star trek tos plato's stepchildren

Plato's Stepchildren (episode)

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The Enterprise finds a planet inhabited by aliens who were once followers of the Greek philosopher Plato.

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Production timeline
• 4.4 Costumes
• 4.5 Reception
• 4.6 Remastered information
• 4.7 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest stars
• 5.4 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.5 Photo double
• 5.6 References
• 5.7 External links

Summary [ ]

Alexander meets the landing party

Summoned by an urgent distress call for medical help, the USS Enterprise landing party consisting of Kirk , Spock , and McCoy find a group of aliens who supposedly model their society on the teachings of Plato . Their leader is suffering from a massive infection in his leg and is close to death. Alexander , a servant to the Platonians , quietly suggests to Philana that they should not kill the Enterprise landing party, given that they are trying to save their leader, Parmen . Before he can finish his sentence, Philana telekinetically makes him bite his hand.

Act One [ ]

Parmen reacts to infection

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy discover the Platonians' powerful psychokinetic abilities, as the man's delirium has violent effects on his surroundings. Another Platonian trait is extreme longevity, as well as frail physical immunity seemingly caused by their emphasis on mental prowess. This is what caused their powerful ruler to be so vulnerable to what should have been a minor treatable injury.

The result of a mass eugenics project on their home planet, "Plato's stepchildren" had escaped to Earth in the time of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato when their star, Sahndara , went supernova . After Plato's death they established a republic based on his philosophy, where 38 inhabitants live a life of quiet contemplation and self-reliance.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are forced into audience with Parmen

A simple cut in the leg had developed an unknown infection which caused Parmen to have a fever and lose control of his powers. Furniture is thrown around and the Enterprise is shaken in orbit, while Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Alexander duck and hide from the flying objects. " Fascinating. I believe we are experiencing the psychokinetic manifestations of Parmen's delirium ", Spock notes. Philana, Parmen's wife, is able to distract Parmen long enough for McCoy to sedate him with a hypospray , ending the chaos. Later, Dr. McCoy's treatment of Parmen is effective and the landing party prepares to leave the planet. However, the Enterprise is frozen; Scott reports that there are no functional transporters , navigation or even subspace communication with Starfleet . Captain Kirk barges into Parmen's chamber, and Parmen strips Kirk of his phaser and tells him that guests must recognize his supremacy. In an allusion to the Greek ideal of guest-friend, Kirk retorts: " Guest? You don't know the meaning of the word. Guests are not treated like common prisoners. " Parmen uses his psychokinetic powers to force Kirk to slap himself in the face repeatedly.

Act Two [ ]

Parmen insists that McCoy stay with him and Philana

After the ordeal with Kirk smacking himself around, he, Spock, and McCoy are back in their guest chamber, trying to contact the Enterprise with his communicator to no avail. The Platonians summon them and seem grateful for McCoy's help. They provide the landing party with variety of gifts: the shield of Pericles for Kirk, a kithara for Spock, and a collection of Greek cures written by Hippocrates himself for McCoy. Parmen appeals for Kirk's forgiveness. He says he will release the ship, but he wants McCoy to remain on the planet.

McCoy refuses and Parmen says he will not be refused. Kirk says that he cannot consider himself a descendant of Plato. Spock points out, " Plato wanted truth and beauty and above all, justice . " Parmen says that theirs is the most democratic society that ever was – unlike the Federation , which uses weapons and fleets of starships to enforce justice, the Platonians use the power of the mind. He says he wants to persuade Kirk and Spock to leave peacefully so as not to upset McCoy.

Spock is stripped of his emotional control

Parmen uses his mental powers to intimidate and humiliate Kirk and Spock into compliance. First, he makes them sing a song and dance a jig. Kirk tells McCoy that he is not going to let him stay behind and Parmen makes Kirk recite some lines from William Shakespeare 's Sonnet LVII: " Being your slave what should I do but tend | Upon the hours, and times of your desire? | I have no precious time at all to spend; | Nor service[s] to do, 'til you … ". Parmen makes Spock dance some more and then forces him to laugh and cry, torturing his Vulcan psychology by forcing severe emotion, such as hearty laughter and a good cry out of him. Kirk is forced to get down on his hands and knees and neigh and trot like a horse and Alexander is forced to ride on Kirk's back

Act Three [ ]

McCoy decides to volunteer to stay but Kirk still refuses, pointing out that once they are gone they and the Enterprise will be destroyed. Alexander speaks up, saying that Kirk is right. He gives a speech about how he used to think it was his own fault that he did not have the same powers as the Platonians and that he was lucky that they had kept him around. But now, after the Enterprise crew stood up to the Platonians and showed them for what they are, he realizes how they've been putting him down.

Spock questions Alexander about the powers and determines that the power had manifested itself shortly after the Platonians had used up their food stores and started eating local food. McCoy scans Alexander's blood with his medical tricorder and finds that Parmen has more kironide , which is broken down by the pituitary gland . Alexander remembers that the kironide gave each Platonian different mental powers, but when they tried to combine these powers they failed. McCoy synthesizes some kironide and injects Kirk, and Spock – to double that of Parmen's level. Kirk suggests that Alexander get a dose, take Parmen's place and rule the planet, but Alexander refuses: " You think that's what I want? Become one of them? Become my own enemy? Just lie around like a big blob of nothing and have things done for me? I want to run around for myself. If I am going to laugh or cry, I want to do it for myself. You can keep your precious power. All I ask is one thing: if you do make it out of here, take me with you. "

Uhura and Chapel in Platonian garb

The conversation is interrupted when the Platonians force Lieutenant Uhura and Nurse Christine Chapel to beam down as Kirk, Spock, and McCoy look on in bewilderment. The women, unable to speak, walk away and are forced against their will to prepare for the evening's festivities. Kirk angrily surmises that the Platonians have now found some new entertainment for their amusement.

Act Four [ ]

Later that night, Uhura and Chapel step out into the main hall, both dressed in fabulous Greek dresses as Kirk and Spock join them, both clad in short Greek tunics and laurel leaf crowns. Kirk asks Spock to try to lift some plates of food, but the powers have not kicked in yet. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Chapel are led to a stage. Parmen would like to welcome McCoy, but he has to convince McCoy to change his mind first. He makes Spock sing what he calls " a serenade from the laughing spaceman " to Uhura and Chapel.

Then, the four are split into two pairs: Uhura and Kirk, and Chapel and Spock. Chapel and Spock are forced to kiss despite their protests; Chapel confesses that she has wanted to be close to Spock for so long but now she wants to "crawl away and die". Uhura likewise confesses to Kirk that she was so often calmed by Kirk's presence when she was frightened on the bridge of the Enterprise . The two couples struggle in vain to avoid being forced to kiss.

" Who did that? " "I did. "

After the kisses, Parmen compels Kirk to crack a bullwhip at Uhura and Spock to brandish a hot poker rod at Chapel. While Parmen is distracted controlling the four officers, Alexander attempts to sneak up on him with a knife . Parmen shifts his focus to trying to make Alexander turn the knife on himself. Meanwhile, Kirk begins to feel his telekinetic power building and laughs once he prevents Alexander from hurting himself. Parmen cannot believe that Kirk has telekinetic abilities and tries to test them. He sends Alexander to threaten Kirk with the knife, but again the captain turns the tables on the Platonian. For a brief time, the two minds fight for control of Alexander. Kirk's power is proven the greater but ultimately they both release him. Alexander begins to use his free will to attack Parmen but Kirk stops him, asking simply, " Do you want to be like him? " Alexander struggles with his conscience, but finally drops the knife, heaping contempt onto his former leader instead. Parmen sees that Kirk has spared his life, and appears repentant. He promises that he will be more benevolent towards future visits by other starships. Spock and Kirk are very dubious of the reform and so stresses that any new visitors can easily be dosed with kironide as well. Parmen appears to acquiesce to this truth and Kirk seems satisfied that the "Platonian problem" has been solved.

Kirk calls Scotty for transport, saying that he has "a little surprise" for the chief engineer . Kirk intends to make good on his earlier promise to rescue Alexander from Platonius and the Enterprise departs soon after.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2268

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or color makes no difference. "

" Doctor McCoy, you may yet cure the common cold. "

Parmen forces Kirk and Spock to perform

" Philosopher kings have no need of titles. "

" I'm Tweedledee, he's Tweedledum. " " We're spacemen marching to and from. " " We slythe among the mimsey toves. " " And tire among the borogoves. "

" Being your slave, what should I do but tend. " " Upon the hours, and times of your desire? " " I have no precious time at all to spend. " " Nor service to do, 'til you… "

" However, I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you. "

The other forced kiss

" You think that's what I want? Become one of them? Become my own enemy? "

" For so long I've wanted to be close to you. Now all I want to do is crawl away and die! "

" Careful, Mr. Spock. Too much love is dangerous. " " Remember, Cupid's arrow kills Vulcans. "

" And now they are making me tremble. But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid. "

Alexander scolds Parmen

" Don't stop me! Let me finish him off! " " Do you want to be like him? "

" Despite your brains, you're the most contemptible things that ever lived in this universe. "

" To us, killing is murder. Even for revenge. "

" Uncontrolled, power will turn even saints into savages. And we can all be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses. "

" Kirk to Enterprise . Mr. Scott, prepare to beam us up. I have a little surprise for you. I'm bringing a visitor aboard. "

Background information [ ]

Production timeline [ ].

• Story outline by Meyer Dolinsky , titled "The Sons of Socrates" [1] , 10 June 1968
• Revised story outline, 13 June 1968
• First draft teleplay, 8 July 1968
• Second draft teleplay, 18 July 1968
• Third draft teleplay, 8 August 1968
• Final draft teleplay by Arthur Singer , 29 August 1968 , 3 September 1968
• Additional page revisions by Fred Freiberger , 3 September 1968 , 4 September 1968 , 5 September 1968 , 9 September 1968 , 10 September 1968 , 13 September 1968
• Day 1 – 9 September 1968 , Monday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge ; Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Atrium
• Day 2 – 10 September 1968 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Atrium
• Day 3 – 11 September 1968 , Wednesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Atrium
• Day 4 – 12 September 1968 , Thursday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Atrium , South wing
• Day 5 – 13 September 1968 , Friday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. South wing
• Day 6 – 16 September 1968 , Monday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. South wing
• Day 7 – 17 September 1968 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. South wing (" Theater ")
• Score recorded: 25 October 1968
• Original airdate: 22 November 1968
• First UK airdate (on ITV ): 27 May 1984
• First UK airdate (on BBC2 ): 22 December 1993
• Remastered episode airdate: 16 June 2007
• George Takei ( Sulu ) and Walter Koenig ( Chekov ) do not appear in this episode.

Spock sings "Maiden Wine", composed by Leonard Nimoy, to Uhura and Chapel

• This is Alexander Courage 's last score for Star Trek . This episode was also the last episode to have an original score, although new songs for " The Way to Eden " and a Brahms paraphrase for " Requiem for Methuselah " were composed.
• Leonard Nimoy composed " Maiden Wine ", the song that he performs in this episode.

Costumes [ ]

• The togas worn by Shatner and Nimoy in this episode were designed by William Ware Theiss , and were later put up for auction in December 2018. [2]

Reception [ ]

• There is some dispute about whether the kiss actually occurred. According to the on-screen footage, it appears that the actors' lips touched. However, both William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols claimed in Star Trek Memories (2009 ed., pp. 283-286) that NBC exerted pressure to forbid lip contact, and to use a clever camera technique to conceal the "separation".
• Also according to Nichols, NBC was afraid of the kiss because some stations in the South could decide not to air the episode because of it. Finally, an agreement was made: to film two versions of the scene – one where Kirk and Uhura kissed, and one where they did not. They filmed the first version (with the kiss) successfully, then she and Shatner deliberately flubbed every take of the latter, making it unusable, and leaving the kiss intact. Nichols writes, " The next day they screened the dailies, and although I rarely attended them, I couldn't miss this one. Everyone watched as Kirk and Uhura kissed and kissed and kissed. And I'd like to set the record straight: Although Kirk and Uhura fought it, they did kiss in every single scene. When the non-kissing scene came on, everyone in the room cracked up. The last shot, which looked okay on the set, actually had Bill wildly crossing his eyes. It was so corny and just plain bad it was unusable. The only alternative was to cut out the scene altogether, but that was impossible to do without ruining the entire episode. Finally, the guys in charge relented: 'To hell with it. Let's go with the kiss.' I guess they figured we were going to be canceled in a few months anyway. And so the kiss stayed. " ( Beyond Uhura [ page number? • edit ] )
• According to Nichols, in the early script, it was supposed to be Spock that kissed Uhura, but William Shatner had it changed, saying, " If anyone's gonna get to kiss Nichelle, it's going to be me, I mean, Captain Kirk! " ( citation needed • edit )
• Trekkies Bjo and John Trimble were happy to receive news of this installment. John Trimble remarked, " Our immediate reaction was, 'Alright, by God, about time!' " Added Bjo Trimble, " And my second immediate reaction was, 'Boy, are they gonna hear from the Bible Belt on this one!' " Bjo Trimble stated, " We got our share of some really nasty letters. But here was the thing – you get one nasty letter, and you get a hundred really great letters. It was a step forward, I think. " ( Star Trek: The Real Story [ page number? • edit ] )
• Screenwriter D.C. Fontana recalled, " There were Southern stations that told NBC: 'Well, we're not going to run this show, because you have a black woman on the bridge,', " she then added “And Gene Roddenberry told NBC to tell them to go to hell. " According to Nichols who said the scene struck a chord for her personally because her own " Grandpa was white, and Grandma was black. But professionally speaking? It was just a kissing scene. " [3]
• This episode was not shown until 22 December 1993 in the United Kingdom, with the BBC skipping it due to "sadistic" elements in the plot. An official BBC statement by Sheila Cundy of the Programme Correspondence Section declared, " After very careful consideration a top level decision was made not to screen the episodes entitled ' Empath ' [sic] , ' Whom The Gods Destroy ' [sic] , 'Plato's Stepchildren' and ' Miri ' [actually transmitted in 1970, but not re-aired until the '90s] , because they all dealt most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of madness, torture, sadism and disease. " (BBC form letter, undated, Reference 28/SPC)

Remastered information [ ]

The remastered version of "Plato's Stepchildren" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of 16 June 2007 . Very few new effects were required. Like all other remastered episodes, the physical model of the Enterprise has been wholly replaced by a CGI model throughout the episode. Similarly, the Enterprise is universally shot at different – and typically closer – angles than in the original.

The most dramatic new effect is that of the planet Platonius. It has changed from its original, Mars-like appearance to one that greatly resembles Earth.

Dr. McCoy's tricorder insert also received a touch-up. Its display was transformed from a bar graph that approximated sickbay displays to an integrated line chart. The benefit of the changed effect is that the display now more easily reads as a true comparison of the blood of Alexander and Parmen , along with (ostensibly) Human norms.

