Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 23, Episodes 45 & 46: A Private Little War/ The Gamesters of Triskelion

Parallels to the Vietnam war are given in "A Private Little War" as Star Fleet Captain James Kirk must make a fateful decision to interfere with the natural evolution of a tribal planet at war, which has already been compromised thanks to a Klingon agent who has armed one side with advanced weapons to give them an unfair advantage.
While it may never be popular or even politically correct to criticise government, Star Trek has an impressive history of taking events from our day and put them in futuristic settings to make social commentaries that are far more perceptive than what one will find on the six o'clock news. This is is no exception. The question this episode begs to be answered is how far should a supposedly advanced nation become involved with a so-called lesser culture. Watch "A Private Little War" and see what happens.

In "The Gamesters of Triskelion" the timeless message of slavery is addressed as Kirk, Chekov and Uhura are captured and enslaved for the amusement of another so-called advanced race. Things really heat up when Kirk takes the ultimate gamble to save his crew!

There are many reasons why I find this particular volume very forgettable and missable; in fact, this volume falls into the "give this a miss" category and ranks among the worst ever among all 3 seasons. In the first episode, we have a ridiculous looking creature that makes me laugh more than shudder in fear reminding me a lot of Paul from the "Electric Company" and we also see a racist side to Kirk when he automatically assumes that as the doctor assisting Bones is black and so he is somehow not competent and he needs reassuring from Bones that the black doctor is good at his job and hence good enough to tend to the injured Spock.

The second episode is worse with a very weak storyline and portrays Kirk at his sexist best with the way he manipulates his female jailor. The storyline is very far-fetched and the only redeeming factor is the humourous exchange on the Enterprise among Bones, Scottie and Spock when the latter suggests the other 2 mount a mutiny.

If you are picking which volumes to keep, avoid this one at all costs; you have been warned!

A Private Little War-This underrated 'cold war' episode featuring a gorilla-unicorn, is another taught thriller from the second season. In addition to the non-stop action (shootings, Mugatu bites, Klingon intrigue, etc.) we have a well-reasoned ethical debate about the dual perils of intervention and non-intervention by a superpower. Kirk even acknowledges some ambivalence about the arming of the Hill people (think Vietnam) at the end of the show. Other pluses in this episode are the culture of the planet, as well as Nona. Her healing scene with Shatner is pretty racy, even by today's standards. (4 stars)

The Gamesters of Triskelion-This episode, in which the enslaved crew are forced by giant brains to engage in arena combat, was a big step down from prior episodes. In fact, I would argue that the drop in quality attributed to the 3rd season really started here; only one of ten remaining second season shows was truly strong (A Piece of the Action). I for one would take the first ten shows of the 3rd season over the remaining ten from the second season.

But that's another story. The Gamesters of Triskelion is a very nasty episode. In addition to violence for it's own sake, there is the strong suggestion that Uhura is violated as the show fades to commercial. It's really unforgivable that the subject is never adressed in the rest of the episode. We also have one of the true bimbos of Trek in the nubile Shana, who is made to utter some truly stupid lines. There isn't much going for this episode; with a bit less action, it would belong in the latter part of season three.

Tidbit: Angelique Pettijohn, who played Shana, went on to adult film fame. (2 stars)

REVIEWED ITEM: Star Trek® Original Series DVD Volume 23: a Private Little War © / The Gamesters of Triskelion ©

A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: Maintaining a balance of power to preserve both sides; cultural contamination

Notable Gaffe/Special Defect: In the long shots of Kirk battling the mugato, it's fairly apparent that the good captain has been replaced with a stunt stand-in.

Historical Milestone: The first (and so far the only) appearance of the dreaded mugato!

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember (`Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: None

REVIEW/COMMENTARY:

There ain't too much I can say `bout this particular show, mainly `cuz I had quite a bit o' trouble tryin' to figure what to discuss and opine about! All I can say is that the healing ceremony scene between Nona and Jimmers after the mugato attack seems almost- well, kinda naughty, if you get my drift. It's a scene that lends credence to those Hollywood legends regarding Gene Roddenberry's libido, and how he'd try to write subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) sexual undertones into his work. Then again, it could just be some amazing coincidence. Yeah, RIGHT...

