Catspaw

DVD, Star Trek S2 (Catspaw)

I remember when I watched this episode as a child I drew a picture of the two aliens at the end because it was such a novel concept that these human-like people were completely putting on a show and that in reality they were these tiny, tendril-ed creatures. It was mind-opening to the idea of the power they'd been using and the possibility of what an alien could be and really illustrated the extreme contrast between us and them. It's easy now to see those little puppets, dancing on poorly concealed strings as they do, as a feeble copout - I can imagine modern viewers being exceedingly unimpressed with such weak special effects, but that impression of the true form of something being revealed in all its pitiful nature has always stayed with me ever since I first saw it, bringing to mind parallels with such moments as the Bothan in 'Voyager' episode 'Persistence of Vision' (a much more effective scare story), where at the end he creepily claims he was never really here, before vanishing. Or for a non-Trek reference, the false facade of our world in 'The Matrix,' behind which lurks a hideous truth. That idea of what we see not being reality has been a core favourite with me, especially in Trek, so perhaps I can date it back to first watching this episode, though I also have memories of children's TV that appealed in the same way: the dream world of 'Potsworth and Company,' the puddles in what I think was 'The Gummy Bears,' half remembered stories that stick in my mind even all these years later. So when they talk of 'race memories' and passed-down fears my early viewing represents just that to me now.

I would even say that I still love the design of those aliens and my adult mind can rationalise the strings holding them up as tendrils that were light enough to reach into the air above them! It's not so easy to be as kind to the episode as a whole. It wasn't actually the first episode of Season 2 to be shown, but things can get a little complicated with the running order of 'TOS' episodes as a lot of them seemed to be shown out of production order, which didn't affect most, since the series was completely episodic (only one two-part story in the whole run), but when the series' second pilot, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before,' was broadcast several episodes into Season 1 with the old uniforms of 'The Cage,' it just doesn't make sense, and so for that reason I always watch in production order. And now that there's 'TOS: Remastered' that adds a third order to episodes so it's confusing to say the least. 'Amok Time,' a better episode than 'Catspaw,' was the actual Season 2 opener, and this one isn't a great start to the season, but it makes sense to me to watch it this way - I should add that I'm going through the original episodes, no augmented effects, added scenes or CGI alterations here, and that's the way I like it, because although the effects have been a part of Trek from the beginning, it was the story and characters that were far more important, something the current generation has forgotten (don't even get me started on their casting off of whatever canon they feel like, such as the uniforms…). In fact I still haven't seen the remastered version, not that I would rule out ever seeing it, but I prefer the unchanged original.

If this episode gets one thing right it is its use of characters. He gets a minor introduction here, but Chekov, the Russian character joining during the height of the Cold War between America and Russia, debuts, and it's as if they'd taken an Arab with thick accent and bushy beard and put him in as a main character on 'Discovery' - they haven't done that, which shows how Trek has become a lot less radical than it used to be in the Sixties! A tiny scrap of evidence to add weight to Chekov being aboard during Season 1 (to avoid the obvious mistake in 'Star Trek II' when Khan recognises him), is that he claims not to be 'green' when DeSalle asks if he needs help. On the other hand it could be construed that he's new to the ship, hence why he has to explain he's not green, and DeSalle doesn't know him. Or DeSalle was new, except we know he wasn't because he'd appeared before. Unless that was his twin brother(s), in the same mould as Mr. Leslie, the dying and reappearing extra! The episode and season opens on Uhura, another novelty, and she gets to be (almost) the only character we know from Season 1 to carry any scenes set aboard the Enterprise - I wonder, too, if this is the only episode in which Uhura had more dialogue than Scotty or Sulu when they all appear, because they're mute, zombified pawns for almost the entire time and Uhura's up there helping out. It was another novelty to see three people all bent over Spock's science viewer together: Chekov, who seems to be covering Spock's station despite him being in gold, therefore not a science officer, Uhura, and Lieutenant DeSalle, whom Kirk leaves in command (we've seen previously that after Kirk, Spock is second in command, then Scotty, and finally Sulu). DeSalle seems capable, but again, he's in the wrong colour for command, red instead of gold, which funnily enough connects to later Trek when command and security (or operations), were switched!

It's stated in dialogue he's Chief Assistant Engineer, and I'm not sure we'd ever seen one of those or would again. Oddly, DeSalle wasn't a new character, he'd actually appeared in two episodes of Season 1 (sorry Uhura, you weren't the only one to carry over from that season after all!). Even more strange is that his first appearance was in 'The Squire of Gothos,' an episode to which 'Catspaw' is suspiciously similar. If you take away the horror trappings (it was designed to go out over Halloween, perhaps Trek's only foray into season-specific storytelling, though something many series' do as standard: the Halloween episode, the Christmas episode… probably other festivals, too!), the two episodes are pretty close, right down to it all happening on a planet which should be barren, but there's a strange castle there, and they discover being(s) of power, and Kirk breaks the source (or the 'amplifier' in the Transmuter's case), and the being(s) are revealed to be different to what we thought. I'm sure even some of the set decoration is the same! Those big Arabian cushions looked like the ones in 'The Cage' when Pike is transfixed by the dancing green Vina, a woman who can be any woman he wants her to be, which is exactly what Sylvia boasts to Kirk. That throne Korob's so fond of, is it the same one in 'I, Mudd' later in the season? The drapes, the armour, I'm sure it all came from the same storeroom, even the balcony in the main hall, and that dungeon had been used in 'The Return of The Archons,' not to mention the series' love of women that turn into cats, or vice versa (see 'Assignment: Earth' at the other end of this season, bookending with another cat-woman).

