The Galileo Seven

DVD, Star Trek S1 (The Galileo Seven)

Logic versus emotion: the ultimate smackdown! That's pretty much the backbone of this episode, with Spock against three humans. I don't say against all six because Yeoman Mears, though questioning, never skirts insubordination the way the others do, and Latimer doesn't survive long enough to object to his superior's command style, despite his callowness potentially putting him in the Boma/McCoy/Gaetano camp. And of course Scotty was too busy making picturesque descriptions and mending broken circuits to get on Spock's case. In fact he actually jumps to the Vulcan's support when Boma goes a little too far in his angry responses to Spock's cool logic, as does McCoy, though the Doctor isn't above putting salt in the wound, occasionally flaring up and pointing out the flaws of logic, and you'd have to say he and the other two don't show themselves to be at their most professional in the attitude they display towards Spock. Early on, before any real danger presents itself, McCoy is stirring things up by suggesting this is just the situation Spock would like, in order to show how his command through logic is superior, not the actions of someone keeping their thoughts to themselves to make sure they have the best chance of survival. In his defence, McCoy speaks to Spock alone, but even so, this was before the pair had become the bickering double-act we think of them as.

It does show McCoy's caring attitude for his fellow man, that he would share such thoughts of concern towards Spock's motivations, perhaps to get him to see that he's the only one relying on logic, and it also sets up the central conflict ready for both sides to be tested. But the Doctor's right, Spock does have unshakeable belief in his people's system, and it takes this experience to show him that "logic is only the beginning of wisdom," as he would one day pronounce. But this is still a young, relatively inexperienced man, Vulcan or not, and it is learning experiences like these that helped him gain an understanding of the value both sides of his heritage have. It's not a one-sided argument that the episode presents, either, with both logic and emotion proving to be important to the ultimate success of the escape. There's a lot of buried racism that is exacerbated by the extreme predicament the Shuttle crew find themselves in - true character only reveals itself under stress, but the negative attitudes on display by some of the crew, and their combative personality clashes, demonstrate that emotion is flawed. Spock has to deal with humans that think they know better and stand on their moral rights, show their lack of comprehension, and generally behave in a childish manner. I can't imagine Kirk being treated this way, but then he knows how to handle the emotions of his crew - when to clamp down hard and when to explain himself.

Spock's issues stem from his inability to see things from his subordinates point of view. From very early in the story he's voicing the likelihood of having to leave three crewmembers behind or the shuttle won't lift off, and obviously that doesn't go down well, even more because he relays the information in such a dispassionate way, making them think it's easy for him to make such a decision. It's also true he doesn't turn off the scientifically curious part of his mind, evaluating the enemy creatures with a cool detachment when he might have done better to consider the effect on morale that the deaths of both Latimer and Gaetano have on the rest of the crew. He just assumes they'll follow his leadership, and they do, but not unquestioningly. Some don't have confidence in his ability to get them out of there. They're especially unhappy with the idea that logic, which to them is almost like random chance, will be used to calmly analyse every situation and will make the decisions about their lives and deaths, a completely alien concept to these hotblooded humans. That Spock doesn't support their wish for funeral services and burial for the dead crew mates only lessens their respect for his authority. He allows them to carry on, but won't stop working to say a few words. In this case he was probably right, because the needs of the living outweighed the needs of the dead, or their memory, but foolish humanity refused to see that their survival was reliant on time: a very human trait to look at the immediate, a small part of the picture, react to current thought and feeling instead of regarding the whole picture and thinking ahead.

At the same time, Spock has his own impressions of negativity to an alien attitude: he's surprised at the low regard they have for life when Boma and Gaetano want to take out as many of the creatures as possible, where Spock prefers to frighten them, rather than kill. It's McCoy who expresses his lack of understanding of the First Officer's ways, because he'll go out of his way to bring back Gaetano, yet he was the one who ordered him to stand guard in the first place. You get the impression Spock would have been the one to stay behind, too, perhaps citing a greater survival possibility due to his Vulcan abilities. Gaetano should have been alert enough to notice one of the creatures approaching, and instead of shrinking back, escaped to warn the others. It did seem a little pointless of Spock to leave him there when it would have made more sense to have him as watchman closer to the ship, but the Vulcan must have had reason to do so. And when Spock is trapped by a boulder and orders them to take off without him, you can tell he doesn't understand why they would do all they can to save him, so it's incomprehension on both sides and a genuinely alien distinction between them, far more than pointed ears or a bumpy forehead can present.