In addition, the digital restoration of non-SFX shots has resulted in an overall brightening of color that is perhaps more profound in this abstractly-designed episode than in others.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release ( CIC Video ): catalog number VHR 2084, October 1984
• Original US Betamax release: 1988
• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 35 , catalog number VHR 2431, 7 January 1991
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.4, 20 October 1997
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 34, 18 September 2001
• As part of the TOS Season 3 DVD collection
• As part of the TOS-R Season 3 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk

Also starring [ ]

• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Guest stars [ ]

• Michael Dunn as Alexander
• Liam Sullivan as Parmen
• Barbara Babcock as Philana
• James Doohan as Scott
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel
• Ted Scott as Eraclitus
• Derek Partridge as Dionyd

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Jeannie Malone as Yeoman
• Frieda Rentie as sciences crew woman
• John Zimeas as Platonian spectator
• Platonian audience members
• Operations crewman

Photo double [ ]

• Armando Gonzales as dancing double for Leonard Nimoy

References [ ]

44 BC ; 32 BC ; 85 AD ; academician ; aging ; anger ; anniversary ; answer ; apology ; apple ; Aristophanes ; arm ; arrogance ; arrow ; atmosphere ; bacteria ; beauty ; blood ; blood sample ; bloodstream ; " Bones "; borogove ; brain ; brain wave ; breathing ; brotherhood ; brow ; bug ; bullwhip ; century ; chamber ; chess ; children ; choking ; common cold ; comparative test ; concentration ; contact ; contemplation ; court buffoon ; crying ; culture ; Cupid ; cut ; dance ; day ; death ; death warrant ; deficiency ; delirium ; democratic society ; deposit ; desire ; divine providence ; dignity ; disciple ; distress call ; drum ; dwarf ; Earth ; emergency gyro ; emergency stabilizer ; emotion ; enemy ; engineer ; environmental condition ; eugenics ; Excellency ; fact ; fear ; fever ; fit ; Flamenco ; flush ; French language ; Frogs, The ; fruit ; furniture ; genius ; god ; good faith ; grapes ; gratitude ; Greek civilization ; Greek language ; guest ; hatred ; head (aka ruler ); heart ; Hippocrates ; hoof ; hope ; horn ; hour ; humble ; humiliation ; hypo ; hypothesis ; idea ; ignorance ; infection ; information ; intention ; joking ; justice ; keg ; kironide ; kiss ; kithara ; knife ; knowledge ; laughing ; laurel ; leader ; leadership ; leg ; life ; light ; logic ; longevity ; love ; lyre ; " Maiden Wine "; marriage ; meaning ; medical stores ; medical tricorder ; medicine (aka medical arts ); meditation ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind ; month ; mood ; moralizing ; murder ; muscle ; music ; night ; nova ; order ; pain ; Pan ; patience ; peace ; pebble ; Pericles ; philosopher king ; physician (aka doctor); plate ; pituitary gland ; pituitary hormone ; place ; Plato ; Platonian ; Platonian's original leader ; Platonius ; population ; power level ; present ; principality ; prisoner ; probability ; problem ; prognosis ; psychokinesis (aka psychokinetic power, psychokinetic ability ); puppet ; question ; rage ; reality ; recuperative power ; refugee ; republic ; research ; result ; revenge ; rhyme ; sadism ; Sahndara ; Sahndara ; saint ; savage ; " scared to death "; science officer ; secret ; self-reliance ; sensor ; serenade ; Shakespeare, William ; Shakespeare's sonnets ; shape ; shield ; sing ; size ; skin ; slap ; slave ; sleepwalking ; Socrates ; solution ; smile ; space fleet ; spaceship ; speech ; spouse ( wife ); stabilizer ; star ; Starfleet ; starship ; stepchildren ; storm ; strain ; subspace communication ; symbol ; temper ; ten scale ; " theory ; thing ; thinking ; Through the Looking-Glass ; throwback ; time ; time factor ; title ; tone ; torture ; treasure ; treatment ; tricorder ; trick ; truth ; turbulence ; Tweedledum and Tweedledee ; unconscious ; universe ; utopia ; vagabond ; vanity ; velvet ; voice ; Vulcan ; weapon ; will : wine ; wing ; word ; year

External links [ ]

• "Plato's Stepchildren" at StarTrek.com
• " Plato's Stepchildren " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Plato's Stepchildren " at Wikipedia
• " "Plato's Stepchildren" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
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Plato’s Stepchildren

The crew of the USS Enterprise receive an urgent distress call from a planet called Platonius, which is home to an advanced race of telekinetics. They respond to the call and when they arrive, they are welcomed by the leaders of the Platonians, Plato and Artemis. These two aliens explain that their people are in danger due to the oppressive rule of their ruler, Lysia, who is also a powerful telekinetic. They ask the Enterprise crew to help them overthrow her rule and restore their freedom.

On the planet, the Enterprise crew makes contact with Lysia, who is very hostile and uses her telekinetic powers to intimidate them. She reveals she is the last surviving member of a group of aliens called the Petras, who were once powerful and feared throughout the galaxy. Lysia had used her powers to take control of the Platonians and force them to obey her every whim.

The Enterprise crew quickly discovers that Lysia has a group of loyal followers called the Stepchildren, who are also telekinetics. They have been made to serve Lysia, and they use their powers to make the Platonians suffer. They even make Captain Kirk and his crew suffer, using their powers to make them do whatever Lysia wants.

The Enterprise crew is able to use their own powers to fight back, but Lysia is still too powerful. In order to defeat her, they must convince the Stepchildren to see the evil of Lysia and to join them in overthrowing her.

Kirk and his crew come up with a plan to make the Stepchildren recognize the wrongness of Lysia’s rule. They find out that the Stepchildren have a deep love for a game called Platonius, which Lysia had banned. The crew convinces the Stepchildren to play the game, and during the game, the Stepchildren come to realize the evil of Lysia’s rule.

The Stepchildren join forces with the Enterprise crew and they are able to successfully overthrow Lysia. With Lysia defeated, the Platonians are free to live in peace and the Stepchildren are welcomed as part of their society. The Enterprise crew departs, knowing that justice has been served and the people of Platonius are no longer under Lysia’s oppressive rule.

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Star Trek Re-Watch: “Plato’s Stepchildren”

Season 3, Episode 10 Production episode: 3×12 Original air date: November 22, 1968 Star date: 5784.2

Mission summary

In response to some distress signals, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the surface of an unknown planet. They’ve beamed right into a hall of some kind, adorned with Greek columns and statues. Contrary to the sensor readings, the building seems to indeed be inhabited–by some horrible monster! An intimidating shadow greets them, but ominous music cues aside it’s really just a lighting trick and it turns out to be Alexander, a chipper and talkative dwarf.

KIRK: Who are the inhabitants of this planet? ALEXANDER: Oh, Platonians. I’m sure you’ve never heard of us. Our native star is Sahndara. Millennia ago, just before it went nova, we managed to escape. Our leader liked Plato’s ideas Plato, Platonius. See? In fact, our present philosopher-king, Parmen, sometimes calls us Plato’s children, although we sometimes think of ourselves more as Plato’s stepchildren.

Now that the premise, background, and title are explained, you don’t even need to see the episode!

No really. Don’t. Please don’t. As if recalled by an invisibile yo-yo, Alexander is dragged to another room where Parmen, the leader, reclines on a couch with his wife Philana. Parmen is in a great deal of pain and a massive infection has overwhelmed his system. He says it was just a flesh wound a minor cut and McCoy can’t understand how it got so out of control. The doctor offers a hypospray, but the hypo flies out of his medipouch and Parmen administers it himself– with his mind .

Meanwhile, two men in tunics play psychokinetic chess. Well, semi-psychokinetic–poor Alexander has to move half the pieces himself. After the game, Alexander turns quietly to Philana and whispers: “They came to help. They deserve better than to die.”

McCoy tries some educated guesswork to concoct a cure for Parmen while Philana explains the history of their people. When their planet went nova (who knew planets could do that?) millenia ago, the Platonians transported to Earth and settled in with the ancient Greeks. With the death of the Greek civilization (death? You’d think a comet struck it!), they left Earth (somehow…) and founded their own planet in the image of Plato’s Republic (sort of?).  A eugenics program left only 38 remaining people “bred for contemplation and self-reliance. And longevity.” Philana herself is 2300 years old. Because their psychokinetic powers mean they “scarcely have to move anymore, let alone work,” they don’t have resistances to–well, anything. Their sleek physiques seem to belie this assertion, but let’s just go with it. Their lack of resistances is how a simple cut is jeopardizing Parmen’s life..

Unfortunately, these powers are subconscious and only mostly controllable. In Parmen’s pain-wracked delerium, invisible hands throw furniture and choke Alexander while invisible turbulence rattles the Enterprise. McCoy shakes Parmen and is barely able to get him to pass out before strangling Alexander. Because that’s what professionals do.

McCoy wants to wait for the fever to break, so Alexander escorts Kirk and Spock to another wing of the complex. Alexander is fascinated by the outsiders, and Kirk is rather curious himself:

KIRK: Where is everyone? ALEXANDER: They’re all in chambers, meditating. KIRK: Alexander, are there other Platonians like you? ALEXANDER: What do you mean, like me? KIRK: Who don’t have the psychokinetic ability. ALEXANDER: I thought you were talking about my size, because they make fun of me for my size. But, to answer your question, I’m the only one without it. I was brought here as the court buffoon. That’s why I’m everybody’s slave and I have to be ten places at once, and I never do anything right. SPOCK: How does one obtain the power?

What power? The power of voodoo! Who do? You–Er. Anyway. Alexander explains that everyone else had these powers pretty much as soon as they were born. He hates it here as the “court buffoon” and becomes enthralled with Kirk’s description of the Federation as an equal opportunity kind of place. But he’s called away just as McCoy enters, grinning. Parmen’s fever has broken and he’s going to be just fine.

Kirk takes the opening to hail Scotty and ask to get far away from this place. But the Enterprise’s transporters aren’t working and they can’t communicate with Starfleet. Furious, Kirk storms into Parmen’s hall once again and demands that his ship be released. (I should note that at this point Alexander is playing a lyre, yet singing a song about “Pan’s horn.” Just… what? Lyre? Panpipes? Horn? AUGH.) Parmen, visibly insulted by the accusation (but not denying it), decides to teach Kirk a lesson about respect: he uses his psychokinetic powers to whip away Kirk’s phaser, and then forces Kirk to continually slap himself. He then mocks, “Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!” Well, okay, he doesn’t, but he might as well.

In the guest room later, after suffering through the beating of his life, Kirk cannot hail the Enterprise anymore:

SPOCK: Parmen wouldn’t have treated you so brutally if he had any intention of releasing you or the Enterprise.

So we don’t get to figure ANYTHING out on this episode? *harumph*

Then the invisible yo-yo strikes again, first with McCoy, and then with Kirk and Spock, forcing them to return to the main hall. Parmen and Philana have taken a softer tone. Philana expresses gratitude for the doctor saving her husband’s life, and offers each of the men a gift. For Kirk, the shield of Pericles; for Spock, a kithara ; and for McCoy, Hipprocrates’ collection of ancient Greek cures. Kirk thanks them for the gifts but wants to know if the Enterprise is free yet. Dodging the question, Parmen asks forgiveness for his earlier behavior, which he calls the result of his illness-induced “disturbed” state. Kirk agrees but again asks after the ship, and finally Parmen cuts to the chase: he wants to keep McCoy. Forever.

McCoy’s not interested, but Parmen’s kind of pushy–he forces McCoy to his side and decies to “persuade” the good doctor: by torturing his friends. And us. Mostly us.

Kirk and Spock are forced to put on laurel wreaths and dance around while singing:

KIRK: I’m Tweedledee, he’s Tweedledum. SPOCK: Two spacemen marching to a drum. KIRK & SPOCK: We slith among the mimsey toves, and gyre among the borogoves.

Kirk tells McCoy not to give in, no matter what they do to Kirk. So they torture him some more–this time with straightforward pain, and then by having Spock flamenco around him until he seems about to crush the captain’s face with his boot. Spock backs off and begins laughing hysterically. But once Kirk mentions that Vulcans can’t handle emotion (NICE GOING, KIRK), Spock begins sobbing uncontrollably.

Alexander protests: “Parmen, they saved your life. I’m ashamed to be a Platonian. Ashamed!” But that just pisses off the philosopher king even more, and Parmen forces Alexander to mount Kirk and “ride” him like a horse, all while Shatner makes horsie noises.

I don’t even… I just… wow. Then Parmen asks the question we are all asking at this point: “How can you let this go on?”

Later in the guest room, Spock is on the brink of madness trying to rein in his hatred and emotion. McCoy offers to stay and end this whole thing, but Kirk knows Parmen would never let them escape because Starfleet would retaliate. Meanwhile Alexander is wracked by guilt:

ALEXANDER: I should have warned you. They were treating you the same way they treat me. Just like me, only you fight them. All the time, I thought it was me, my mind that couldn’t move a pebble. They even told I was lucky they bothered keep me around at all, and I believed them. The arms and legs of everybody’s whim. Look down, don’t meet their eyes. Smile. Smile. These great people, they were gods to me. But you showed me what they really are. And now I know, don’t you see. It’s not me, it’s not my size, it’s them! It’s them! It’s them!

He starts to freak out a little bit but Kirk tells him not to throw his own life away–thus earning Alexander’s admiration forever, because “that’s the first time anybody ever thought of my life before his own.” Awww.

But back to work: they discover that the Platonians gained their power about six months after arriving on the planet, and about three months after running out of supplies. So the source of their power must have been something native to the planet, like food. McCoy senses something could be to that, and takes a blood reading from Alexander to compare to Parmen’s. It looks like Parmen has high doses of kironide in his system, and because it’s broken down by a pituitary hormone, Alexander probably doesn’t have the power for the same reason that he’s a dwarf. McCoy whips up a double-shot of this kironide and injects both Spock and Kirk, but Alex declines. He wants nothing to do with their horrible powers–all he asks is for an escape, if they’re ever able to get off the planet.

Suddenly, two figures beam into their room: it’s Lt. Uhura and Nurse Chapel! They are, however, promptly dragged away by the invisible strings.

After the break, Kirk and Spock–dressed in tunics and wearing laurel wreaths–run into Uhura and Chapel, in “Greek” robes and Lady Gaga-esque makeup. They don’t know why they’re all there, but they know it can’t be good! Kirk and Spock try to test out their powers on a plate of fruit, but it doesn’t budge. Instead, a curtain rises revealing bleachers. A whole audience is assembled to watch the show.

Kirk taunts them, but Parmen is just getting started. First, he forces Spock to “serenade” the ladies:

Take care, young ladies, and value your wine Be watchful of young men in their velvet prime Deeply they’ll swallow from your finest kegs Then swiftly be gone leaving bitter dregs Ah, bitter dregs With smiling words and tender touch Man offers little and asks for so much He loves in the breathless excitement of night Then leaves with your treasure in cold morning light Ah, in cold morning light

That’s actually pretty saucy, all things considered, but all I can hear in my head is “ BILBO BILBO BILBO BAGGINS! ”

Parmen whips out a second reclining couch, puts one of the women on each of them, and has Kirk and Spock go back and forth between them as if they were two-timing lovers. But then things take a turn for the… something. While Kirk is wrapped around Uhura and Chapel holds Spock, the Platonians force each couple’s faces closer and closer together. Chapel begs for them to stop because she “feel[s] so ashamed”:

CHAPEL: For so long I’ve wanted to be close to you. Now all I want is to crawl away and die.

Just like the audience! It’s like poetry, isn’t it?

Finally, they are forced to kiss. Meanwhile, Uhura is over monologing at Kirk. She’s “afraid,” but reminds herself of all the times that Kirk’s courage has rubbed off on her, and takes that as inspiration for her most difficult mission yet: being kissed by the Shat. Clumsily executed and awkwardly edited, they finally kiss.

But Philana is bored, so Parmen decides it’s time for the pièce de résistance: a sadomasochistic orgy!

A table of toys appears and Kirk goes for the whip while Spock goes for the hot poker. Both approach their ladies menacingly but Kirk manages to get out a rant before it’s too late:

KIRK: You’re half dead, all of you! You’ve been dead for centuries. We may disappear tomorrow, but at least we’re living now, and you can’t stand that, can you? You’re half crazy because there’s nothing inside. Nothing. And you have to torture us to convince yourselves you’re superior.

McCoy begs for them to stop, but Alexander believes actions are stronger than words. He grabs a knife and lunges at Parmen, who unfortunately catches him in time to stop him. Then he turns the knife of the poor guy. But suddenly the spell is broken–it’s Kirk! He has the power!

Parmen desperately tries to send the knife-wielding dwarf at Kirk, but Kirk is able to send him back until the blade is nearly at the king’s throat. Parmen begs for his life, and Kirk decides to spare it:

ALEXANDER: Parmen, listen to me. I could have had your power, but I didn’t want it. I could have had your place right now, but the sight of you and your Academicians sickens me. Despite your brains, you’re the most contemptible things that ever lived in this universe.

Parmen blubberingly apologizes, but Kirk knows he’s not being sincere and wants assurances about what will happen when other starships pass through this sector.

