limits. Kirk goes there himself and hears Spock’s voice asking why his body was left on the Genesis planet. Kirk finds that McCoy, on the edge of a nervous breakdown, is the trespasser. On arrival, Admiral Morrow reveals that the Enterprise is to be decommissioned instead of repaired, and also tells the crew that the Genesis device has become a hot topic in the Federation and a topic not to be discussed openly. Scotty is made Captain of engineering for the Excelsior, and the rest of the crew are promised extended leave.

Klingon Captain Kruge, having obtained an illegal copy of the Genesis proposal from a pirate vessel (which he then destroyed), orders his ship, a new Klingon Bird of Prey armed with a cloaking device, to the Genesis planet to investigate the device’s potential as a weapon for the Klingons. At the same time, the USS Grissom, with its new science officer Saavik and Genesis specialist David Marcus, arrives at the planet and detects life signs near the torpedo tube in which Spock’s body had been disposed.

Kirk and his officers, minus the hospitalized McCoy, relax at Kirk’s home when Sarek, Spock’s father, visits. Sarek mind-melds with Kirk in search of Spock’s katra – his spirit. Revealing that Vulcans can pass their spirits on to others when their bodies are near death, Sarek admits that Kirk does not possess Spock’s spirit. Kirk checks ship’s logs and sees that Spock did, in fact, pass his katra on – to McCoy. Sarek tells him that McCoy must be taken to Vulcan so that Spock can be released into a body of his own.

After arguing with Captain Esteban, Saavik and David get permission to beam down, where they find that the life form is a kind of giant slug, probably having developed from microbes on the torpedo’s surface. But they also find the body of Spock missing, and the planet seems very unstable, with extreme weather conditions isolated in random geological locations. Kirk tries to get permission from Admiral Morrow to return to Genesis and retrieve Spock’s body, but is unable to convince Morrow of the validity of Vulcan mysticism. McCoy, in the meantime, tries to hire a private ship from an alien merchant in a bar, but is removed by Starfleet agents when he begins to argue loudly with the alien about going to Genesis. McCoy is put in detention, where Kirk visits him, and, with Sulu’s help, distracts the guards and smuggles McCoy out of the holding area. Uhura, having taken an assignment at a transporter station, beams Kirk, McCoy and Sulu to the Enterprise, where Chekov is waiting. Scotty, in the meantime, has divided his time between sabotaging the Excelsior’s warp drive and preparing the Enterprise for operation by a minimal crew. Kirk and the others, minus Uhura, who plans to travel to Vulcan with Sarek, steal the Enterprise from spacedock. Captain Stiles and the Excelsior are ordered to pursue, but Scotty has disabled the larger ship’s supposedly superior capabilities. The Enterprise continues unchecked toward Genesis.

On the planet, Saavik and David follow more life form readings through a zone of arctic cold until they hear the cries of a child, who turns out to be a very young Vulcan male. They contact the ship with a theory that the Genesis wave may have resurrected Spock. Before allowing the landing party to return, Captain Esteban tries to contact Starfleet but communications are jammed. Kruge’s ship uncloaks and attacks, and the Grissom, a small vessel meant only for scientific duties, is destroyed with a single shot, leaving David, Saavik and the young Spock marooned. Kruge and a party of his men beam down to find them and interrogate them about the Genesis device. While trying to elude the Klingons, David reveals to Saavik that he took some shortcuts with the development of Genesis, resulting in the planet’s abnormalities and a dangerous acceleration of the age of the planet as well as all life-forms present during the Genesis detonation – meaning the childlike Spock. Spock’s rapid aging means that the male Vulcan’s mating drive that normally strikes every seven years of adulthood will occur with greater frequency in his accelerated development and will also bring periods of instability to the planet.

The Enterprise arrives at Genesis, where it is awaited by Kruge’s Bird of Prey, which cannot fire while cloaked. Sulu detects the ship despite the cloaking device and fires before the Klingons can attack. Kruge beams up from Genesis and takes charge of the battle. firing back at the Enterprise and destroying most of Scotty’s automatic systems. Kruge – after one of the Klingons remaining on the surface kills David – forces a grief-stricken and enraged Kirk to surrender. Kirk sets the Enterprise to self-destruct and, with the others, abandons ship and beams down to Genesis just as most of Kruge’s men board the Enterprise. Kruge realizes what is about to happen, but not in time to save his crew. The Enterprise destroys itself and the Klingons aboard, and the debris plunges into the atmosphere of the Genesis planet as Kirk and the others do away with the Klingon guards left on the surface.