The thing about Spock is that he never sugarcoats their chances, and although he somewhat loses it when they're under attack by a creature smashing a boulder on the roof of the Galileo, speaking aloud his confusion at the illogical way the creatures have behaved, he swiftly gets back into the driving seat and, with the expertise of Scotty who's able to utilise the multifunctional Phasers to provide power for liftoff, gets them off the planet. If that had been it, with Spock logically keeping the fuel for one orbit, logically optimising their chance of discovery by the greater time they would have had, they wouldn't have survived, but he instead uses an instinct of desperation to burn up the remaining fuel in one burst, creating the flare that alerts the retreating Enterprise to their whereabouts and saving their skins with the split second decision. It impresses Scotty with the genius of it, and even prompts warm words from McCoy about it being a human thing to do. At any other time Spock would have taken it as an insult and rebutted the Doctor's compliment, but it's an episode where he discovers something about himself, and ironically, in a story where he's largely at his most Vulcan (aside from when he snaps at them that this isn't a democracy, or raises his voice at times in the desperation of dealing with these difficult people), than the majority of episodes before, he learns to take the action that seems illogical. A full Vulcan would have said (as Tuvok did), that when all logical courses of action have been exhausted, the only course is inaction, but the desperate act is proved right.

Spock still sees it as a logical choice, as we discover when the episode ends with the traditional moment of levity. This time the Bridge has an atmosphere of informality, with Uhura and Mears standing about, perhaps because High Commissioner Ferris is no longer breathing down Kirk's neck, and also the Captain's relief that his friends and colleagues have been saved. But it's a scene like no other, with Kirk practically throwing his arm around Spock's shoulder as he digs at him over his decision being an act not borne of logic. Naturally Spock replies that it was the only option left unexplored: a logical decision, arrived at logically, prompting Kirk to label him a stubborn man, followed by howls of laughter, Kirk's guffawing the most out of character. At the same time it might just be showing the release of some guilt and tension that he made the wrong choice himself and should never have sent out the shuttle when he was on a deadline, no matter how much time they had left. They could have logged the Murasaki phenomenon and returned to it after they'd delivered the medical supplies to counteract the plague. Kirk's relief is strong, and the episode could have ended just as effectively when we see that weight lifted at the moment Uhura gives him the news that five have beamed aboard from the disintegrating Galileo, to provide a poignant, if brief conclusion. But, for once, the jokey ending fits perfectly, a sign of the weight of a higher authority off their backs, and the recovery of most of the shuttle crew in the very nick of time, a metaphorical breathing out necessary.

The authority in question is Farris, whom I think is the first person we see that Kirk is subordinate to, and is certainly the first in a long line of Admirals and officials whose pedantic, unerringly inflexible attitude to the free mindset of captaincy would provide internal conflict in this and all other Trek series' to follow, with few exceptions. Ferris is the archetype of the arbiter of the ticking clock, the very spirit of punctiliousness. It could be that the Admirals and higher-ups have their attitude of exacting and unbending obedience purely because they no longer have control of a ship: the equivalent of a desk-based position sacrificing the freedom of the spatial high seas, embittering them. But it could also be argued that such authoritative attitudes are required to deal with Captains that are difficult to rein in because of their familiarity with having their own way. Ferris doesn't help any sense of fairness by the way he swaggers onto the Bridge, and though he never oversteps his authority he continually reminds Kirk of the deadline, at which point he will have authority. As the episode proceeds and they get closer to the deadline, Farris closes in on Kirk, a veritable phantom menace, his presence increasing until, towards the end, he's leaning over Kirk and almost speaking in his ear. It was very effective to keep him on the upper deck of the Bridge, while Kirk stays on the lower, so that he remains aloof, removed, like a bird of prey ready to swoop, or an untouchable physical representation of time. But he also comes off as a bit petty with an air of 'I told you so' when Kirk's insistence of the shuttle mission ends in disaster. He should have shown more concern for the plague rather than apparent satisfaction that Kirk was wrong, though he does express regret for the fate of Kirk's missing crew.