PARMEN: There’s no need for concern. They’ll be safe. Of late, I have begun to think that we’ve become bizarre and unproductive. We are existing merely to nourish our own power. It’s time for some fresh air. We shall welcome your interstellar visits. KIRK: I don’t believe you. SPOCK: That would be highly uncharacteristic. We must expect, Parmen, that the moment we leave here, your fear would be gone and you would again be as sadistic and as arrogant as your twenty five hundred years have made you. KIRK: Just remember, we can recreate that power in a matter of hours, so don’t try anything. PARMEN: Understood, Captain. And you’re right, none of us can be trusted. Uncontrolled, power will turn even saints into savages, and we can all be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses. KIRK: You’re very good at making speeches, Parmen. Just make sure that this one sinks in.

Ghastly. Absolutely ghastly from beginning to end.

Where do I even start? What exactly is the worst part? The comically melodramatic music? The over-the-top performances? No, no, the award goes to the script–shambling, dreadful, and possibly the new low of the series. It is, I think, properly summarized by Parmen: “How can you let this go on?” Yes, how ? I am wondering, now, how “Spock’s Brain” even compares–that was boring, but “Plato’s Stepchildren” is loathsome in just about every way. The only thing that sets it above is its attempt–albeit faint, and albeit failed–to communicate Roddenberry’s vision of the future.

In Alexander’s world, he is the “buffoon”–but more properly he is a slave. He’s abused, hated, and perhaps worst of all, ridiculed (I’ll come back to this). He asks Kirk if, where he comes from, there are people like him: without “the power” and with his size. And Kirk’s answer is one of the clearest expressions of the Star Trek vision we have: “Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or color makes no difference, and nobody has the power.”

Alexander’s size would be no obstacle to him in the Federation, okay, yes–but I think the last bit is more telling: “Nobody has the power.” A truly egalitarian society means that everyone has power equally, and no one individual or group has enough of it to arbitrarily or cruelly oppress anyone else with. This is an ideal, not a reality, much like Plato’s Republic. But it’s an ideal that even the most power-hungry Commodores are aspiring toward, and one that holds Kirk’s world together. Nobody has the power, because everyone has the power. The real strength is in their number, in their cooperation, and in their unity. No one is more powerful than the least powerful among them, because all would share the burden of that powerlessness together. It’s a spirit of both community and comity that to the viewer works only as an occasionally ludicrous science fiction show, but to Kirk represents the only world he could possibly imagine living in.

Whether you agree with that particular vision as viable or even appealing, it’s a lot more fair, just, and reasonable than the sham republic Parmen and Philana claim to live in. The problem with a philosopher king is that he’s still a king, and his power is still so great as to be oppressive. Alexander argues that our trio should let Parmen die because then the others will feud and fight for the spot he leaves behind. Classy, right? Parmen believes that they inhabit “the most democratic society conceivable” because the psychokinetic power allows personal freedom beyond one’s wildest imaginations, “if the mind is strong enough.” But democracy is about more than personal freedom. A truly democratic society must protect the freedoms of the weak as much as it protects the freedoms of the powerful–a message that may have felt stronger during the civil rights movement of 1968 than perhaps it does today. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this episode is also the one where Kirk and Uhura kiss.

As far as the “power” is concerned, I found it really interesting that Parmen’s weapon of choice isn’t simply pain or coercion, but humiliation. Each of his antics–forcing Kirk and Spock to dance, Kirk to writhe around on the floor, Spock to laugh and cry, and–god I can’t believe I would willingly reference this again, but Alexander riding Kirk like a horse–is meant to humiliate and denigrate them. In the end for the BDSM orgy bit, Chapel tells Spock that she is “so ashamed.” Parmen doesn’t need to hurt Alexander in the physical sense to keep him in check–he just needs to embarrass him, a pattern of ridicule so perverse and ingrained that Alexander doesn’t recognize he’s a victim until Kirk tries to fight it himself. After enough time, Parmen doesn’t even need to actually humiliate him anymore. Alexander internalizes that treatment, comes to believe he has deserved it, and manufactures his own angst and pain without Parmen’s help. This kind of torture is both disturbing and devastating.

And that’s about all I can tease out of this otherwise execrable episode.

Less weighty thoughts: was anyone else surprised that the censors had a problem with the Kirk-Uhura kiss and not Spock’s overtly sexual song? Were Uhura and Chapel supposed to be wooed by that, or just embarrassed for him? And I know the Shat is intimidating, but why is Uhura scared out of her mind about kissing him? You’d think she were facing a firing squad with her speech about fear and courage.

Torie’s Rating: Full Stop (on a Warp scale of 1-6)

Eugene Myers: This is absolutely dreadful. As soon as Alexander started explaining the episode title in the teaser , I knew we were in for it. I must have blocked out most of the awful stuff from my previous viewings, because all I really remembered was the Greek motif, Alexander, and Kirk and Uhura’s kiss–for which this episode is notorious. But as progressive as that historic moment might have been, and how well intentioned the episode’s theme of acceptance, this episode can only inspire boredom and disbelief. In fact, I dozed off at several points, partially from sleep deprivation and partially as a defensive mechanism. Sadly, I had to go back and watch what I had missed, which wasn’t much as it turns out.

Where to begin the litany of failures in this episode? It’s perhaps easier to mention what I did like. Alexander’s character really stood out not because of his height but because Michael Dunn played his role with the perfect blend of resignation, sadness, and eventually righteous anger. He has a pivotal role, one which should have been even more prominent, and he turns in the best performance of anyone. Instead, he’s used to deliver extraneous exposition and lingers mostly in the background, where he watches the events unfold with the same horror and pain that viewers at home must have felt. No wonder we sympathize with him.

Alexander’s sobering speech about what it’s like to live with the Platonians is a high point in the episode: “Look down, don’t meet their eyes. Smile. Smile.” Anyone who has ever been discriminated against or ridiculed can relate to his experience. His obvious surprise and relief when he realizes that Kirk accepts him wholly as he is is heartbreaking.

KIRK: Alexander, are there other Platonians like you? ALEXANDER: What do you mean, like me ? KIRK: Who don’t have the psychokinetic ability. ALEXANDER: I thought you were talking about my size, because they make fun of me for my size.

Unfortunately, he also has the bad habit of spelling things out, because the writer clearly doesn’t believe in subtlety. In general, I enjoyed Alexander’s relationship with Kirk and how gentle the captain was with him–only to feel betrayed by Kirk’s joke at the end, which Alexander actually smiles at:

Mr. Scott, prepare to beam us up. I have a little surprise for you. I’m bringing a visitor aboard.

Then again, perhaps Alexander is just grinning and bearing it again, because Enterprise is his ticket out of there.

In principle, Spock’s attempts to wrestle with forced emotions were an excellent touch, and makes his actions under Platonian control feel like even more of a violation. I didn’t remember that Nurse Chapel and he were also forced to kiss, but this is doubly devastating because Spock really doesn’t want it (or is constantly fighting to control his feelings for her) and Chapel does want it, but not under those conditions. Spock also delivers my favorite line in the entire episode, his response to Philana’s ill-conceived question about how old she looks: “Thirty-five.” His delivery of that line and Kirk’s reaction is priceless.

Of course, the rest of the episode exacts a hefty price. This episode is embarrassing for everyone involved. The way Kirk, Spock, and Alexander are forced to act is demeaning enough to watch, but it’s far harder to take because their body language is laughable and far too much time is spent on their horrible antics. The premise itself is even more laughable than watching Kirk slap himself or a hypo fly out of McCoy’s pouch on a wire: How exactly can the Platonians force people to say or feel things if they’re “psychokinetic”? I suppose this is a step up from telekinetic, in that they can manipulate emotions and thoughts as well, but it doesn’t seem all that well-developed. On top of all that , there isn’t much story here. All the information is handed to Enterprise crew upfront, so there isn’t much left for them to figure out on their own (or hook the viewer), and the resolution is ridiculously easy and unsatisfying.

The weird philosophizing and overwrought speeches don’t help matters either, though I suppose this could be one interpretation of what a planet of academics might be like. The basic idea that the Platonians are more vulnerable because of their dependence on their power has promise, but it doesn’t make medical sense for a simple scratch to be life-threatening–at least, not for that reason. And if this were true, why do they have so many sharp things like knives and breakable pottery? I would have liked it if this had been explored in a more believable way. At one point, Alexander says he doesn’t want to “lie around like a big blob of nothing” while things are done for him, which suggests that the Platonians should be out of shape since they never do any physical activity, kind of like the people on the Axiom in WALL·E. Instead, they look like Barbara Babcock!

Speaking of Philana, she seems to get a little excited by Kirk and Uhura’s kiss, doesn’t she? Then she appears to be jealous. Is it because she fancies one (or both) of them, or does sex with her husband get boring after hundreds of years (assuming they don’t have a platonic relationship)? Given her name, I expect the latter. Even that would have been an interesting take on this, if this society were somehow more hedonistic because of their powers, or a more realistic and thoughtful perversion of the principles under which they were founded.

Basically, not much makes sense in this episode (How did the Sahndarans get to Earth and leave again? Why does Parmen know French? And Lewis Carroll? And flamenco dancing?!) and, appropriately enough, it all feels forced. If I were more generous, I would suggest that the screenwriter was going for a meta approach, trying to demonstrate that the actors are puppets too, demeaned more and more as season three continues, but I don’t think that’s what he had in mind. I don’t think he had much in mind at all.

Eugene’s Rating: Full Stop

Best Line: KIRK: Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or color makes no difference.

Syndication Edits: Spock and Philana talking about whether the psychokinetic powers go off when they sleep; Kirk trying to protect Alexander in the initial fight, and Alexander encouraging him to just let Parmen die; part of Kirk and Scotty’s discussion, and part of Alexander’s song about “Pan’s horn”; Kirk’s initial plea for the Enterprise to be released; some Kirk-slapping; the trio discussing the situation and trying to contact the ship; part of the conversation among the three about Spock trying to cope with his emotions; Uhura and Chapel’s first appearance; the second verse of Spock’s song.

Trivia: The original draft of this episode was titled “The Sons of Socrates” and began with the Enterprise getting shaken down by Parmen’s psycho powers. Kirk was paired with a young yeoman who fancied him and Uhura got the good doctor McCoy. Uhura, not Spock, sings the song, and Spock beats up McCoy. The doctor then suckerpunches him. Chapel and the random yeoman into Kirk have a girlfight, just to balance out all that manliness.

The episode did not air in the UK until 1993 (!), due to its “sadistic elements.” This was apparently also true of “The Empath,” “Whom Gods Destroy,” and to a lesser extent, “ Miri .”

Leonard Nimoy wrote that song himself.

The Kiss: As you probably all know by now, despite popular belief the Uhura-Kirk kiss was not the first interracial kiss on television. That would go either to The Little Rascals , or, if you want adults, any episode of I Love Lucy . The first white-black kiss was Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. the year before on Movin’ With Nancy . If you just mean fictional, then yes, it counts.

Memory Alpha quotes Nichelle Nichols on some of the circumstances arounding it, all of which are a hoot and worth checking out .

Other notes: Michael Dunn, who played Alexander, is probably most famous for appearing in Ship of Fools and his recurring role as a charming villain in The Wild, Wild West . He was ridiculously accomplished: in college by 16, Tony-nominated by 29, and Oscar-nominated by 31. Sadly, he died so very young just a few years later at 38 from pulmonary heart disease, the result of the spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia that was responsible for his stature.

Barbara Babcock of course is a Star Trek veteran. She played Mea 3 in “ A Taste of Armageddon ,” and was the voice of Trelane’s mother in “ Squire of Gothos ,” the Beta 5 computer in “ Assignment: Earth ,” and Loskene in last week’s “ The Tholian Web .” She’ll appear one more time as the voice of Zetar in the upcoming “Lights of Zetar.”

Previous episode: Season 3, Episode 9 -“ The Tholian Web .”

Next episode: Season 3, Episode 11 – “ Wink of an Eye .” US residents can watch it for free at the CBS website .

About Torie Atkinson & Eugene Myers

47 comments.

Ahh, we have arrived at what is truly third season Star Trek. Pointless danger to the ship, (Has a star ship ever nearly de-orbited as many times as Enterprise?) super powered aliens who aren’t just testing, and all sense of metaphor lost as we are hit with the message brick over and over. Here I can use my favorite movie quote about our upcoming experience with this season. “I can’t lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.” I agree that Michael Dunn was the best element of this episode. Despite being given dreck to say, he turned in a rather nuanced performance. The rest of the regular cast mainly walked around spoke their lines and looked to be in pain. (which I guess they were because they had, after all, read the script.)

Regarding Uhura’s fear at The Kiss, I think it was more the implicit rape just over the horizon — as though this mind-control thing isn’t already violation enough.

The episode is an attempted critique of Plato that doesn’t quite work out. They’re trying — I mean, the shadow-puppet appearance of Alexander in the opening scene is an obvious shout-out to the Allegory of the Cave , and the entire society is meant as an attack on the naivete of the “Philosopher Kings” ideal, were it put into practice. I think you could even argue that the idea that the superpowers come from the environment, rather than being inherent, is itself meant to tear down the central idea behind the philosopher kings — the idea that some people are inherently superior to others, and therefore deserve to rule; it turns out they just eat their psychic Wheaties.

On another note, what’s up with those two unnamed Platonians who are playing chess and giving each other meaningful glances all the time? I feel like there’s a lot of backstory to be imagined there. Some of it might even not be slashy.

Oh, also — the idea of people dying from infected cuts and the like is realistic; it’s mentioned in Philip Matyszak’s Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day as being a real threat. Romans, of course, still had knives, broken pots, and sharp plants around regularly. Less realistic is the notion that a group could create either FTL travel or several successful generation ships without having, y’know, RUDIMENTARY BIOLOGY. But at least it’s a plausible historic detail.

I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I’ve always sort of liked this episode. Sure it’s poorly written and has plot holes you could pilot a starship through. But it still has a little something. Most of that coming from Michael Dunn, of course. OTOH, this episode may be a contributing factor in my general distaste for Plato.

Torie, Pan’s “horn” here is obviously “a pune or play on words”. A subtle bit of raunch they slipped past the censors that would also have amused the Greeks.

The kiss: I’ve seen it also described as the first scripted black-white kiss. Perhaps more importantly is that it was the first passionate black-white kiss. Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis was more of a peck. And while Lucy and Desi did kiss, they tended to be somewhat more chaste spousal kisses. Bear in mind that people were somewhat shocked by the passion that Gomez displayed when kissing Morticia; Lucy and Desi never went that far. (We can also gloss over the double-think that meant that men like Desi Arnaz or Ricardo Montalban “didn’t count” as not white; they were fiery Latin lovers, almost Europeans.) There’s also the factor that they were getting a lot of flak from the censors and the network about Shat’s kissing in general. He had a tendency to go for the open-mouthed kiss and that was still a no-no on TV. Anyway, I guess the point is that while this kiss did have predecessors, it was still very groundbreaking.

@2 Deepthought: I agree that her fear was more about being controlled and unabel to influence what was happening to her than kissing the captain. Yeah I think the scriptwriter wanted to insinuate that rape would have happened, but then the platoians level of control really get beyond beliefe. I disagree that the shadow on the wall was a referrence to the Cave but more likely a bored director trying to have fun with a crappy script. (of course, it could be both) On the subject of infect: those os use born in the anti-biotic world have little understanding just how deadly and common infection really was. Any break in the skin could lead to a deadly infection. The first man treated with Penecillin died because they ran out before they could knock down the infect. How did he get that infection? From a rose thorn. That simple of a cut. Here the writer was trying to suggest that the life of no-work created no immunities to infection but that’s beyond silly into stupid terrority. Anyway if they could control what people said — as they did several times — why the big production of holding McCoy captive? They could have just forced him to tell Kirk. “Jim, these people need a doctor. I’m staying.” For people who sat around thinking all the time they were pretty bad at it.

