DVD, Star Trek S2 (The Apple)

I came to this not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. From the start it seemed different, with a lot of people beaming down to an impressive planet set. With so many redshirts I felt sure some would survive! They died in various ways, some quite shocking, such as the rock exploding, so they were there only to take the falls as usual, but the numbers were still impressive. The set was impressive, giving a good feel of a planet, and people travelling, with the village, wild area and Vaal's mountain. It seemed a very colourful episode too, with orange natives, red skies, greenery all around, and even their uniforms seemed more vivid for some reason.

The story seemed a little unsure of itself: on one hand it said it was better for people not to depend on machines, while Kirk and co. do this all the time. On the other, the Adam and Eve analogy was clever (cultural references to real life tend to enhance a drama by giving points of reference to viewers), though it was an inverse, with 'serpent' Vaal, trying to keep the people from things rather than encouraging them to disobey, and the eden being a deadly habitation rather than ideal, for them to be cast out of. Like Adam and Eve they were oblivious to some things, but unlike them they didn't have the perfect life of paradise. It could be argued both ways about whether Kirk's actions were justified, because he certainly must have been breaking the Prime Directive, but I think they were, because he couldn't escape from the planet and had no choice. Vaal was no benevolent being, but a slave-driver in control of everything they did - the most shocking part the way their leader, Akuta, calmly told them how to kill their guests, with no anger or malice, it was simply a task! Surprisingly Vaal didn't get a chance to speak, so it must have been an inferior creation compared with, for example, Landru in 'The Return of The Archons' and makes you wonder who built it and why.

I like to think more advice was given for their new lives than is shown at the end, where we fade from Kirk talking to them to the Enterprise.

The fight was good, and was different in that they had the female Yeoman in on the action too (and looking like a natural!). The many natives were further evidence that money had been spent on this one, perhaps the reason both Sulu and Uhura are absent. It's left to Mr. Kyle to take Sulu's position, while Scott gets to be in command again.

It was funny seeing a young David Soul, almost ten years before 'Starsky & Hutch', and you could just about make him out under the wig and warpaint!

Kirk throws an aside out that is easily missed, but has great ramifications: he tells Scotty if they can't get away, they should ditch the engines and detach the upper part, long before the words saucer separation became common!

The ending about Spock looking devil-like was probably a playful jab at the people that had written in complaining the character looked too satanic. It is funny, but you have to remember that prosthetics weren't a regular thing for people as they are now, so even the ears and eyebrows must have seemed far out at the time. The only niggle with the episode is the way the drama is defused occasionally by humour. When Spock recovers from attack by flower, Kirk playfully scolds him about leaping in front of the deadly plant. If they'd milked these moments I think it would have boosted the episode to classic status. Saying that, there is a steady build-up to to Kirk's soul-searching, a rare view of him uncertain and blaming himself. It starts out slow with the first death (they still say how nice the place seems to a bemused ship-bound Scott, making him seem a bit callous), and with attacks on Spock and the others Kirk gets more agitated - a personal connection with one of the guards, whose father helped him get into the academy. It's these little touches that lift it above an average episode.

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