It has to be said that Kirk made a mistake in adhering so strictly to his mandate of exploration, because he probably could have overridden the standing orders. I sensed he took some satisfaction in defying Ferris to delay that mission, and if not that, then overconfidence that his team would be able to make their scans and get back in good time. No doubt it's not a pleasant or a familiar position for Kirk to be in to have someone with greater authority than himself aboard (though McCoy technically outranks him in medical matters), but if Kirk was perfect he wouldn't be human. What threw me at the start was his Captain's Log mentioning that they were en route, yet the episode opens with a stationary shot of the Enterprise. It does make sense, however, as he then explains that they'd stopped to examine Murasaki. The effects of this green, swirling, spatial phenomenon are quite beautiful and when we so often see vague and unimpressive visuals on the series, this proves they could achieve some great stuff, and wouldn't have looked out of place in the Remastered version. The same can't be said of all the effects in the episode: the Phasers are moved slightly by the actors during firing, while the beam remains stationary so that didn't look right, and the Enterprise isn't quite 'cut' right in some shots (and once, towards the end, was in black and white since the red side arrow was black), its edges rippling, though I did like the planet seen from space, as I always do on the series, a particular style that takes you back like few things do.

The planet set on the other hand isn't quite so impressive. I like that they did something different with it by making a thick, low ground fog that gives it a swampy impression, but the rocky location is very claustrophobic and there's never really the feel of being outdoors. It does the job and it's good enough, and I would even say it adds to the tension because you never know how far away these huge creatures are - they could be round that next outcrop ready to pounce. The use of atmosphere is also effective because I seems like we see several of them, but in reality there's only ever one onscreen. The giant spears didn't work so well, a bit silly, clearly thrown by people just off camera, and not having the required heft of such a huge weapon - I'd have thought something that big, thrown by such large arms would have gone clean through Latimer instead of being lodged in his back, but they wouldn't have shown anything that brutal at that time, and it's possible it could have been stuck in his ribcage. The shield was another incredulous moment as we see it chucked and when it lands near the crew it looks about human size, then in the next shot it's suddenly grown to massive proportion and they're dwarfed in comparison as they clamber past! Perhaps it was case of 'just add water,' with all that fog swelling it - a secret weapon! There's no real reason why the creature threw it otherwise…

Spock isn't entirely Vulcan in this one. Leaving aside his moments of outburst, he says some things which are very Vulcan, such as considering the third alternative (something I always think is a vital part of stories - instead of having either the positive or negative options, finding something else that is neither, is most compelling to me), and saying that there are always alternatives (just like "there are always possibilities," as he would say later in his career), even if he does suggest he might be wrong about that when all hope seems lost. But he also says that 'with luck' they won't be here when the creatures attack, something I wouldn't have thought Vulcans would believe in. It could simply be an expression, no doubt picked up from his many interactions with human crew mates, but in one so logical it stood out. He also says he doesn't believe in angels. The context seemed to suggest that he meant miracles more than celestial beings (the latter would certainly be encountered on occasion), since he was referring to their chances of being rescued, but since Vulcans are such a mystical, spiritual race, this attitude doesn't appear to be entirely compatible. Not that Spock is entirely compatible with himself at this time in his life, but it could also be that his race's penchant for the miraculous hadn't yet been established, and Spock is very scientific. It was also said at a moment of life and death, at the very end of their attempts to survive, in space, so it's not necessarily his rational mind speaking - as a scientist he shouldn't rule out the unexplained.