I have no way to try to defend this episode though I thought that the same chemical imbalance that gave them their abilities also suppressed their immune systems and this was how a scratch could become so deadly. Still. That doesn’t explain how they could have been so physically inactive for a couple thousand years and not end up looking like Jaba the Hut and his lovely misses – or mistress (seen in Episode 1).

There was a PSA (Public Service Announcement) that ran in the early Seventies that I can’t ignore while thinking about or discussing this episode. Does anyone here remember the bodyless head in a box being placed on a pedestal by the robot Z-12 then the head begins reciting ideas, theories and formulas? After the narrated physical fitness message, the PSA ended with the head calling for his robot who seems to no longer be around. I can’t help thinking that that simple little PSA dealt more effectively than this episode did with the action over intellect portion of this plot.

As has been pointed out, Michael Dunn’s performance was the best part of this episode. His reaction when offered a chance at the power was – for me – the high point of the episode.

Wow. I’m flying by at Warp 2 (and at this point wondering if I’m ever going to get down to Warp 1, but that’s for another time)

This ep. isn’t the best, by a long shot, but it has some intriguing moments. In particular, the forced displays of affection has stuck with me as a twisted ‘careful what you ask for’ moment–at least as I read it. (And really, was this any sillier than Mudd’s Women?)

My main problem with this ep. is that THEY NOW HAVE THE POWER! Why aren’t they strolling up to Klingons and making them do the macarena?

Can you find that PSA?

I’ve done some searching but no luck so far. I did find a discussion of that spot at this location. This page, at least, looked to be safe for work but I didn’t check any of the other pages there.

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/32530

I’m going to contact a friend who I believe has a copy of it and see if he can point me to where he found it.

@2 DeepThought, @4 bobsandiego

I thought that opening shot of the shadow was just meant to make Dunn’s actual height even more of a surprise. It was an interesting approach, anyway.

They could have just forced him to tell Kirk. “Jim, these people need a doctor. I’m staying.”

I guess that would have been less…sporting? That’s a huge plot hole, you’re right.

Yes, the episode is nearly redeemed by Dunn’s performance. If only there were a “good parts” version with just his scenes in it.

@6 ChurchHatesTucker

I bet it’s one of those instances where the power works, but only on this planet. It would have been interesting if they could have come up with a reason why prolonged or increased dosage of the chemical would have a long-term negative effect on anyone who isn’t Sahndaran. You could also claim that the drug accelerated their metabolisms so they didn’t gain weight (but I believe that is coming up in the next episode.)

One thing I didn’t mention–I hated the way everyone moved when they were being compelled by the power. They all lurch in different, absurd ways. Because Spock has better physical strength and mental control, I thought he’d walk stiffly perhaps, obviously resisting but more or less normally. Are they being pulled, or are they being forced to walk? Or both?

@ 2 DeepThought

Re: Uhura, I suppose that’s possible, though it still seems like a stretch to me.

Re: Real Plato–it doesn’t strike me as an indictment of the actual Platonic ideal. Alexander and even Parmen both admit that their society doesn’t actually adhere to the guidelines in the Republic, and Spock questions this, too:

PARMEN: We manage to live in peace and harmony. SPOCK: Whose harmony? Yours? Plato wanted truth and beauty, and above all, justice. PARMEN: My dear Mister Spock, I admit that circumstances have forced us to make a few adaptations of Plato, but ours is the most democratic society conceivable.

I think instead it’s a warped and twisted version of Plato, and thus not really deserving of the critique on the grounds that Plato’s ACTUAL Republic may not have worked. (Most of us agree it wouldn’t, I just mean that this episode isn’t exactly evidence to support that.)

@ 3 DemetriosX

Your first assumption is that it’s subtlety? You clearly have more faith in them than I do. I mentally filed it into the “inexplicability” category, like their knowledge of French, Lewis Carroll, and Mexican hat dances.

@ 4 bobsandiego

And thus is the dilemma of the all-power being anyway. I suppose you could argue Parmen wanted to have a little fun, in addition to simply getting to keep McCoy?

I agree on the physique thing. Maybe they live on extremely low calorie diets thanks to the superpowered local food?

@ 6 ChurchHatesTucker

Sillier than “Mudd’s Women”? No. Causes a proportionally greater amount of abject suffering? YES.

Torie @9: Well, subtle for a network censor. They tended to be pretty dense. I mean it isn’t all that subtle when you get right down to it. I don’t want to defend this episode too much, I’m just saying that a song about Pan’s horn isn’t a totally failed concept.

Church@6/Eugene@8: How about: prolonged exposure or ingestion of the stuff weakens their immune systems. That covers a couple of problems with one blow. Kinda. Sorta.

@ECMyers #8 — I don’t think that forcing McCoy to say that he wanted to stay would have cut it. By the end, McCoy says this without manipulation, and Kirk steadfastly refuses to accept it. The Platonians don’t seem to be capable of brainwashing with their mind rays; aside from Spock, they don’t even seem capable of (or think of) inducing emotion in their captives (other than indirectly through torture).

@Torie #9 — Yeah, it isn’t *really* Plato’s Republic. But I’m trying to give the ep some credit by claiming it’s an intentional critical commentary instead of just, y’know, a bunch of stuff that happened while a camera was coincidentally rolling — a pretty strong competing theory for how the episode came to be.

well this episode has made me feel better about my own unsold stories. LOL

@11 Deepthought They are capable of forcing their targets to speak whatever the Plats want them to say. To wit the sing/song performance byu Kirk and Spock, unless we are supposed to think that was their characters naturally inclination. So you have the good doctor tell his captian that he is going to stay. If the gambit works McCoy is stuck and eventually must accept his lot there. (And after three months he’ll have the power and eventually be corrupted by that same power.) If it doesn’t work because the cpatain twigs that his doctor is acting out of character then you get to have fun with your new toys. it’s a win-win.

Yeah, the planet-confined-thingy helps with the whole Trek Reset Button, but even then you’d think they’d have a colony of engineers building (even more) fantastical starships or something within a couple weeks.

Alas, continuity was rarely in the game plan in those days.

Abject suffering? Really? Maybe I’ve still got my rose-colored contacts in.

@10 DemetriosX

That’s a pretty good solution, although I think that would be a risk many people would be willing to take.

No luck on locating a copy of that PSA. My friend is still looking for a copy of it and he remembers it more clearly than I – he recites what the head said.

It’s been quiet around here this weekend–too quiet! So I’ll take the opportunity to congratulate Eugene, who got engaged last week. Yay and congrats to them both! There, now we have something to talk about.

Alas, he seems resistant to ordering a dress uniform … help me persuade him?

Oh, and there was some shitty episode that I guess I can talk about, too.

@ 10 DemetriosX

A song about Pan’s horn–isn’t that “Sledgehammer”? *earworm achieved*

@ 11 DeepThought

Alas, I don’t think that’s a strong competing theory. The insertion of the episode title in the teaser should be enough to convince you the episode had a writer. Or, “writer.”

@ 14 ChurchHatesTucker

Abject suffering: *checks* Yep, still there.

Torie @16: Perhaps, but not the earworm you expected. My default Peter Gabriel earworm is “Games Without Frontiers” followed by “Solsbury Hill” and any PG song will rather quickly devolve into one of those. “Solsbury Hill” appears to be winning at the moment.

Also, I think the inclusion of the episode title could actually reinforce DeepThought’s premise. The cameras ran, they had to figure out what to call it, and they didn’t get any further than the teaser and grabbed the first few words that sounded vaguely title-y.

@16 Torie First off…to Eugue.. Congratulations! May much happiness and success follow you and yours. Torie, maybe this thread is quiet because the episode is so bad. (which does not bode well for future episode and their threads.) I have pleanty of snark ready for the next posting and I haven’t even re-watched it yet, but oh how I remember the next episode.

Congrats to Eugene & the soon-to-be better half!

@16 Torie, I’d think TOS dress uniforms would be more his thing.

Thanks for the congratulations, everyone! Torie, I’m happy to order that dress uniform, but I’ll never get to wear it at my wedding :) I do think the TOS dress uniforms are nice too, but perhaps a bit too shiny and colorful. All the other ones from TNG etc. look like dress uniforms.

Belated congratulations to Eugene & Spouse-to-be. Just a shame it had to coincide with this particular episode.

@21 NomadUK

Thanks! Don’t worry, this episode was the farthest thing from my mind. And I’m doing my best to forget it completely.

I’ve been trying not to post a lot of comments to episodes already discussed ages ago but I can’t help it this time. I almost didn’t want to click on this one because my memory of it is so good. Talk about an awful episode. They abused the characters so thoroughly that I’m amazed nobody walked off the set. Even the kiss that’s been so heralded as a triumph for equality is pretty horrible, given how hard they both fought it.

It occurs to me that the network really did a job on paying their audience back for wanting to keep the show on the air. It’s like they’re sitting in a room one day, drinking their cognac and counting their piles of money, and one of the head honchos is saying, “You know, I really hate that Star Trek with it’s morality and idealism. Did we really have to keep it?”

And another suit snorts some cocaine and says, “I know, but we’ll pay the bastards back. We’ll give them such terrible episodes that they’ll wish they’d never heard of Star Trek . You know those characters they love? We’ll abuse them and humiliate them and mark my words: You’ll never see a letter writing campaign again.”

Obviously this didn’t work but I have to admit that after reading these episode summaries I’m almost glad that some of my favorite, more recent shows that had letter writing campaigns like Firefly didn’t succeed. I don’t think I could have tolerated watching another loved series dragged so thoroughly through the mud.

Yeah, this is definitely a case where the phrase “be careful what you wish for” seems to apply.

I sometimes think it’s better for a great show to be cancelled in its prime than to run the risk of there being bad episodes–or entire bad seasons. Firefly can always be perfect in our minds, its potential never realized.

And feel free to post comments on any old reviews. It would be great to get discussions going again, and we always try to respond if anyone drops by.

Eugene @ 24: I sometimes think it’s better for a great show to be cancelled in its prime than to run the risk of there being bad episodes–or entire bad seasons. Firefly can always be perfect in our minds, its potential never realized.

I agree. There are several shows that definitely should have been cancelled earlier than they did. Or preferably, resolved and shut down on the producers own initiative. The X-Files will always be the prime example of that for me. Firefly was screwed from the get go by Fox but I think another couple of seasons would have been good, at the very least.

Star Trek should have been able to go on for a couple more seasons as well before it got to the point the studio drove it to in Season 3. I think TNG, on the other hand, was pretty much ready for bed by the end of Season 6 and from what I hear the same was probably true of DS9. I admittedly never got into Voyager , so I don’t know about that one. And Enterprise is its own issue entirely.

I think, by and large, someone needs to remember that old line, “Always leave them wanting more.” That’s something no one quite seems able to live up to these days.

Toryx@25: The best example of doing it right — and, really, they pretty much always did it right — was The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which the team decided to close it down even though the ratings were fine and the network wanted them to keep going. They went out on a high note, and that show was, for me, probably the pinnacle of television comedy.

Newhart might well have done the same; I don’t know whether they quit voluntarily or not, but that last episode was brilliant.

@ 25 Toryx The X-Files is always the prime example of this. They had a series arc (this was new!) that ended at Season 5. One additional thing is revealed in the movie. After that, all that had to happen was the invasion, which I and many other fans assumed would be a series of movies. But nooo, they couldn’t leave a cow unmilked. Season 6 was a mixed bag, and then it went on for three more years .

TNG’s 7th season is abysmal. There are one or two really outstanding episodes, and at least a dozen dreadful ones. I remember watching the one where Crusher has this weird sexual relationship with a Scottish ghost in her grandmother’s house and thought, yep! This is over.

DS9 is a weird one. It didn’t get interesting for like, four years, and then the war wrapped up in under two. The 7th season did a lot of tying off loose ends but none of it was really satisfying, and it’s hard to forgive the Esre Dax bullshit.

@ 26 NomadUK Haven’t seen any of those, but I can’t think of a single comedy from Cheers to Arrested Development that a) ended voluntarily and b) ended well.

NomadUK @ 26:

I’m afraid I never did see The Mary Tyler Moore Show all the way through, though the episodes I did see were generally pretty brilliant. Newhart I did see pretty much all of and I agree, they did a fantastic job of ending that one. That was just beautiful to see.

Torie @ 27: Yeah, I remember being pretty thoroughly disappointed by Season 6 of The X-Files . I’m pretty sure that was the last season I actually watched, and from that point on I have been waiting for someone to come along with a tight, cohesive five or six season plan, do it and then end it. I can’t believe it still hasn’t happened.

I think the TNG episode in season 7 that really told me it was all over was when everyone devolved into crazy pre-humanoid lifeforms. God, that was horrible.

DS9 lost me when they killed off Jadzia. Actually, the lost me when the promos for that episode first began to air promising that “One of these people are going to die!” Such a cheap, bullshit marketing ploy pretty much finished it for me. I’ve always meant to try watching the whole series on DVD via Netflix but I’ve not been able to get past the first season.

@Toryx #28 — Pre-humanoid life forms? Wasn’t that Voyager?

I didn’t think TNG ever stooped quite that low (despite the ghost sex episode that never gets syndicated).

DeepThought @ 29:

I don’t know if Voyager did it or not, but there was a pretty unfortunate TNG episode. Worf turned into some hell beast, Troi became a mermaid type of creature, Picard became a Homo Erectus or something, and Riker, of all things, became a giant spider creature.

I’m pretty sure that happened and it wasn’t just a nightmare I had.

Toryx @30: Actually, wasn’t it Lt. Barkley that turned into a spider creature? I seem to recall Geordie summing up all the horrible things that had happened to Reg over the years and calling this the icing on the cake. Voyager did something similar, but it was only Janeway and Paris who got turned into giant axolotls that then had babies. That episode has been officially decanonized, the only episode of any live-action ST series that can be said of.

DemetriosX @ 31:

That’s right! Wow, it turns out I’d actually succeeded in blocking some of that episode out. Riker turned into the Caveman and poor Barkley turned into a spider. Now that I think of it, Picard might have been the only one of the upper echelon who wasn’t regressed.

Forgot to add…I had no clue that a Voyager episode was actually removed from canon. Wow, that’s a whole new level of bad.

@25 Toryx “Star Trek should have been able to go on for a couple more seasons as well before it got to the point the studio drove it to in Season 3.”

Bingo. The budget was severely slashed in season three, Gene was pissed and took a largely hands-off attitude, and we ended up with The Empath.

To be fair though, it was an extremely expensive show (for its time, that is, it’d about cover the catering budget for a current show) and they hadn’t yet figured out target marketing. They also didn’t understand the potential of syndication (oddly, since they were already doing it.)

The worst promo I ever saw was for Voyager, when Marina Sirtis was guest starring. In the promo she says, “I’ve decided to ask Captain Picard for help,” which of course suggests that Patrick Stewart might make an appearance. In the actual episode, her line is “I can’t ask Captain Picard for help.” That made me pretty angry.

@31 DemetriosX

I can’t believe they decanonized that episode! I hadn’t heard that, but I’m not surprised. Not so much because of the lizard sex, but because of the ridiculous “at warp 10 we occupy every space at once” concept.

I’ve not been able to remember the title of that ST:TNG episode because since its first airing I’ve always referred to it as Star Trek’s “Great Vegetable Rebellion.”

Eugene @ 35:

Man, someone should have slammed them with false advertising in that promo. That’s seriously messed up.

A few years ago my partner and I worked our way through all of Star Trek mostly in order, but we never watched this one. “Plato’s Stepchildren” is just too nasty for me and it gets my vote for worst episode. It’s more insulting than “Turnabout Intruder”, it doesn’t have any redeeming flashes of humor in it like “Spock’s Brain”, and even the wretched “The Savage Curtain” has more convincing a message.

Do you know what the worst bit is? It’s when Kirk and Parmen are using Alexander as their puppet in a duel with each other. It’s painful enough to watch Alexander dancing about to Parmen’s whims, but Kirk does exactly the same thing to the poor guy. Then Kirk utters a line that, I guess, is meant to make us all feel better about his motives: when Alexander asks, “Why don’t you let me finish him off?”, Kirk says in the most offhand way possible, “Do you want to be like him?” As though Kirk hadn’t himself been revelling in “being like him”! It’s facile and cheap for Kirk to be pretending to moral superiority at that point, not just after exulting in a raw display of might (“at twice your power level!”)