Oh yes- Spock manages to recover from a gunshot wound that would've been fatal had he been fully human. That's right, kiddies- you're treated to yet another showcase of his amazingly different (and highly resilient) anatomy that the show's writers loved to exploit at least three times a season! I guess you could say that Spock is the Timex of Star Trek: he takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!

THE GAMESTERS OF TRISKELION © PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject(s) Driven Into The Ground: The folly of complacency; the human need for freedom; humanity's strange duality of both propensity for and abhorrence of violence

Notable Gaffe/Special Defect: Kirk is strangling a monstrous, saber-toothed humanoid with a leather strap. But if you take a close look at the piece of strap that's visible between Kirk's hands, you'll notice that it's completely slack!

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember (`Red Shirt') Confirmed Casualty List: None

REVIEW/COMMENTARY:

The beginning of this particular eppie features one of the more memorable crew-versus-heavies hand-to-hand combat scenes. Al I'll say about it, is that it's reminiscent of somethin' you'd see on a WWE® pay-per-view event- just not as realistic. The three-on-one death match at the climax is also filled with some delightfully cheeseball moments of mayhem!

As you might expect: leave it up to Jimmers to get the ET babe-of-the-week as his drill thrall (sortuva gladiatorial DI) after he, Uhura and Chekov get captured by a trio of disembodied brains! And speaking of Jimmers, much of the entire show is one hammy bit of Shatnerian method acting after another! Watch his exaggerated look of surprised pain as he's punished repeatedly by his captors for his insolence! Watch him work on his drill thrall Shahna with that wonderfully herky-jerky delivery of lines (Jim, you smoothie, you)! And to top things off, he gets in top form as he lays down the big wager to his gray-matter-laden antagonists! How... can-you-NOT... enJOY-that?

Oh, how can I forget to mention one of old-school Trek's greatest intentional bits o' humor? Watch Chekov get somewhat fidgety and very uncomfortable over the attention his drill thrall (a rather... imposing alien female) is throwing at him! Hey, them's the risks ya takes when ya put that there uniform on, ya know?

`Late

This is another great Trek pairing.

"A Private Little War" is Trek's take on what was then our expanding participation in Viet Nam. Here, Kirk and crew journey to an idyllic Eden of a world populated by noble nomads and settled villagers and, unfortunately for everybody, fair game for the Klingon empire. Though barely on the edge of the industrial revolution, villagers are now armed with flintlocks, and have engaged in a genocidal war against the nomads -a noble band led by the heroic Tyree. A close friend of Kirk's on his last sojourn their, Tyree allows Kirk to hide within his tribe while he and McCoy investigate Klingon backing of the villagers. Spock is unluckily struck by one of the primitive flintlocks and spends much of the episode in the Enterprise's ICU. Down below, between ducking Klingon's, Kirk and McCoy bitterly debate the morality of bringing the tribes into technological parity with the villagers, with Kirk in favor of giving Tyree's people a fighting chance, and McCoy arguing how that would only prolong a bloody and suicidal war (almost a completely win-win situation for the Klingons).

This was a great episode, deftly referring both to Viet Nam and treatment of indigenous tribes in 19th century America. McCoy especially shines in his moments arguing with the Captain, while the script gives Kirk the coldly logical position normally reserved for Spock (it would probably have been too cold; perhaps that's why they had him shot down in the opening scene). Also look for 1960's TV fixture Nancy Kovack as Nona, Tyree's bewitching wife. Kovack had a recurring role as Darrin Steven's former flame on "Bewitched", exposing her to all sorts of nose-twitching witchcraft. As Nona, a "Kunutu" woman, she now gets to cast the spells.

"Gamesters of Triskelion" is perfectly campy Trek, with Kirk, Uhura and Chekov kidnapped during transport by a highly advanced race of beings (is there any other kind?) called "Providers" who force Kirk and crew to battle in mortal combat with other kidnapped aliens (one of them, a beautiful humanoid who's wicked in the ring). You'd think the Providers would have long tired of the repetitious gaming (they bet using "quatloos", but you never see one) and would have long settled on developing the slaves to try living normal lives as a more amusing form of entertainment. "Gamesters" is campy trek, using interior sets (even for outdoor scenes) and featuring Shatner in full "lounge mode" as he courts his fellow prisoner. One caveat though, this episode features a moment in which Uhura is assaulted just out of camera shot. It's very suggestive, but by the end of the episode, there's just about no closure. It was perhaps a bit too campy for its own good.