Kruge has the last remaining member of his crew beam him to the planet, where Kirk promises to give him the secrets of Genesis in exchange for beaming the others to Kruge’s ship. Kirk and Kruge fight furiously as the planet begins to tear itself apart, and Kirk manages to kick his Klingon opponent off a cliff and beams up to the Bird of Prey. The last Klingon is taken prisoner, and the ship is set on a course for Vulcan. Sarek and Uhura greet Kirk and the others on Vulcan, now carrying Spock’s body which had, before leaving Genesis, grown to roughly the same age as it was when Spock died. McCoy and Spock are taken to the Vulcan High Priestess, who performs a dangerous ritual to return Spock’s mind to his body and free McCoy from the effects of Spock’s katra. The process is successful, and McCoy is restored to health. Spock, however, will have to be re-educated on Vulcan, and will never be exactly the same again. Kirk and the others decide to stay on Vulcan for a time and receive political asylum from Sarek.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Harve Bennett
directed by Leonard Nimoy
music by James Horner

Cast: William Shatner (Admiral Kirk), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), Walter Koenig (Chekov), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Robin Curtis (Lt. Saavik), Merritt Butrick (David Marcus), Phil Morris (Trainee Foster), Scott McGinnis (“Mr. Adventure”), Robert Hooks (Admiral Morrow), Carl Steven (Spock, age 9), Vadia Potenza (Spock, age 13), Stephen Manley (Spock, age 17), Joe W. Davis (Spock, age 25), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Paul Sorenson (Merchantship Captain), Cathie Shirriff (Valkris), Christopher Lloyd (Kruge), Stephen Liska (Torg), John Larroquette (Maltz), Dave Cadiente (Klingon Sergeant), Bob Cummings (Klingon Gunner #1), Branscombe Richmond (Klingon Gunner #2), Phillip Richard Allen (Captain Esteban), Jeanne Mori (USS Grissom Helm), Mario Marcelion (USS Grissom Communications), Allan Miller (Alien in bar), Sharon Thomas (Waitress), Conroy Gedeon (Civilian Agent), James B. Sikking (Captain Styles), Miguel Ferrer (USS Excelsior First Officer), Mark Lenard (Sarek), Katherine Blum (Vulcan Child), Dame Judith Anderson (Vulcan High Priestess), Gary Faga (Prison Guard #1), Douglas Alan Shanklin (Prison Guard #2), Grace Lee Whitney (Woman in cafeteria), Frank Welker (Spock screams), Teresa E. Victor (Enterprise Computer voice), Harve Bennett (Flight Recorder voice), Judi Durand (Space Dock Controller voice), Frank Force (Elevator voice)

Notes: Many events in this movie resurface again. The loss of David creates an even stronger prejudice against Klingons in Kirk than ever before, which nearly proves to be fatal in Star Trek VI. The Excelsior, whose transwarp drive proves to be a failure, makes a dramatic comeback in Trek VI under a new captain, while the fact that Spock’s personality changes drastically as a result of being re-educated by Vulcans rather than his human mother is addressed in Star Trek IV and Star Trek V. Merritt Butrick, who appeared in this movie, Star Trek II, and one episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation, died of AIDS in 1988. Judi Durand would return to the Star Trek fold nearly a decade later, as the station computer voice on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 01 Star Trek The Next Generation

Heart Of Glory

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 41503.7: Worf’s loyalties are tested to the limits as renegade Klingons who at first seem to be refugees of an unjust system of law are rescued from a doomed freighter by the Enterprise. But the survivors soon turn out to terrorists who favor a return to the Klingon ways of old and see the Enterprise as the ideal weapon with which to begin a new reign of terror.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Maurice Hurley
story by Maurice Hurley, Herbert Wright and D.C. Fontana
directed by Rob Bowman
music by Ron Jones

Guest Cast: Vaughn Armstrong (Korris), Charles H. Hyman (Konmel), David Froman (K’Nera), Robert Bauer (Kunivas), Brad Zerbst (Nurse), Dennis Madalone (Ramos)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 02 Star Trek The Next Generation

A Matter Of Honor

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 42506.5: Riker becomes the first Federation officer ever to serve on board a Klingon vessel which is slowly warping toward its destruction – and the negligence of a Benzite “exchange student” on the Enterprise is responsible for arousing the ruthless Klingon captain’s suspicions, provoking a savage attack on the Enterprise…

Order the DVDsteleplay by Burton Armus
story by Wanda M. Haight, Gregory Amos and Burton Armus
directed by Rob Bowman
music by Ron Jones

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Diana Muldaur (Dr. Pulaski), John Putch (Ensign Mendon), Christopher Collins (Captain Kargan), Brian Thompson (Lt. Klag), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Peter Parros (Tactics Officer), Laura Drake (Vemka)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Movies Original Series Star Trek

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek MoviesStardate 8454.1: On the planet Nimbus III, a central location where one ambassador each from the Federation, Klingon Empire and Romulan Empire have met to discuss solutions to the mutual hostility each government holds for the others, talks have virtually ceased despite the arrival of a new Romulan ambassador and Nimbus III has become an arid desert. A renegade Vulcan – apparently breaking from the tradition of his race and embracing emotions and impulses – has generated a strong following on the planet and takes the three ambassadors hostage. The Vulcan, Sybok, then sends a message to the delegates’ governments, demanding a fair hearing of his demands in exchange for the hostages’ lives. A Klingon vessel, commanded by trigger-happy Captain Klaa, heads for Nimbus III with Klaa spoiling for a fight with the legendary Enterprise.