@38 etomlins

It’s hard to choose among the low points in this episode, but that was one of the worst. I can see how Kirk might justify his actions in the moment, but it still makes me lose respect for him. I guess, at least he wasn’t enjoying it…

@39 Eugene–

Maybe Kirk was still smarting from being horsey-ridden by a dwarf.

I guess I’ve taken that scene differently. Kirk wasn’t getting a thrill out of what he was doing. He was a soldier engaged in a conflict. He had to show that not only could the federation replicate their power, but also that they would be willing to stoop to their level to make their point. I took the “Do you want to be like him?” as reminding Alexander of the stand he had taken earlier when he had turned down a chance at having that power.

Not that it improves the episode, but that stand and that question are two things that I do like about this one.

I’ve watched this episode countless times and what I love is how Nimoy and Shatner just go for it. The writing is insane, but they embrace it. Kelley is the only one who doesn’t get to do anything crazy and he even seems kind of pissed either because the writers left him out or because the other two are having so much fun.

The “Great Pan” song is taken from the frogs’ song in the “Crossing of the Styx” scene in Aristophanes’ The Frogs and it is anything but dignified. (Look up “βρεκεκεκεξ κοαξ κοαξ” on Youtube.)The play is a deliberate farce, not like this unbelievable mess. Some fan publication (was it The Music of Star Trek? ) pointed out that Great Pan is a pipe player, he doesn’t “sound” a horn, he “nods” the ones on his head. The writers couldn’t even get that right. Where were the continuity editors?

Nimoy didn’t so much compose “Maiden Wine” as adapt it from a number of similar ballads that go back to the 17th century. The lyrics use food or botanical imagery to warn young people against being seduced into giving up their virtue. The best known at the time this episode was written was probably Pentangle’s 1968 version of “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme”.

Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath were intrigued by the humiliation scenes in this episode and referred to them several times in the interviews for their book Shatner: Where No Man . Shat said he had really tried to make his performance serious. Nimoy dismissed it as a third season episode and said “The Naked Time” had brought out similar themes more effectively.

You seem educated enough to know the difference between race and ethnicity. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (and Lucy and Ricky Ricardo) were the same race: Caucasian. The three “classical” races were Caucasian, Negroid, and Mongoloid.

If you’re talking about whiteness as something delineated outside of race, then yes, it might have been shocking for some to see a WASP kissing a “Latin,” but remember that Italians, Jews, and even Irish weren’t considered white not that long ago.

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Recap / Star Trek S3 E10 "Plato's Stepchildren"

Edit locked.

Original air date: November 22, 1968

This episode was generally received as silly, but it is also a landmark episode, not just of Star Trek but of American television , as it is one of the very first times (and, depending on how you tally it, possibly the first time) a black woman and white man were shown kissing on broadcast network television. Even though Aliens Made Them Do It .

The episode starts with our trio beaming down to Platonius to answer a distress call. They are greeted by a giant shadow, but within moments, they find the owner of the shadow is a dwarf called Alexander. It seems Parmen, the leader of the Platonians, has suffered a severe infection from a simple paper cut and is near death. Bones treats him. It is soon learned that the Platonians have many abilities. Their gift of telekinesis, extending as far as the orbiting Enterprise , is the most obvious. They also have incredible longevity and mental capacity. Unfortunately, they have very weak immune systems, small wounds becoming infectious very quickly. They tell Bones that they would like him to stay. Bones respectfully declines, only to learn that this was not an invitation . The Platonians are going to keep Bones with them and will make a puppet show with his friends until he agrees to stay.

The bulk of this episode is of the Platonians forcing Kirk, Spock, Uhura and Chapel to perform for their benefit.

Plato's Tropes:

• Aliens Made Them Do It : How Kirk and Uhura's kiss was justified to the network is that they were forced by aliens.
• Ancient Astronauts : The Platonians so admired classical Greek culture that they adopted it as their own, down to naming the home planet after the philosopher, Plato.
• Be Careful What You Wish For : Chapel has been longing to kiss Spock for so long; but the thought of being forced to do it makes her sick.
• Beauty Equals Goodness : Inverted . The Human Aliens are sadistic sociopaths, while their dwarfish servant proves himself a man of honor.
• Big Shadow, Little Creature : When Kirk and co. first arrive, they're greeted by a booming voice and an enormous looming shadow (and a dramatic musical sting). Then Alexander steps forward and reveals his actual size.
• Censor Decoy : The script called for Uhura and Kirk to kiss (the first scripted, onscreen, interracial kiss on TV at the time), but the network called for the scene to be filmed with and without the kiss, to decide later which to use. William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols deliberately ruined every take of the non-kiss scene, making the version with the kiss the best option. Which becomes even more impressive if you read their autobiographies, where it becomes clear this is the only thing they've ever agreed on.
• Chew Toy : Alexander is treated like one by the other Platonians because he's small and without telekinesis.
• Cruel Mercy : The Platonians' fate, in a way. With Alexander gone they can't torture people anymore, and that was the only thing which gave their lives meaning. Meanwhile, the rest of the Galaxy now knows where they live and what they have done, does not approve, and is capable of turning their own powers against them.
• Death Glare : When Kirk plants one on Uhura, Kirk gives the Platonians a look that says "How dare you force me to kiss this beautiful woman!"
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : The Platonians are nothing more than schoolyard bullies with psychic powers. Alexander's epiphany speech really sells it.
• The Dog Bites Back : Alexander has really had it with the way the Platonians treat him.
• Empowered Badass Normal : Kirk along with Spock gain telekinesis from the local food, though only Kirk explicitly demonstrates it.
• Enslaved Tongue : Parmen telekinetically controls the Enterprise crew, forcing them into humiliating performances such as dancing, singing, and reciting poetry.
• The Fair Folk : The Platonians fit this to a T. They are convinced that they are a Superior Species and make everyone they interact with act like it, too, but in fact are ruled entirely by caprice, take delight in torturing others, and punish all who dare call them on it.
• Faux Affably Evil : For all of Parmen's formality, he's just a sadistic sociopath. When Kirk and Spock finally get the jump on him, he breaks down and promises not to be an asshole anymore, which Kirk doesn't buy.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum : Telekinesis seems pretty handy; you might think people would start taking Kironide supplements on a regular basis. Yet somehow we never see it again. It's implied that With Great Power Comes Great Insanity .
• Gilded Cage : Not for the first time, Bones is offered one. Not for the first time, he turns it down.
• A Glass in the Hand : While Spock explains he's trying to master and control his murderous anger about being manipulated by the Platonians, he crushes an earthenware goblet into powder.
• Go-Go Enslavement : The usual genders are inverted, as Uhura and Chapel have floor length dresses, while Kirk and Spock get short tunics. Kirk gets it the worst, as his tunic just about covers the important bits.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming : For all the times Bones has scolded Spock for being unemotional, he's the first to protest when the Platonians use their powers to force a show of emotion out of Spock.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him! : Alexander finally has Parmen at knife point and has a more powerful telekinetic on his side. He begs Kirk for the opportunity to kill Parmen. Kirk responds "Do you want to be like him?" Alexander tosses the knife away and expresses his contempt for the Platonians.
• I Just Want to Be Free : In the end, Alexander is given his wish when Kirk agrees to take him away from Platonius aboard the Enterprise .
• Involuntary Dance : Spock's Flamenco, and the skipping duet he does with Kirk that's one big Shout-Out to Alice in Wonderland .
• Kissing Under the Influence : As part of their sadistic puppet show, Kirk is forced to kiss Uhura while a make out session with Chapel and Spock is also played out.
• Large Ham : Shatner at his best. He gives rides like a pretend horse. He does some silly dancing with the dialogue delivered in hammy fashion. Even in the kissing scene his body language is in overacting mode.
• Malfunction Malady : Parmen is sick, and since he, like almost all Platonians, has telekinetic powers, he makes furniture fly around as if there was a hurricane while in a fit of feverish delirium.
• Meaningful Name : "Alexander" means "helper of men". He even introduces himself as "Alexander, at your service." Alexander gives Kirk and his men the info they need to beat the Platonians.
• Might Makes Right : Parmen holds his position as "philosopher-king" of Platonius by dint of being its most powerful psychokinetic (which he thinks makes it "the most democratic society conceivable"). He believes this is because his mind is more powerful than the others; in reality, his body is just better at absorbing kironide, as Kirk and Spock go on to prove when McCoy gives them both enough to have double his power.
• Mind Rape : Used by the Platonians, with the most blatant example being Parmen forcing Spock to laugh and cry.
• Mood Whiplash : Spock goes from uncontrollable laughter to uncontrollable crying on the whim of the Platonians. Kirk is having a serious conversation with Alexander on the nature of equality when he suddenly spins about like a top. The seemingly silly situations are actually quite serious when you realize they are being manipulated by this week's Sufficiently Advanced Aliens .
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business : After being cruelly manipulated by the Platonians, Kirk and Spock are allowed to rest. Spock is battling with his terror that he had almost seriously hurt his captain and friend against his will, and his hatred towards the Platonians for their horrific manipulations, including forcing emotion out of the proudly logical Vulcan. He asks if Kirk feels the same; Kirk agrees, to which Spock replies that as humans must find a way to release their emotions, he must master his for the further torment which is sure to come, even as he picks up a chalice and crushes it effortlessly.
• People Puppets : Uhura describes the experience as "It was like becoming someone's puppet."
• Playing with Puppets : The Platonians use their telekinetic powers to make the Enterprise crew members act in absurd and humiliating ways.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege! : Bones begs Parmen to stop this travesty.
• Power Incontinence : Parmen experiences uncontrollable telekinesis when feverish.
• Really 700 Years Old : Actually, Philana and Parmen are closer to 2300 years old; they were married at the youthful ages of 117 and 128 respectively.
• Royal Brat : All of the Platonians. Thousands of years of doing nothing has made them insufferable brats who treat others like playthings.
• Sacred Hospitality : Ironically for a species which idolizes Plato, the Platonians seem to avert this trope. Unless, of course, their view of treating guests well is to enslave them . Spock. Whose harmony; yours? Plato wanted truth and beauty, and above all, justice.
• At one point Alexander does the chant from Frogs by Aristophanes , though in this case, it's played slow and dignified (and with a slight mistake in the lyrics: it's supposed to be "Great Pan nods his horn", rather than "Great Pan sounds his horn").
• Liam Sullivan's role as Parmen is itself a Shout-Out to similar guest roles: that of a talkative jerk in the The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "The Silence", who wins a bet he can stay silent for a year... by having his vocal cords severed, and from the 1967-70 version of Dragnet where he plays an LSD "guru" that spars verbally with Sgt. Friday and Detective Gannon over recreational drug use; the ending description has him busted for selling dope to minors, and being sent away for a LONG time.
• Shut Up, Kirk! : Fairly brutally, as Kirk tries to push McCoy into not giving in, and the Platonians swap it out for accepting slavery, and later he tries to support a crying Spock, and they force him to act like a horse instead.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech : Alexander gets to give one to Parmen at the end: Alexander : Parmen, listen to me. I could have had your power, but I didn't want it. I could have had your place right now, but the sight of you and your Academicians sickens me. Despite your brains, you're the most contemptible things that ever lived in this universe.
• Torture Porn : Kirk, Spock, Uhura and Chapel are forced to humiliate themselves for the majority of the episode, and the actors play the scenes where they talk about how violated they feel as very quiet.
• Utopia Justifies the Means : The Platonian lifestyle is of course based on what was recorded in Plato 's The Republic ; establishment and survival of the perfect state requires autocratic rule by philosopher-kings bred from a system of eugenics . So what if the result is a bunch of spoiled brats who don't know how to properly treat anyone different from them?
• Variant Chess : The Platonians play chess with oversized pieces, moving them either by telekinesis or getting Alexander to do it.
• Weaksauce Weakness : The Platonians have no immune system, so even the slightest cut can kill them.
• Star Trek S3 E9 "The Tholian Web"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S3 E11 "Wink of an Eye"

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Screen Rant

Star trek’s famous kirk & uhura kiss “would not have got done” without william shatner.

Star Trek: The Original Series' most famous kiss might not have happened if not for Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner.

• Shatner's insistence ensured Kirk and Uhura's iconic kiss stayed in Star Trek, a groundbreaking moment for diversity on TV.
• Despite NBC's concerns, no backlash was received for the interracial kiss, a memorable scene in a mediocre episode.
• Shatner's determination during filming made TV history by ensuring Kirk and Uhura's kiss was included on-screen.

Star Trek: The Original Series ' iconic interracial kiss between Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) would likely not have happened if not for William Shatner. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wanted his series to push boundaries and depict a future where everyone was accepted for who they were. While Star Trek: The Original Series remains a product of its time, it undoubtedly helped pave the way for more diversity on television. Kirk and Uhura's iconic kiss, while not technically the first interracial kiss to air on television, was a monumental moment and received very little backlash from viewers despite the worries of NBC.

Kirk and Uhura's kiss happens in Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, episode 10, "Plato's Stepchildren," an otherwise mediocre episode about halfway through TOS' final season. "Plato's Stepchildren" begins when the USS Enterprise answers a distress call from a people known as the Platonians. The Platonians possess telekinetic powers and the leader, Parmen (Liam Sullivan), wishes Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to remain on the planet as their doctor. When he refuses, Parmen humiliates Kirk and his crew by forcing them to perform for them. In one instance, Parmen forces Kirk and Uhura to kiss in what would become one of Star Trek's most famous scenes.

Star Trek: The Original Series Cast & Character Guide

William shatner says star trek’s first interracial kirk & uhura kiss would not have happened without him, shatner made sure kirk's kiss with uhura stayed in the final episode..

William Shatner appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher to promote his autobiographical documentary, William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill . Maher took the opportunity to ask Shatner about Star Trek's most famous kiss , and Shatner admitted it likely would not have happened if not for him. Read their conversation below:

Bill Maher: That moment, you were brave because from what I understand, NBC, of course, was nervous about it. I mean, we had seen before when Southern stations would cancel shows or not show them over something like that. And you kind of stuck to your guns and did the kiss.

William Shatner: Yes, I puckered up my lips and [makes kissing motion]... Like that. I mean, [Nichelle Nichols is] no longer with us, but in her lifetime, she was a remarkably attractive lady.

Bill Maher: Yes, but that’s not really the issue. I want to know, if you hadn’t insisted on doing it, would it have not got done?

William Shatner: It would not have got done. That’s bad English.

According to some of his fellow Star Trek cast members, Shatner was not always the easiest to work with, but he made Captain Kirk one of the most iconic television characters of all time. The legendary actor, who celebrated his 93rd birthday on March 22, 2024, ensured Captain Kirk and Uhura's kiss made it into the final cut of "Plato's Stepchildren." The late Nichelle Nichols has also spoken about the kiss scene in various interviews, and she, too, credits Shatner with making sure the scene made it to air.

William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill will be available for video-on-demand rental or purchase everywhere on April 26th.

How Star Trek’s First Interracial Kiss Happened

Despite nbc's worries, there are no records of any complaints about the kiss..

When it came time to film the kiss scene in "Plato's Stepchildren," both the Star Trek episode's director, David Alexander, and studio executives at NBC were hesitant to show the full kiss, fearing it would anger certain viewers. The kiss was filmed as the last shot on the final day of shooting, and Gene Roddenberry was brought in to discuss how the scene should be shot. ​​​​​​Nichelle Nichols, who famously remained in Star Trek because of Martin Luther King, Jr. , was not always respected on set. Roddenberry generally sided with Nichols when it came to Uhura, and he decided to shoot a take with the kiss and one without. William Shatner, however, had other ideas.

