The Omega Glory

DVD, Star Trek S2 (The Omega Glory)

Not sure how suited the title is to the episode, but the actual thing was a fine story with some action, the odd clever twist, and you get to see Sulu take command (and his helm computer viewer moved! Wow!).

Quite rare to see a face used again in another role (Bill Campbell was one, but he was in Klingon makeup and looked quite different to Trelane - Captain Tracey looks very similar to Dr. Van Gelder, except with neater hair and less mad eyes... for most of the episode anyway!).

I guessed as soon as I saw those uniforms with crystals coming out of them that it must be the crew and I was surprised the landing party didn't twig it at once. I like the idea they could be trapped forever on that planet, unable to leave or they would die (like that cartoon episode where they have to breathe underwater from then on). I was very surprised to find this was a fourth parallel Earth tale - you don't really discover it until near the end. The best moment for me was when Kirk is thrown into a cage with two seemingly savage natives, who are going to fight until they're tired, and Spock points out that they can take a break by alternating with him!

Tracey is another figure in Starfleet that drops his ideals at the first impulse and ends up on murderous rampages, killing thousands of Omegans and trying to kill Kirk! I suppose his crew had been reduced to dust, he'd become permanently marooned and he thought he'd discovered the secret to eternal youth. So if he went a bit crazy you can forgive him. But he was still clear-headed enough to try and talk Kirk into death at the end - the fight with the two of them strapped together by one hand reminded me of the Andorian/Archer fight in 'Enterprise'.

Oddly both Scotty and Chekov were absent. I would guess Scott must have been either too ill to take command or was at another location (perhaps an engineering conference, or helping people on another planet and due to be picked up). Maybe the ending was a little heavy-handed with such direct parallel to American culture, but there was enough fighting, peril, humour and story interest to sustain it.

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