The Enterprise arrives first, and Kirk mounts a rescue operation involving distracting the guards, but he finds himself being held at gunpoint by the hostages he was meant to rescue, Kirk realizes that the affair has been a trap. Sybok now intends to hijack the Enterprise, and succeeds in earning the loyalty of Sulu, Uhura and Chekov by “releasing” them from painful memories in their lives. Sybok sets the Enterprise on a course to the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy, where he believes he will find the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree and, according to Sybok’s theory, that world’s inhabitant – God. Surviving the supposedly deadly trip through the barrier, the Enterprise arrives at an uncharted planet, convincing many of the ship’s crew that Sybok may be right. In their excitement, no one notices that Klaa’s ship is now arriving at Sha Ka Ree as well.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sybok fly a shuttle to the surface and, although initially finding no sign of life, encounter the projection of an enormous face which claims to be God and greets Sybok. However, when the being insists that the Enterprise be brought in close enough that he may meld with it for the journey beyond the Great Barrier, Kirk is suspicious and questions the being’s authenticity. The creature lashes out at Kirk and Spock when they doubt his identity, and Sybok realizes that it is not God. Grappling with the entity so that the others may escape, Sybok gives Kirk time to order a torpedo fired at the creature, but it is not easily killed. When they return to the shuttle, Kirk, Spock and McCoy discover that it has been crippled by the creature, and Kirk orders Scotty to beam Spock and McCoy up.

As soon as they have safely returned to the Enterprise, Klaa opens fire on the Enterprise, damaging the transporters once more. Spock convinces General Koord, the Klingon delegate from Nimbus III and one of Sybok’s recent converts, to use his rank to commandeer Klaa’s ship and rescue Kirk. Koord agrees, and Spock takes over the gunner’s seat on the Klingon ship to destroy the God impostor in time to save Kirk. The Klingons and the Enterprise leave Sha Ka Ree peacefully (and after profuse apologies from Klaa), offering some hope for a peaceful future, in which the formerly disgruntled Nimbus III delegates promise to take a more active interest.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by David Loughery
story by William Shatner, Harve Bennett and David Loughery
directed by William Shatner
music by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), George Takei (Sulu), David Warner (St. John Talbot), Laurence Luckinbill (Sybok), Charles Cooper (Korrd), Cynthia Guow (Caithlin Dar), Todd Bryant (Captain Klaa), Spice Williams (Vixis), Rex Holman (J’onn), George Murdock (“God”), Jonathan Simpson (Young Sarek), Beverly Hart (Vulcan High Priestess), Steve Susskind (Pitchman), Harve Bennett (Starfleet Chief of Staff), Cynthia Blaise (Young Amanda), Bill Quinn (McCoy’s Father), Melanie Shatner (Yeoman)

Note: Although the movie’s end seemed to touch on a Federation peace with the Klingons, the situation obviously was a small instance of cooperation between the two, as Star Trek VI indicated that they were still deadly enemies. David Warner would return to Star Trek VI, though in a drastically different role, as well as a later appearance in a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Charles Cooper would also resurface in Next Generation, again as a Klingon, but minus the belching, as would George Murdock, appearing as Admiral Hansen in the fan-favorite story Best Of Both Worlds. Rex Holman appeared in the original series Spectre Of The Gun.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 02 Star Trek The Next Generation

The Emissary

Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate 42901.3: The Enterprise becomes the temporary home of a priority-one emissary from the Federation who has been sent to deal with a dire emergency – a crew of 23rd century Klingons in suspended animation is about to be awakened by their ship’s “alarm clock” to wage war against the former enemies of the Klingons – the Federation.

Order the DVDstelevision story & teleplay by Richard Manning and Hans Beimler
based on an unpublished story by Thomas H. Calder
directed by Cliff Bole
music by Ron Jones

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), Diana Muldaur (Dr. Pulaski), Suzie Plakson (K’Ehleyr), Lance Le Gault (Captain K’Temoc), Georgann Johnson (Admiral Gromek), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Anne Elizabeth Ramsey (Ensign Clancy), Dietrich Bader (Tactics Officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green