Shatner insisted on multiple takes, causing the shoot to run even further over schedule. Finally out of time, the director insisted on a no-kiss version of the shot, but Shatner wasn't done. This time, Captain Kirk leaned Uhura back to imply a kiss without it being on-screen, but Shatner deliberately looked into the camera and crossed his eyes. The director was unable to see this from his point of view and, believing the take to be a good one, he called cut. Of course, as the footage was reviewed later, the shot without the kiss was unusable, ensuring Kirk and Uhura's Star Trek: The Original Series kiss made television history.

Source: Real Time With Bill Maher

Star Trek: The Original Series is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek : "The Tholian Web"/"Plato's Stepchildren"

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One of the most interesting criticisms I read of the new Star Trek movie came in Keith Phipps' review here on the AV Club. (My isn't that convenient. Don't forget to buy a T-shirt!) He pointed out that, for all its whiz-bang excitement, the reboot/re-imaging/reincarnation didn't really have much in the way of actual thinking. In fact, given it's cavalier attitude towards narrative convenience, it's a film that favors distraction over discussion. I don't mean this as a criticism exactly—old school Trek can get creaky when it starts throwing big words around, and I like shiny as much as the next crow. Besides, given the time restrictions with a movie, there probably really wasn't room to get into a deep debate about the morality of time travel and the true nature of paradox. (Not that we couldn't have spared some of the jokes, maybe.) I raise this only to introduce what was, for me, the most enjoyable aspect of this week's double feature: being reminded once again how much I really do love this series, and how much of that love comes from its commitment to sincere philosophical concern. Sure, it can get corny, and more than a little leading, but the simple fact that "The Tholian Web" and "Plato's Stepchildren" are as much interested in understanding the dilemmas at their heart as they are in the more visceral set-pieces is thrilling and, for a show four decades old, fresh. I can understand someone being put off by the pulpy dialogue, the over-acting, the cheesy sets and effects, but for me, digging Trek is about learning to embrace its absurdities and appreciate its willingness to keep asking questions. "Tholian Web" also has something we see disappointingly little of: honest-to-god science fiction. The central concept, of a place where universes overlap, is clever, and there aren't any god-beings involved—and let's face it, "alternate universe" is just a hugely tempting source for those guys. Instead, we have an encounter with the titular alien race that isn't even the central point of the episode. This is more a collection of circumstances than one over-arcing storyline; those circumstances are connected by location, thankfully, but there's no sense of one over-riding threat that needs to be resolved. Which is a nice change of pace. Once Kirk vanishes (along with the Defiant ), Spock takes command of the ship, and the ep focuses on his and McCoy's attempts to stop crew insanity, rescue the captain, and avoid destruction at the hands of the Tholians. Also, they argue. A lot. Another reason to recommend "Web" is that it gives us an extra-strength dose of McCoy's carping and Spock's arrogance. I've come to welcome their conversations because, as pig-headed as the doctor gets and as dismissive as the half-Vulcan can be, I relish the ambiguity of it. There's something refreshingly real about watching two people argue incessantly, not come to any real agreement, and still work together. The Enterprise is searching for a missing ship, and they find it in one of the worst places to find a missing ship outside the Neutral Zone, a weird spot where the universe is thin and other universes bleed through. When Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Chekov beam onto the Defiant (in some fairly impressive haz-mat suits, I might add; none of this "top doesn't connect to torso" crap we've seen before), the ship's crew is dead, apparently at each other's hands. We've seen the "madness that makes 'em murderous" effect, and it's not exactly a surprise when Chekov gets his own case of fish-eye lens; wouldn't be much of an episode if our heroes came across some sickness that didn't mess 'em up. Thankfully, the cause here isn't biological, as we begin to suspect when McCoy's hand passes through a corpse. It's not immediately obvious, but clearly, this isn't just a case of the crazy plague. Things worsen when Scotty beams the away team back to the Enterprise. The universe friction causes a lot of problems for Engineering, and Scotty is only able to beam back three of the four before the Defiant vanishes completely. Unsurprisingly, it's Kirk who gets stuck behind. (I mean, unsurprising in the context of the episode, not unsurprising in this recap, which is unsurprising for completely different reasons since, y'know, I mentioned this two paragraphs ago.) Again we have to question the logic of Kirk's do-everything, give-everything approach. Not only did he go to the Defiant in the first place, which is a questionable but expected command decision, as soon as Scotty says he can't get the entire group at once, Kirk volunteers to stay behind. Because, obviously, a star ship commander is more important than the guy who presses the button marked "Phaser." (I'm mostly kidding here—it's not as though Kirk's willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of his crew hasn't come up before. But I did find myself wondering if any of the away team weren't wishing for a spare Red Shirt when they heard the bad news. That's the drawback of sending all major characters on this sort of mission.) It isn't soon after this that Chekov starts showing symptoms of mental disturbance. McCoy quickly (and impressively) figures out that this is caused by their proximity to the shifting planes of existence; this does make you wonder why, if there's enough Federation lore to know about the science behind the spot, as well as there being a pact between the Tholians and Star Fleet, that nobody had figured out this cause and effect relationship before. We do get a quick (and smart) justification for the tragedy of the maybe a little too Defiant , though. Given that the area screws with the Enterprise' s system immediately, and only gets worse the longer they stay where they are, it's all too easy to imagine the ghost ship getting locked in place, desperately trying to break free, and growing more homicidal with each passing moment. The main source of McCoy and Spock's rift, apart from McCoy's basic distrust of aliens and Spock's contempt for anyone who isn't purely logical, is that Spock's choice to fire on the first Tholian ship they encounter ends up hurting the Enterprise , and considerably worsening their chances at either getting Kirk back or getting away. It's not that Spock made a bad choice here—the other ship fired first. It's that the situation grows even more dangerous when other Tholians, after the attack on one of their own, start building an "energy web" that, once completely, means bye bye spaceship. ("Ware the Etch-A-Sketch of Doom!") Mostly, though, I think McCoy just can't understand how someone could make rational decisions in a crisis without betraying any emotional strain. He even tells Spock that he doesn't understand his motives, and assumes Spock has a greater ambition than I think the character really does. One of the most frustrating experiences in life is meeting a sane, likable individual who completely and utterly fails to understand where you're coming from. From being most familiar with the movies (by which point their relationship had settled considerably), I'd always believed Spock and McCoy to be good friends who don't always see eye to eye. But here on the series, it's more like colleagues with mutual respect and occasional grudging admiration, but not a whole lot of trust. There's also a running gag with Kirk appearing to various crew-members as a ghost, because he's not quite dead yet, just trapped in some alternate universe. The biggest criticism you can throw at "Web" is that, in the end, there isn't any huge pay-off to all of this. McCoy figures out an antidote to the crazies(a derivative of Klingon Nerve Gas! Odd that there would be a comparatively easy biological cure to such a complex physiological and psychological disturbance), Spock gets the Enterprise back to where it belongs, and Kirk is beamed on board, just moments before running out of oxygen. There may be some plot holes in here, Kirk's acting as the in-between guy was goofy, but this was solid, overall. We got to see Uhura in her off hours, and we got to witness Kirk's Last Tape, which was surprisingly low-key, if awfully situationally specific. (Does he have a back-up tape if McCoy and/or Spock were also killed in whatever conflict ended his life?) I also enjoyed "Plato's Stepchildren," which is mostly known these days as "that episode where Kirk has to kiss Uhura." This was something of a big deal with the ep first aired, being arguably the first interracial kiss to air on television—despite the fact that the kiss was far from pleasurable for either party. There's something sad about that, really. In 1968, an African American woman and a white man went where no one on TV had gone before, and it still had to be forced and unpleasant to watch. And hell, not minutes after that kiss, Kirk is threatening Uhura with a whip. Clearly, not really a sex-positive message. Historical value aside, I may be going against the general consensus once again, but I thought this was very much not bad. Yes, Kirk and Spock's mind control acting is silly, yes the conversations with Alexander the dwarf can verge on condescending, and yeah, there's all that serious talk that, to the unkind ear, could play as clunky and overwrought. But I think, with the right amount of patience, the talking works, and the hammy acting can be surprisingly convincing if you're willing to take it at face value. There's a lot of disturbing, freaky sadism happening here, and while calling it Lynchian might be a stretch, I was impressed at how creeped out I was during some scenes. And hey, there's a lovable dwarf! C'mon. That counts for something. One strike against "Stepchildren" is that it seems like we've been here before; we had our Toga World adventure way back at the start of season 2, with "Who Mourns For Adonais." But really, all the Grecian trappings on display in this episode are a false front. What we've got here are a group of telekinetic super-beings who actually spent some time on Earth during the height of Greece's golden years, took notes on what they liked, and then kept on flying through the stars until they could find their own place to live. They call it Platonius, and while it's pretty enough (at least, the two rooms we see aren't half bad, even if I expected to see Pearl and Brain Guy wandering through), these aren't exactly the kind of folks you want to spend time with. There's eighty-eight of them, and all but one has extraordinary powers, thanks to the magic of mass eugenics and good eating. (Technically, the powers come from the eating, but they don't stress that in the brochure, kills the mystique.) But while good breeding can provide physical beauty, it apparently hasn't done much in the way of instilling the Platonians with ethics, as Kirk and friends quickly learn. The set-up is that the ruler of Platonius, Parmen, injures his leg, and they send out a distress signal for a doctor. Kirk, McCoy, and Spock respond—according to Spock, the planet doesn't have any life forms on it, which it clearly does, so maybe someone might want to get the machine checked. McCoy does wonders for Parmen, although they get a glimpse of the man's true power when, during a delusional state, his telekinesis even throws the Enterprise into fits. Everything seems fine, although Alexander looks worried. He's the court buffoon, the only one around without any mind whammy ability, and considering the weird horrors that Parmen and the rest put Kirk and Spock through, it's hard to imagine how unpleasant the past few centuries have been for the guy. Things take a turn for the inevitable when Parmen decides he wants to keep McCoy around, and McCoy doesn't want to go. To change his mind, Parmen starts messing with Kirk and Spock. Here's where the other big strike hits, because a good chunk of the remainder of this episode is spent watching Kirk and Spock get put through their paces. If this doesn't affect you, you're going to get bored fast. I found it unsettling and sad, because as ridiculous as Shatner may be, he's still someone we've spent two seasons plus getting attached to, and seeing him forced to make a literal ass of himself is ugly. Even worse, they make Spock laugh. Then they make him cry. It's—it's pretty awful, really. And "Stepchildren" treats this betrayal of Spock's core self with the dignity and weight it deserves. That's what really sold me on all this; there is some camp value in Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley twitching and flailing, but everyone involved takes the whole problem seriously, and when they aren't being tormented, the our heroes are discussing what's wrong with the Platonians, and what makes them so vicious. Kirk gives Alexander a speech about how "size, shape, or color make no difference." (Huh, he doesn't mention sex. Surely that isn't supposed to be included under size?) It's simultaneously hopelessly naive, ridiculous, and neat. Alexander is by far the most interesting of the natives, too; his realization that he's not truly inferior to his tormentors, that by some reckonings he's actually far beyond them, is, again, corny as Kansas in August. But not bad. Not bad at all. Admittedly, the resolution here could've used some work. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy determine that the Platonians get their amazing powers through eating local food, with its high levels of kironine, a made up element that can do whatever we want it to do. They give themselves a pure hit of the stuff, uncut, that eventually gives them twice the power that any of the locals have managed to achieve. One more forced theatrical (this one involving Nurse Chapel, Uhura, and that kiss we already mentioned), and Kirk takes command. The writing really gets goosy during the kiss-and-kill play, as Chapel talks about how long she's wanted to be close to Spock and Uhura comforts herself with how awesome Kirk is—they're being forced to act, not talk, and since they're just embracing and not, y'know, doing the deed, I'm not sure I buy the full confessional. But still, it's freaky. The big criticism is that, in keeping with the usual practice, Kirk gives a speech, warns Parmen not to screw around again because he's letting Starfleet know about the planet, and then he leaves. Honestly, given how much power Parmen has already shown, once Kirk is no longer around to police them, how fast do you think this is going to degrade again? How hard would you work to keep your heaven safe from people who want to judge you and tell you how immoral you are? At least the Enterprise takes Alexander when they go. So yeah, not too bad at all. There's roughly the same issue I mentioned last week, with third acts that don't hinge on new discoveries or unexpected resolutions, but this is still solid entertainment. And it's about something. They're still trying, and Kirk's not falling in love with an Indian princess, and that's good. Grades: "The Tholian Web": B+ "Plato's Stepchildren": B+ Stray Observations:

• To be honest, the grading is become more and more abstract with each passing week. So everybody knows they're suggestions, and not rules, right?
• It's easy to overlook, since it's basically Spock's only setting, but nobody does dry like Nimoy: "The renowned Tholian punctuality."
• He also sings! It's no "The Legend of Bilbo Baggins," but Spock's forced performance of "Bitter Dregs" is quite credible:
• Kirk's speech to Alexander about tolerance is undercut slightly by his "I have a little surprise for you" pun at the end. Dick.
• Next week, it's "Wink Of An Eye" and "Empath"

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Star Trek – Plato’s Stepchildren (Review)

This July and August, we’re celebrating the release of Star Trek Beyond by taking a look back at the third season of the original Star Trek . Check back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the latest update.

Another third season episode. Another iconic episode.

As with a lot of third season episodes, Plato’s Stepchildren is easily reduced to a selection of imagery and iconography. It is one of the episodes most likely to be cited as an “important” moment in the cultural evolution of Star Trek , full of clips that are likely to pop up on documentaries covering the history of television. Plato’s Stepchildren is an episode that has permeated popular culture, in large part due to a singular and memorable image that ultimately has very little to do with what the story is actually about.

“A kiss can be even deadlier, if you mean it.”

There is something frustrating about this. It feels inappropriate that Plato’s Stepchildren should have become such an important part of the history and the mythology of Star Trek . Not only is Plato’s Stepchildren offensive in ways that deliberately and brutally cut against the imagery that is so lauded, it is also a terrible piece of television in its own right. As with a lot of the third season of Star Trek , it seems like the mythology of the show is brushing up against the quality of the show itself.

Plato’s Stepchildren is memorable and important, but it is all boring and offensive. It encapsulates a lot of the third season, all in all.

“I can see you.”

Of course, the most iconic moment in Plato’s Stepchildren is the kiss that occurs between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols in the final act. It is a moment that has been discussed and dissected time and time again, often cited as one of the single most important moments in the history of television. It contains “what is often cited as American television’s first scripted interracial kiss.” The story has become something of a television urban legend , to the point that articles debunking the claim have become more common than reports citing it unironically .

Nevertheless, that image of Kirk taking Uhura in his arms and pressing his lips against hers has become one of the iconic Star Trek moments. Much like the heavy-handed black-on-one-side-white-on-the-other aliens in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield , the moment is an essential part of the franchise’s progressive credentials. It is a reminder of just how much of what Star Trek fans (and even casual viewers) consider to be “essential Star Trek” is rooted in these final twenty-four episodes.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this before.”

Of course, the kiss between Uhura and Kirk was not the first interracial kiss on television. It was not even the first white-on-black kiss on television. British television was way ahead of American television in this regard. In 2015, a recording of the BBC play You in Your Small Corner demonstrated an interracial kiss was broadcast back in 1962 :

“I was astounded … it was so explicit really,” said the BFI’s TV programmer, Marcus Prince, who discovered the historic kiss while researching an event. “I looked at the date and realised its significance.” The kiss, between actors Lloyd Reckord and Elizabeth MacLennan, predates by six years the famous kiss between Kirk and Uhura in the third series of Star Trek, the first on US TV. It was also broadcast two years before a kiss between doctors on the British prime time soap Emergency Ward 10.

However, the British Film Institute would discover an even earlier example while trawling through the archives investigating that broadcast. An even earlier interracial kiss was found in the ITV play Hot Summer Night , broadcast as early as 1959 . This predated  Star Trek by almost a decade.

“Wow, LARP-ing is fun.”

