Two super powers battle it out over a primitive planet. Sound familiar?!
STAR TREK TOS - A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR (1968)
The Enterprise returns to a primitive, beautiful & peaceful planet. Upon landing they are shocked to discover that a rival tribal village has superior weapons in the form of rifles. What they discover is that the Klingons have been providing them with these weapons, thus breaking a non-interference treaty. Kirk must make the ultimate decision in order to save this planet, or doom it to purgatory?!
I am so going to start with the Mugato! I can't help but think that since I first saw this, the Bill Patterson footage of Bigfoot, barely a year before this episode transmitted, also seems to have had an influence on this! Bones & Kirk notice the huge footprints on the soil as they beam down. But also, this beautiful, paradise appears to have been corrupted. A rival village tribe lies in wait to ambush Kirk's friends with weapons still as yet not invented on this planet, flintlock rifles. Spock is almost killed & relies on his Vulcan self physiology treatment ( & a caring hand from the besotted Nurse Chapel, LOL!) to heal himself. Kirk himself is attacked by one of the Mugato creatures & Bones desperately goes to Kirk's former tribal allies for help. They at first, seem reluctant, one must wonder why!
This is so definitely a hidden classic for Star Trek TOS! When they first arrive at this beautiful Eden, within detecting a Klingon vessel, Scotty is the first to excuse them as a science expedition. Very non Scotty-like to excuse the Klingons, seriously! The Enterprise keeps a parallel orbit to the Klingon ship around the planet to prevent being detected by their rivals. The tribal leader, Tyree, is "a friend of younger years" with Kirk. But he himself, seems to be manipulated by his "lover". Nona, a respected Kahn-ut-tu, or medicine woman who knows of the old ways, herbs & roots, & the powers that they possess to control Tyree, & yes, eventually Kirk to her will. She would probably be considered a witch & burned at the stake in ye olde Earth.
The living root Nona uses on Kirk to heal him & zap the Mugatos venom was borrowed on a UK Sci-Fi show a decade later, Blake's 7. Still, her knowledge of the root & other herbs appear to have pheromone abilities to seduce & manipulate her unwitting victims. Meanwhile, Nurse Chapel (played by Majel Roddenberry) is the target of acting Dr M'Benyas humour about her affection for Spock. And while Spock maybe in a trance, he knows that you're holding his hand, nurse, amongst other things. And you have to love Spock's masochist need to be slapped back into consciousness!
Krell is the mysterious Klingon that himself has manipulated the rival chieftain with tales of grandeur. Indeed, this once, formerly peaceful, chieftain can one day be a governor of a Klingon province, surely? Sigh, seeing as this is my first Star Trek TOS featuring them, yes, the Klingons do look different! That'll be explained by Worf? Enterprise spin-off at red alert!
But, let us see the true picture here! I don't think it needs a rocket scientist to figure out the Vietnam allegory here? An innocent planet, has already been corrupted by the Klingons, then Kirk has to level the balance of power! Nona, having realised she's drugged the wrong man in Tyree, a pacifist, goes to the enemy camp to try to win favour with them after knocking out & stealing Kirk's phaser & is killed by a platoon of the rival village. Tyree, in a rage wants vengeance & Kirk is only too happy to help provide "fire-sticks" much to bones outrage. If the Klingons give them more powerful weapons then so do the Federation, & so thus it must continue. There goes another Garden of Eden, up in flames. 100 "fire-sticks" equals 100 serpents!
Star Trek TOS has had an influence on much Science Fiction, including Star Gate SG-1 (in fact too many episodes of which seem to go out of their way to rewrite Star Trek!). More importantly, the Jon Pertwee era of the equally iconic Doctor Who, which deliberately chose Star Trek & it's moral issues for its new, 70's era, in all it's technicolor glory! For those that had colour teles in early 70's Britain, of course! 1973's Doctor Who & The Time Warrior totally rips from this episode with class! But one thing I, as a wildlife lover, have to bring up....
Am I the only one that finds the constant disintegration of the poor Mugato a tad unnecessary? I mentioned the famous Patterson Bigfoot footage. Hostile as they maybe, couldn't anyone just stun the poor creatures? For all we know, they could be an endangered species on this world. In fact the second one was looking for its disintegrated mate! I don't feel ashamed upon almost being to blubbering point in learning of that, or is this another message on the invasion of the Garden of Eden? The fact that Kirk & Tyree were friends on this planet some 13 years earlier raises questions about the Prime Directive or have I missed an important detail?
I cannot articulate enough my respect for bones' sense of morality! When Kirk brings up the message of this episode, Bones knows only too well of our own bloody history of the two super powers arming the South-Eastern Asian continent with deadly weapons! In fact, the Cold War message goes out of it's way to be heard! Of course, this episode came out when the Vietnam war was still at it's bloody height, add the Korean war as well. Why do I love Dr McCoy so much, with his ingrained sense of morality, his decency & respect for all life in that Southern accent? (Alright, he had no choice but to zap that poor Mugato!) After all, he is a doctor, & his English accented counterpart, Dr Bashir in the Star Trek spin-off DS9 must have taken a leaf from the noble book of McCoy(?)
I've read recently that Gene Roddenberry's Prime Directive tied the hands of many an episode writer, much to their frustration. Yet Kirk, is legendary for constantly breaking that golden rule! I think Nona's stinging nettle venom might have affected Kirk! Brilliant loophole by Don Ingalls who wrote this treasure of a parable! Thank you for an amazing episode!
"Not what I wanted, Bones. What had to be." - Captain James T. Kirk.
"I'll make a great Klingon of you yet." - Krell.
Stay safe! We all matter!
Can I get off of my soap box before I fall through it?
Borgduck, alias Stewart,
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