A Piece of The Action

DVD, Star Trek S2 (A Piece of The Action)

A delight from start to finish, one of the funniest episodes of the season, and very good character moments, are three valid ways to describe this one. There are far too many sparkling lines to remember them all, but Spock, Kirk and Scotty's attempts to master the dialogue are all memorable moments. And perhaps it's the first time the words 'futile' and 'pally' have been spoken in Trek history.

The scene where Kirk 'masters' the art of driving is truly funny, and the whole situation is most fascinating. Spock and McCoy are on a bit of a truce, and the episode focuses more on Kirk and Spock, with the others making minor appearances. Spock must have used his nerve pinch the most times ever, with at least four I counted!

The skewed portrayal of the prime directive was another interesting twist on the usual, with the Enterprise allowed to interfere because their culture had already been contaminated. So a pre-warp race in similar form to 1920's Earth knew about aliens and space, but they really only had interest in carving up their planet. Seems unlikely that Oxmyx would have control of most of the planet, but his HQ was only a short drive from his biggest rival's HQ!

The business with the communicator later inspired an 'Enterprise' episode of the same name, and Fizzbin had been turned into a real card game which Quark plays in 'The Ascent' on DS9. You'd think this experience of cars and driving would have prepared Kirk for Star Trek IV, when he seems a bit surprised to be almost run over...

You can tell the episode is going to be a lot faster paced than the last few by the way it starts so energetically, and the main three are soon beaming down, then a drive-by shooting occurs shortly after. So the episode has the right mix of action, humour and a story that keeps you interested. I always love the parallel Earth stories, and this one could well be the best of the bunch.

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