Even before the recovery of You in Your Small Corner and Hot Summer Night , British television demonstrated a much more progressive attitude towards interracial relationships. The soap opera Emergency Ward 10 featured such a kiss in July 1964. According to actor Joan Hooley, it was something of a non-issue :

A lot of people spoke about it more ten years later than they did at the time it was happening. So, it was much later that it occurred to me that I was part of history. I find it odd to have to admit that I was part of history because I don’t see why there should be anything to do about it. I don’t think there should have been all this fuss about it.

Of course, the racial politics of Great Britain were very different from those of the United States, so perhaps they are not directly comparable. Nevertheless, Enoch Powell would make his memorable anti-immigration Rivers of Blood speech in April 1968 , so it is not as if race relations in the United Kingdom were particularly idyllic.

Sorry. I’m ruining the moment, aren’t I?

Even excusing those black-and-white interracial kissed from high-profile British television productions, there were a number of popular and widely-seen interracial kisses on American television in the intervening years. There is a strange tendency when discussing these (very) public displays of affection to suggest that the only real interracial kiss is between a black person and a white person, a tendency that discounts the experiences of other minorities living in the United States.

I Love Lucy had featured numerous kisses between real-life husband and wife team Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball during the fifties; Arnaz was hispanic, which opens up debates about race, identity and ethnicity. (Arnax was reportedly considered a “white Cuban.” ) Into the sixties, shows like The Wild, Wild West and I, Spy featured interracial kisses between Caucasian men and Asian women long before Kirk and Uhura encountered the Platonians in Plato’s Stepchildren .

Hold on a moment.

As Marcus Berkmann concedes in Set Phasers to Stun , the episode did not even feature the first kiss between a white man and a black woman to be broadcast on NBC:

The legend has been a little simplified. ‘Interracial’ seems to be defined here only as black and white. Kirk himself had kissed the Vietnamese actress France Nguyen only a few weeks earlier, in Elaan of Troyius (filmed first, but shown later). David McCallum had kissed an Asian actress in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. back in 1966. And in the more lax arena of light entertainment, the notably white Nancy Sinatra and the unambiguously black Sammy Davis Junior had greeted each other on-stage with a friendly slobber over a year earlier in a variety special called Movin’ With Nancy. That was on NBC too.

Nevertheless, the mythology around the episode endures. Much like many casual fans will insist that they heard the like “beam me up, Scotty” , the mythology of Plato’s Stepchildren is never going away.

Walking around in circles.

There are a lot of mental gymnastics required to make Plato’s Stepchildren seem particularly noteworthy in the annals of televisual history. “The first interracial kiss” is a much snappier description than “the first kiss between a white fictional man and a black fictional woman who are established characters on a weekly American television series.” That just doesn’t carry the same level of accomplishment about it, and it is easy to see why the first looser descriptor caught on so easily.

However, this urban legend contributes to one of the most persistent myths about Star Trek . The franchise has a lot of cultural cache stemming from its progressive vision of the future, but the truth is that Star Trek has rarely been as progressive as the reputation that it has cultivated. The truth is rather more complicated. It is great that the character of Uhura was an inspiration to young black women like Whoopi Goldberg or Mae Jemison, but that does not excuse the appalling treatment of the character in episodes like The Changeling .

“Well, Spock, now I know how our Yeomen feel.”

The realities of Star Trek are often quite different from the legends cultivated around it, by figures like Gene Roddenberry. The show was the product of dozens of different writers with dozens of creative views; some of those views were progressive, while some were reactionary. For every criticism of Vietnam in episodes like A Taste of Armageddon or Errand of Mercy , there was an endorsement in A Private Little War or The Omega Glory .  Episodes like Operation — Annihilate! , And the Children Shall Lead and The Way to Eden demonstrated a reactionary streak.

Despite the franchise’s long-standing reputation for being progressive and open-minded, it would take the franchise fifty years to feature a homosexual character. For all that the JJ Abrams movies are maligned by fandom for their perceived betrayal of the franchise’s core values, it was Doug Jung and Simon Pegg who ultimately revealed that Sulu had a male partner in Star Trek Beyond . That should not be a progressive real in 2016, and there is a sense that the franchise was allowed to skate on that purely by reputation.

Indeed, even the interracial kiss in Plato’s Stepchildren is a compromised victory. The kiss itself has built up its own mythology, with tales of how uncomfortable NBC were about it and how they plotted to cut it out. In Beyond Uhura , Nichelle Nichols credited Shatner for keeping the kiss in the episode:

The next day they screened the dailies, and although I rarely attended them, I couldn’t miss this one. Everyone watched as Kirk and Uhura kissed and kissed and kissed. And I’d like to set the record straight: Although Kirk and Uhura fought it, they did kiss in every single scene. When the non-kissing scene came on, everyone in the room cracked up. The last shot, which looked okay on the set, actually had Bill wildly crossing his eyes. It was so corny and just plain bad it was unusable. The only alternative was to cut out the scene altogether, but that was impossible to do without ruining the entire episode. Finally, the guys in charge relented: ‘To hell with it. Let’s go with the kiss.’ I guess they figured we were going to be canceled in a few months anyway. And so the kiss stayed.

It should be noted that this version of events is somewhat contradicted by William Shatner’s account in Star Trek Memories , which suggests that the lips of the two actors never met in the cut that made it broadcast; Shatner and Nichols position themselves so as to conceal the contact.

Spock’s reenactment of Spock’s Brain went down a treat.

However, even allowing that the kiss did happen, and even allowing that it was among the first such kisses to appear on network television, Plato’s Stepchildren still feels like a cop-out from the production team. The episode is written in such a way that the kiss is ultimately incidental to the plot. The kiss could easily have been written out of the episode at any point. It could have been trimmed before shooting the episode, with another display substituted in its place. It could have been reworked in post production.

More than that, there is a tackiness to the whole sequence that does not befit a progressive television milestone. Kirk does not kiss Uhura of his own volition. This is not his love affair with Miramanee in The Paradise Syndrome or even with Elaan in Elaan of Troyius . The kiss between Kirk and Uhura is not a gesture of love or attraction, but instead a humiliation. It is a way of embarrassing and demeaning both Kirk and Uhura, which feels like a rather unpleasant subtext for the kiss.

Dance, monkey, dance!

Indeed, Daily Variety noted as much in their scathing review of the episode:

However, before bigots rush in to damn or the liberals to praise, it should be pointed out that there was quite a cop-out in the Meyer Dolinsky script. As the starship commander, Shatner most reluctantly smooches Miss Nichols, a beautiful femme, and only because he is compelled to it by the villain’s evil powers. This neat little compromise acquits Shatner of crossing the line, because he has no control of his senses, the scripter is saying, in effect. Nor is Miss Nichols to be blamed, because she, too, is under the spell of the diabolical heavy.

Plato’s Stepchildren rushes to wash its own hands of the kiss.

Music to his ears.

There is something rather cowardly about that, as if Plato’s Stepchildren is pandering to the kind of bigots who would write letters to networks protesting such a kiss. There is a “get out of jail free” card attached to the display of affection, as if to reassure those viewers with delicate sensibilities that Kirk most definitely will not be kissing any more black women in later episodes. Rather than simply accepting the reality of interracial relationships, Plato’s Stepchildren presents its interracial kiss as an aberration.

It would have been much more progressive for the series to have Kirk or Spock or McCoy kiss an African American actress in a scene that was consensual and legitimate. Would it have been so hard to cast an African American actor in the role of Natrina from For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ? Why couldn’t Lieutenant Mira Romaine be black in The Lights of Zetar ? Then again, it had been too much for The Paradise Syndrome to cast an actual Native American to play Kirk’s lover Miramanee.

The Wreath of Kirk.

To be fair, it is possible to mount a defense of the decision to portray the kiss as non-consensual, regardless of the awkward subtext. Guest star Barbara Babcock made such a defense in an interview with Starlog :

“That was the most complex character that I played on the show,” she says proudly. “Somebody gave  me the video as a present. The main reason that episode is so famous is because it was the first time on television that there was an  inter-racial kiss— Nichelle Nichols and  Shatner kiss. “Remember, this was 1968, and the only reason NBC allowed them to kiss was because my character was controlling them and forcing them to kiss through the power  of my mind, but ‘in reality’, Kirk and Uhura didn’t want to. They passed the censors that way by having it be something that was imposed on them against their will!”

Still, it feels very much like pandering. Even if these compromises were necessary, they severely undercut the franchise’s reputation for bold progressivism that is build in large part on this episode.

“It could be worse, Captain. They could have asked you to perform The Transformed Man .”

However, even getting past the kiss, Plato’s Stepchildren is a terrible episode of television. The plotting is superficial to non-existent. The Enterprise arrives to tend to a wounded leader on a distant world, only to discover a decadent society. This society decides that it wants McCoy to remain on the planet, and so enacts a series of brutal humiliations for Kirk and Spock in order to force McCoy to agree. These powerful jerks force Kirk and Spock to dance, force Kirk to quote Shakespeare, make Spock laugh. This continues for forty minutes.

To be fair, Plato’s Stepchildren has a fairly elaborate back story. It has a large number of moving pieces, even if those moving pieces mirror earlier stories like Where No Man Has Gone Before or Who Mourns for Adonais? Perhaps owing to its similarities to those earlier episodes, the script is not interested in mining those elements for story.  Plato’s Stepchildren is very heavy on exposition, with characters just dumping out information quickly rather than sharing it organically.

Kirk horsing around.

Alexander lays out the entire history of the Platonians in the opening scene, in his third line. “I’m sure you’ve never heard of us,” he tells Kirk. “Our native star is Sahndara. Millennia ago, just before it went nova, we managed to escape. Our leader liked Plato’s ideas Plato, Platonius. See? In fact, our present philosopher-king, Parmen, sometimes calls us Plato’s children, although we sometimes think of ourselves more as Plato’s stepchildren.” It feels very forced.

Similarly, Kirk fills in the missing gaps during his opening log entry directly following the opening credits. “When their planet novaed, millennia ago, they transported themselves to Earth in the time of Socrates and Plato. After the death of the Greek civilisation they idolised, they came to this planet and created for themselves a utopia patterned after it.” In these opening minutes, it feels like the script is rushing through basic set-up. However, the problem is that Plato’s Stepchildren really has nowhere to go once it gets past this exposition.

Shields up.

As with Day of the Dove , another iconic episode with a fairly broad plot, there is a lot of repetition and padding to the episode. Day of the Dove extended its runtime with a large volume of pointless sword-fighting scenes between the Klingon and Starfleet crews, which started to feel a little generic. Plato’s Stepchildren does something similar, with its extended torture and humiliation of Kirk and Spock. It feels like the episode has made its point with the shot of Kirk slapping himself, but it just goes on .

To be clear, the issue is not with the humiliation and torture itself. After all, there are plenty of Star Trek episodes that feature extended and disturbing scenes. Even earlier in the season, The Empath subjected Kirk and McCoy to pointless brutality at the hands of the Viians. Chain of Command, Part II would become one of the franchise’s very best episodes, in part because it did not flinch from the torture and humiliation heaped upon Captain Picard. The problem with Plato’s Stepchildren has little to do with the sadism directed towards the crew.

Up against the wall.

Instead, it is the sense that Plato’s Stepchildren has nothing particularly interesting or exciting to say about that sadism once it gets past the opening few minutes. The torture of Kirk and Spock is just as boring and pointless as the day-to-day existence of the Platonians. Kirk alludes to this in his closing lecture, warning, “You’re half crazy because there’s nothing inside. Nothing. And you have to torture us to convince yourselves you’re superior.” However, the repetition makes the episode feel dull.

This is particularly the case when Uhura and Chapel beam down to the planet. Their arrival feels largely pointless and superfluous, an attempt to add more variables to the torture sequences in order to keep things from seeming too stale. Again, the script avoids story in favour of repetition. Instead of exploring what the Platonians are doing to the Enterprise through the eyes of Uhura and Chapel, the two women simply materialise and take part in the episode’s third extended “public humiliation” sequence.

Ironically,  Plato’s Stepchildren is actually one of the better looking episodes of the season. The third season of Star Trek suffered from budget cuts and other production limitations, which hemmed in episodes like Spock’s Brain . A lot of the season was shot using standing sets, with a high volume of bottle episodes scattered across the season. Only  The Paradise Syndrome and  All Our Yesterdays utilised location shooting. As such, the elaborate production design on  Plato’s Stepchildren makes for a sharp visual contrast.

It seems like a lot of money was spent on the episode, with lavish sets and beautiful costumes. Given how mundane and repetitive the episode is, it is interesting to wonder whether than money might have been better spent elsewhere in the season. There are a number of impressive special effects sequences in the episode, demonstrating the power of the Platonians who have taken up residence on the planet. Ironically, these came to cost the production team even more money when they caused time overruns.

Sitting this one out.

Discussing the episode with Starlog , guest star Liam Sullivan recalled that Plato’s Stepchildren was unable to meet the time constraints imposed upon the third season as a whole:

“Those FX ate up precious filming  time. We were scheduled for a six-day shoot, which was impossible. Shooting  ran a full day over schedule and the poor  director was being pushed by everybody  ‘upstairs’ to go faster. However, he  couldn’t make the technical crew work any  faster, as they were having their own problems. As a result of those overtime problems, my close-up in the final scene, my  comeuppance, was never shot. David Alexander was very upset over that, but he had no choice. There just wasn’t any time.  They were practically turning the lights  off behind him!”

It feels like all of this effort might have been better invested elsewhere in the troubled season. As it stands, Plato’s Stepchildren is ultimately a terrible episode that looks really pretty.

A blip on the radar.

Underneath that pretty exterior, there is a core of anti-intellectualism. Plato’s Stepchildren is in many ways an episode about class warfare, but class warfare rooted in anti-intellectualism. The Platonians are repeatedly identified as “Academicians” by both Parmen and Alexander. The Grecian trappings of the episode, and the references to Plato and Socrates, mark the Platonians as educated and distinguished. Parmen talks about how the Platonians value “the will of the stronger mind” above the traditional strength of “weapons and fleets.”

The power in Platonian society rests in the mind. “My dear Mister Spock, I admit that circumstances have forced us to make a few adaptations of Plato, but ours is the most democratic society conceivable,” Parmen assures his guests. “Anyone can, at any moment, be or do anything he wishes, even to becoming ruler of Platonius if his mind is strong enough.” Parmen sounds like he is describing an autocratic system, where power flows to those deemed to have the best minds.

Hey, look, everybody’s having fun.

This anti-intellectualism was not lost on those involved in its production. These Are the Voyages quotes a memo from Joan Pearce at DeForest Research suggesting that the script should tone that aspect down a little:

WOW! This is perhaps the most violently anti-intellectual script we have had. Where is the evidence of all this thought and meditation? Is this hell-hole the end result of philosophical thought — or the logical extension of Plato’s essential Fascism as set forth in The Republic? Advise hanging the rap firmly on Plato — or all of us intellectuals will run foaming at the mouth to The CBS Friday Night Movie.

The finished version of the episode retains a lot of this anti-intellectual subtext, firmly suggesting that the development of intellect comes at the detriment of humanity.

Scott gets a shakedown.

Plato’s Stepchildren did not emerge from nothing. The episode fits quite comfortably with a recurring theme bubbling across the run of the original Star Trek show. In general, Star Trek seemed quite wary of intellectuals and experts, reflected in a number of different ways. Kirk had little patience for civilian advisors in episodes like The Galileo Seven or The Deadly Years . The show was anxious about the idea of more highly evolved humanity, as demonstrated in episodes like Where No Man Has Gone Before or Charlie X .

Most glaringly, Star Trek had been very anxious about advances in technology and automation. Robots represented a fundamental threat to the Federation in What Are Little Girls Made Of? and I, Mudd . Artificial intelligences enslaved populations in The Return of the Archons , The Apple and For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky . These themes arguably coalesced most effectively in The Ultimate Computer , when Kirk faced the prospect of being rendered redundant by a machine. Kirk felt an anxiety familiar to many blue collar workers in the sixties.

“He hasn’t got a leg to stand on.”