What makes the episode stand out are a couple of things: first, that the gang's all here, with Scotty along for the ride as part of the Galileo crew, Sulu at his station (even if Kirk basically tells him to concentrate on his Helm duties and not interfere!), and Uhura at hers, able to provide important updates on the search and other information - it's she that reveals there's a 'Type M' planet in the centre of Murasaki, giving hope that the crew could have landed on it, qualifying it with the detail that it's capable of supporting human life, probably the first ever designation of a planet as such on the series (it was first mentioned in 'The Cage,' though that wasn't broadcast for many years, so this would be the first episode in production order that was shown in the Sixties). Mr. Leslie is also visible at the Engineering station on the Bridge, his usual haunt, though he may have been pulling double duty as it looks like the back of him at the Transporter console, unless this was the next day, or even one of his brothers! Continuity in technology is shown not just in the Phasers, but with the mini computer with screen that McCoy used in a recent episode which makes two appearances: it's on the deck of the Galileo among Scotty's kit and caboodle, and more prominently Kirk uses one on the Bridge, actually inputting those disks of coloured squares. We also see one of the screens around the edge of the Bridge used to communicate with someone that had just beamed up from a search party, rather than him reporting to the Bridge personally, or for it to be shown on the main viewscreen, which is rare.

It's a shame there wasn't location shooting to complement the story, but the second, and most important standout feature of the episode is the first appearance of a Shuttlecraft in Trek! Not only that, but we also have the privilege of witnessing shuttles launch and return from a fantastic view within the Shuttle-bay. There are two Shuttlecraft involved, the second being Columbus, which was a surprise as I didn't know how many the Enterprise had and it's great to hear of another named one, not to mention see it, even though it is just the same model as the Galileo. It really is thrilling to see the shuttles and the bay, and I think the window pattern looking down from above is the same as in 'The Conscience of The King' where Kirk took us to the Observation Deck, the other side of those square windows in horizontal sequence. The bay doesn't look large enough to house at least seven other shuttles (Galileos 1-6, plus Columbus), but we're only seeing it from one view, and behind the camera could be where the shuttles are neatly stacked away. Or it could be they only carry a couple, and Galileo 7 is the seventh craft of its generation, not necessarily meaning that the previous versions are aboard.

It's the actual Galileo set that is the most exciting to see. There were three variations, one being the model, the second being the external, full-sized ship, and the third being the internal, which was slightly bigger and had the capability of having its side removed for ease of filming, as you can tell from certain shots in the episode. The whole thing looks so cool, with a design that clearly is part of the same style as the mothership, but uniquely compact. It has all kinds of features, with a foldaway compartment housing Phasers and those brown belts we've only ever seen being worn, but which we actually see in hand when the Phasers are passed out. There's a floor compartment for Scotty's access, something which gave me a warm feeling as it reminds me of the Runabouts of DS9, and a rear compartment for the engines. But the most swish component are the doors which slide open in the same manner as those aboard the Enterprise, but also feature a step which folds out onto the nacelle. It looks so good! Inside it's basically a pared down Bridge, which is really all you need at Trek's most defining level. It's a brilliant piece of work, especially for a series that was cash-strapped (there was some kind of deal for the rights to make model kits which is how the Galileo came to be built), and it's been in the news in recent years as a restoration project to bring it back up to full strength again. Who knows, maybe it will even make a cameo in 'Discovery'? That would be absolutely wonderful, perhaps the prototype model, since it's set ten years before.

The title of the episode stands for two things: the registry number for Galileo, but it also refers to the seven crewmembers who travel within it, evoking a legendary quality to their survival. It's a good intellectual study of logic and emotion, it puts Spock under pressure and shows how he reacts, and gives us a full complement of the main characters (minus the now-departed Janice Rand - I expect Rand would have been in Mears' place otherwise), all working towards a solution. It cleverly takes away hope, but then displays the genius of the engineer, the beginning of his rise to miracle worker, and doesn't come down firmly on one side or the other of the central debate. It even gives us a new race to be challenged by. It's a broadly satisfying story with a good mix of character and the Trek way of people solving problems, even if they aren't yet at the stage of controlling themselves (reminds me of 'DS9' episode 'The Ship,' to some extent), and gave us some new pieces of Trek lore. In other words, it's as much a success as Spock proves to be, which is to say imperfect, but ultimately victorious and looks pretty cool, too.

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