More than anything, Star Trek seemed to fear idleness. As Paul A. Cantor contends in Gilligan Unbound :

This particular episode is deeply biased against any notion of aristocracy. Almost as if the writers had read Hegel, Platonius is presented as a planet of many masters and one slave, emphasising Hegel’s central criticism of aristocracy, namely, the idleness of the masters. When the slave is given the chance to acquire his own psychokinetic power, he refuses because he does not want to “just lie around like a big blob of nothing and things done for [him].” Even the philosopher-king concludes at the end: “we have become bizarre and unproductive.” Unproductive is one of the most serious criticisms that can be leveled against a culture in Star Trek, which generally takes a bourgeois view of galactic developments. In the ideology of Star Trek everybody in the universe is supposed to be putting in a hard day’s work, and aristocratic luxury and leisure are frowned upon and derided.

Indeed, this fear of idleness informed the anxiety over the counterculture movement in This Side of Paradise .

It is reassuring to know that the Theiss Titilation Theory applied as much to male cast members.

Plato’s Stepchildren returns time and time again to the idea that Platonians have allowed themselves to become stagnant. When McCoy first examines Parmen’s wounded leg, he reflects, “I don’t understand. This should have been attended to immediately.” Parmen dismisses the physician’s concerns, “Sheer ignorance.” This idleness puts the community at risk, even from basic infections. “We scarcely have to move anymore, let alone work,” Philina tells Kirk. “That’s why you have no resistance?” he asks. She responds, “A break in the skin or a cut can be fatal.”

Plato’s Stepchildren suggests that the Platonians have become too fixated upon their intellectual development rather than the physical world, the kind of rhetoric frequently employed in criticism of experts and intellectuals. Alexander is scathing in his criticism of Parmen towards the end of the episode. “The sight of you and your Academicians sickens me,” Alexander advises the disgraced ruler. “Despite your brains, you’re the most contemptible things that ever lived in this universe.” It mirrors Kirk’s criticism of the Viians at the end of The Empath .

Dagger of the not! mind.

This fits quite comfortable with the definition of anti-intellectualism as outlined by historian Richard Holfstater in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life , published in 1963:

The common strain that binds together the attitudes and ideas which I call anti-intellectual is a resentment of the life of the mind, and those who are considered to represent it; and a disposition to constantly minimize the value of that life.

Holfstater suggests that there is a long and rich history of such anti-intellectualism in American history and culture, and there is a sense that Plato’s Stepchildren very much belongs as part of that tradition.

Inject a little life into it.

That tradition is very much alive today, in American culture and outside of it. There is a strong anti-intellectual slant to criticisms of Barrack Obama and the politics of the Tea Party . During the referendum on the British exit from the European Union, Michael Gove famously insisted that the British people had “had enough of experts.” In many ways, the Platonians presented in Plato’s Stepchildren play as a grotesque parody of those “experts” who have devoted so much time to developing their intellect that they have lost any sense of decency.

There is a sense that these attitudes are firmly rooted in the politics of the late sixties. There is a strong reactionary feeling to Plato’s Stepchildren in its condemnation of “Academians” , recalling the moral panic over the protests and drug use that were taking place on college campuses over the course of the decade. While the United States was fighting the Vietnam War and facing massive civil unrest, the feeling was that colleges had become a hotbed for decadence and idleness.

Highly illogical.

It is tempting to think of Star Trek as inherently intellectual in nature. After all, it is a science-fiction show about space exploration. It has a long history of inspiring work in the STEM fields , with generations of scientists and researchers inspired by its vision of the future . There are certainly points in the history of the franchise when the production team were consciously intellectual, most notably during the early seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation as overseen by Gene Roddenberry.

However, the original Star Trek was much more blue collar. Kirk was much less of a renaissance man than Picard or Sisko or Janeway, for example. Although intelligent and cunning, Kirk was a lot more emotional and instinctive than his predecessors. As controversial as JJ Abrams’ reinterpretation of Kirk in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness might be to certain fans, it is impossible to imagine an interpretation of Picard or Sisko or Janeway that would be so dynamic.

Puppets who can see the string.

Over the course of his life, Kirk is a much more grounded and working class character than the three captains who would follow him. Kirk is the only Star Trek captain to face his own redundancy; tellingly, he faces that prospected repeatedly in The Ultimate Computer , Star Trek: The Motion Picture , and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Kirk feels very much like a man working a job on the frontier than Picard or Janeway. He is much less of a parental figure to his crew than any of the leading characters who followed.

Indeed, the original cast sees more ebb and flow than any other  Star Trek cast. McCoy becomes a regular character only in the second season. Chekov first appears in the second season. Kirk becomes an admiral. Chekov is first officer of the Reliant. The Enterprise is a training ship, under command of Spock. Sulu is captain of the Excelsior. More than any other cast, the original  Star Trek crew captures the sense of a shift staff. They are manning their posts, working their stations. They do not  really become a family until  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .

Communicating with the common man.

Kirk is a character who speaks for certain working-class American ideals in a way that Picard, Sisko and Janeway do not. As such, it makes sense that the character would give voice to certain working-class anxieties bubbling through the sixties. Kirk is wary of advances in computing and automation, not least because they threaten his own job. Kirk is anxious about intellectuals who lack practical and emotional experience. Kirk is literate and well-read, but he does not base his decisions on that intellectual knowledge in the same way that Picard or Janeway might.

In some ways, this is a reminder that Star Trek is not a singular entirely cohesive entity. The franchise changes and evolves as it grows. The third season of the original Star Trek is a point of transition, with episodes like The Empath and Day of the Dove serving to set up the utopian idealism that Gene Roddenberry would incorporate into The Next Generation . Those episodes present a vision of a hyper-evolved humanity that managed to create a “utopia” in the twenty-third century.

Shady goings-on.

At the same time, Plato’s Stepchildren feels like something of a throwback to the dominant tone and mood of the first two seasons of the show, when Kirk was inherently skeptical of the utopias presented to him in episodes like A Taste of Armageddon or This Side of Paradise or The Apple . Kirk even explicitly describes the Platonian society as a “utopia” early in the episode. As a grounded character, the version of Kirk presented in the first two seasons is wary of claims that paradise exists. Presented with utopia, this version of Kirk wonders about the price tag.

Plato’s Stepchildren reveals an interesting irony at the heart of the Star Trek franchise. For all that the franchise claims to be utopian in outlook, that has never been consistent. Building upon episodes like The Empath and Day of the Dove , the first two seasons of The Next Generation present exactly the sort of utopia that Kirk would happily tear down. In those first two seasons, the crew of the Enterprise seem not too far removed from the Platonians. They are superior, powerful, and heavily intellectual.

Harping on.

The Federation’s plan to disassemble Data in The Measure of a Man mirrors the abuse that the Platonians heap upon Alexander in Plato’s Stepchildren . It should be noted that Gene Roddenberry famously objected to the plot of The Measure of a Man , insisting that Data should willingly submit himself for disassembly in the name of the greater good. Picard was oblivious to the implications of the Federation’s request until Data and Guinan explicitly spelled that out to him.

The Next Generation in some ways came of age at that point, recognising that the cold and intellectual utopia of the Federation should never blind itself to basic decency and dignity. The Measure of a Man learned to temper that utopian intellectualism with a warmer humanism, a decision that enriched a show struggling to find its voice. Plato’s Stepchildren runs too far in the opposite direction, feeling like a slice of reactionary anti-intellectualism arguing that any attempt to develop intellect inevitably diminishes empathy and compassion.

Alexander the pretty great.

In some ways, this bleak and cynical outlook is supported by the first two seasons of The Next Generation , when episodes like Lonely Among Us , The Last Outpost and The Neutral Zone seem to embody all of Kirk’s worst fears about the Platonians. However, these are very much an aberration. The later years of The Next Generation represent a firm rejection of Plato’s Stepchildren ‘s knee-jerk reactionary anti-intellectualism, suggesting that intellect can be balanced with kindness.

The result is that Plato’s Stepchildren ultimately feels rather retrograde, looking backwards in more than just its production and costume design.

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: anti-intellectualism , interracial kiss , plato's stepchildren , racism , star trek , Uhura |

11 Responses

“it was Doug Jung and Simon Pegg who ultimately revealed that Sulu had a male partner in Star Trek Beyond” Yet even here Star Trek dropped the ball. The film cut a scene where Sulu and his husband kiss, which suggests that the filmmakers are still too scared to truly have a homosexual couple. I’m trying to think back to that scene, and I may be not be remembering correctly, but don’t they just hug? Honestly, they could just be close friends in that movie.

“However, the original Star Trek was much more blue collar. Kirk was much less of a renaissance man than Picard or Sisko or Janeway, for example.” Honestly, I always thought of Sisko as an every man type. The original pitch for Deep Space Nine was The Rifleman in space after all. Sisko always came across as a builder to me, which would explain his love of cooking.

Sisko is interesting to me, because I always read him as a veteran or a soldier. He is introduced as a survivor of Wolf 359, and his journey to war-ravaged Bajor always reminded me a bit of those stories (or perhaps even clichés) about former soldiers who settle in countries recovering from war in a way that mirrors their own trauma. I guess I always kind of saw Sisko as more of a re-builder than a builder.

Whereas Kirk always had that sort of blue collar “I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t doing this thing I’ve done since I was young” attitude to him, this constant fear of being replaced or outmoded or unadaptive. I don’t doubt that Picard or Sisko or Janeway (or even Archer) could enjoy a long second career outside of the command chair as an archeologist or builder/farmer or scientist (or, I don’t know, stuffy old paternalistic bureaucrat), but there’s always this sense that Kirk doesn’t know how to do anything but command and adventure.

And that’s a fair point about Sulu. But it’s still a huge step forward for the franchise. There is no reason that this shouldn’t have been possible in the TOS-era films or the very early Berman-era show, but it is still more progressive than the franchise has been on the point to date. In terms of contemporary blockbusters, it still represents a bolder depiction of homosexuality than Ghostbusters, which was very ambiguous on the matter of Hofstadter’s orientation. (To the point that cast and crew seemed to reluctant to explicitly confirm that Hofstadter was a lesbian in interviews, while still hinting strongly.)

I suppose it is a step forward, but it annoyed me that during Kirk’s opening log about romance in the air, we were only shown heterosexual characters. What I would really like to see when it comes to gay characters in Star Trek would be an homage to Balance of terror. Have Kirk presiding over the wedding of two gay characters, right before the plot begins.

It’s certainly a fair point. And it’s nowhere near as progressive as it should be.

But on the other hand, it is more progressive than the franchise has been to this point, and so I think it’s fair to acknowledge it as a step in the right direction. And it’s far more progressive than something like Ghostbusters, which conspicuously buried Holstadter’s sexual orientation and Independence Day: Resurgence which obliquely hinted at its two gay characters before killing one of them off.

Yes, Star Trek should do better. But I think that Star Trek Beyond still deserves recognition for doing better.

An interesting review.

I have to admit I’m not entirely convinced by the anti-intellectual argument. I always thought the Platonians, with their total cultural stagnation and hedonism were slightly tweaked versions of the arch-typical decadent aristocrats, their philosopher king background little more than trappings to give an excuse for mighty mental powers. In fact the Greek connection and bullying makes me think far of college fraternities and sororities than actual intellectuals, or even negative stereotypes of intellectuals.

Even Kirk has a certain ring of Teddy Roosevelt to him – and he was, along, with Woodrow Wilson, the most intellectual of the 20th century American presidents (Clinton was also highly educated but more of a closeted intellectual so to speak.)

I’d also place Sisko the engineer as being much closer to Kirk than either man is to Janeway or Picard.

That’s a fair point about the Greek imagery and fraternities. I hadn’t twigged that at all. Good spot.

I definitely agree that Sisko is much closer to Kirk than Picard or Janeway, although I don’t think Sisko has the same set of anxieties. Unlike Kirk, Sisko never seems particularly nervous about being replaced or rendered redundant; indeed, he quits at one point and plans his retirement at the end of the run. He even cedes his role as Emissary in Accession, although he does later fight to take it back.

Well I certainly do not know star trek like the author of this article. However I cannot agree that Platos StepChildern is a bore. I maybe simple yet I have a fondness for the episode. Ironically “Stepchildren” aired on my 10th birthday-maybe that is why I have a place in my heart for it. I did not care at ten about Uhura and Kirk kissing. In my mind that was normal. Adults do that. Even when their complexions are different. I was’nt polluted with the gene of racism quite yet. Growing up anywhere is difficult; growing on the south side of Chicago is ridiculous. For me I related to Alexander. I don’t care how much education one has, or how smart people are they can still be cruel. I did get harassed quite a bit for being the fat kid everyone disliked. Also took abuse from teachers and faculty from the local private school. We had sexual abuse as well. Yes from all those educated people. No I dont trust philosophers. As a young man I began to read Aristotle; I was disappointed to find out that Black people as a race were considered inferior by him. Philosophy can be wrong. I believe in things I can prove not what people think we should believe. No one has the holy grail. Poor Alexander was dominated by his betters totally for amusement. Cruelly and horribly. A lesser man may have gone mad? He was alone in spirit and in fact. I felt his grief, and through it all he did not desire to become one of them. Thank God he left on the Enterprise. Sounds like a good plan. He had friends and dare I say it – Love – brotherhood. Eventhough he did not have the power of the others he got satisfaction with Kirk and crew. Bullies exist they always have always will. Have a great day.

re: {{ Kirk himself had kissed the Vietnamese actress France Nguyen only a few weeks earlier, in Elaan of Troyius (filmed first, but shown later). }}

And Khan had kissed McGivers in Space Seed back in season 1.

Yep, good observation.

u r so wrong about this episode (and actually about season 3 in toto); they do a terrific job here showing “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”; brain power does not equal wisdom; humans/humanoids do not have the wisdom to handle unlimited anything; Dunn(“Alexander”) gives a tour de force, playing it with every ounce of his ability and talent; to see our trio humiliated by these mind perverts, who have forgotten how to really live, is terribly moving, but not shameful, because they are under manipulation and control; however low they are made to be, the doers are who are despicable, contemptible, without value and utterly worthless; this is actually a very fine episode that stands the test of time, earns a place in the top tier of episodes; not A+ but definitely a very strong and solid A.

Okay, it’s interesting to hear that I’m wrong about the third season despite being considerably kinder to it than most critics. I’d suggest I might just have a different opinion of it than you do.

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Plato's Stepchildren Stardate: 5784.2 Original Airdate: 22 Nov, 1968

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Plato's stepchildren (1968).

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Plato's Stepchildren

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"Plato's Stepchildren" was the 67th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series , the 12th episode of the show's third and final season , first aired on 22 November 1968 . The episode was written by Meyer Dolinsky MA , directed by David Alexander MA and novelized in Star Trek 11 by James Blish . A remastered version of this episode was aired in syndication, premiering on 16 June 2007 .

• 1.1.1 Episode characters
• 1.1.2 Novelization characters
• 1.2 Starships and vehicles
• 1.3 Locations
• 1.4 Races and cultures
• 1.5 Technology and weapons
• 1.6 Materials and substances
• 1.7 States and organizations
• 1.8 Ranks and titles
• 1.9 Other references
• 2.1.1 Adaptations
• 2.1.2 Video releases
• 2.2 Background
• 2.3.1 Episode images
• 2.3.2 Adaptation images
• 2.4.1.1 Translations
• 2.5 External links

References [ ]

Characters [ ], episode characters [ ], novelization characters [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], locations [ ], races and cultures [ ], technology and weapons [ ], materials and substances [ ], states and organizations [ ], ranks and titles [ ], other references [ ], appendices [ ], related media [ ].

• Information about this episodes production and references are consistent in the 20th century versions of this work. The 21st century Star Trek Encyclopedia also relates material about this episode.

Adaptations [ ]

Video releases [ ]

Background [ ]

The story line is an adaptation of the 1952 science fiction short story Telek WP by Jack Vance WP . [ citation needed ]

Episode images [ ]

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Timeline [ ], translations [ ], external links [ ].

• " Plato's Stepchildren " article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Plato's Stepchildren article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
• 1 The Chase
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Preserver (race)