When they're talking about all these fragments of mythology and the past, they could almost be talking about previous episodes of the series itself, or those to come! Interesting that Kirk gets a little short with Spock when he mentions legends and mythology as the source of what they're seeing, and then retorts at his Captain's brusqueness that he didn't invent them, he just reports them. Quite a different attitude in Trek today which is all about embracing myth as we see so much in 'DSC' (whether it be Burnham reciting an African creation story of the girl who made the stars, or the many fantasy trappings of, especially, Season 2), and once again shows that Trek today has become a crowd-pleaser rather than serious sci-fi that it started out as. Because even though 'Catspaw' isn't the best episode, every part of it is treated seriously and rationally, such as when they discuss how there shouldn't be any fog from the lack of water vapour, etc. It's easy to laugh at the wailing of the tortured souls that greet our trio when they first beam down to Pyris VII, a musical singsong to frighten the Starfleet officers away from rescuing their crewmen, but I was struck by the chill it inspired, especially by the makeup work - it demonstrated they could do more than merely alien designs and the one with the eyes was especially effective.

They hit the right note by having the trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy beaming down (DeForest Kelley getting his name in the titles for the first time and bringing him up to their level of importance, where he belonged), as these are the box office we come to see, the three of them working together, something that helps the episode, even if McCoy is a little muted (literally, after he's been mind-altered by the dastardly Sylvia). Still, it's nice to see them all, and though Misters Scott and Sulu act mainly as blank-faced guards, it's good to have all five characters in on the adventure and off the ship together since you rarely saw that: a Landing Party generally consisted of five or six crewmembers and a couple of those would be Security or specialists of some kind. The setup works pretty well, Crewman Jackson dying on the Transporter pad (operated by Kyle), and a ghostly voice emanating from his dead mouth to warn off the Enterprise; the phantoms on the planet; the dungeon which, with excellent sound design, actually sounds like a bare, echoey chamber; and the startling appearance of Korob, all bald head, forked beard and weird robes. But after that things go downhill as the episode doesn't seem to have much of a story to tell or to understand what it's doing.

At first it seems as if these aliens, who admit to not being native to the planet, are there to study… something. Korob says they passed the test: loyalty to their comrades that they weren't discouraged from coming after them; bravery in the face of adversity; and they won't be bribed. But it's almost like he's making it up as he goes along, which might well be the case! Neither he nor Sylvia seem to have much of a purpose, or perhaps they did originally have a purpose, one to which Korob is still halfheartedly clinging, but Sylvia has been enthralled by sensation and feelings and so has gone off course, even towards cruelty and inhumanity (with shades of Nagilum there, from 'TNG'). In that regard she's very alien, except that it could be a veiled warning against drugs: they give you these great experiences, but make the user care only for their own gratification and the next sensation, compassion going out of the window in the pursuit of pleasure, losing sight of direction. Things can often be read into things that aren't there, and I also thought I spotted a potential theme of Middle Eastern terrorism as Kirk mentions that they can't allow our worlds to be threatened by people from outside galaxies, swooping in and taking liberties with our crew. Sylvia even pronounces in her rage at Kirk's deception that their worlds would be swept away, but of course I'm putting modern thoughts onto something that was made over fifty years ago, but it does show that Trek can often be timeless and universal thanks to the way it dealt with human stories within its sci-fi bounds, not limited by serialised storytelling to go from A to B to C.

If these beings, who were supposed to be from outside our galaxy (a great concept that would be revisited with the Kelvans in 'By Any Other Name' in a more successful way), came here to study other life, then why did they base themselves on such a barren rock and wait for that life to come to them? Perhaps they hadn't been there long and were just setting up a base for further exploration when the Enterprise popped into their radar. They didn't seem to realise that by holding members of Kirk's crew that would mean more would come to rescue them, but I think we're dealing with two approaches at the same time here, which would explain the inconsistencies: Korob wants to study so he's the one that warned them off - he also seems to be the one with some compassion, not wanting more cruelty to these creatures, so he tried to dissuade them. Sylvia wants to have the men for her own private explorations, which they fortunately didn't elaborate on, but we can tell what motivates her from her flinging herself at Kirk. She gives him an angle to work with as she wants to be a woman and the Captain is happy to use that against her as he did in so many cases against threats to his ship or crew. In this case it doesn't work because she can read his mind and realises it's all an act, so it's one of those rare occurrences where Kirk is unable to talk his way out of a situation, whether it be a female, a computer, an android, or a group, he could usually harness his wit and force of personality, but here they resolve the issue only by running around corridors attempting to escape a giant cat!

There are a couple of interesting lines spoken by Sylvia, one where she tells Korob she's not a puppet like he is, which when you know the ending is unintentionally amusing, and the other is when she claims to Kirk she wants a 'joining, my mind to yours' - she should have taken Spock if she wanted that, but it's another example of the story not quite working or having a direction. McCoy is the first of the three to be taken for brainwashing, but we don't see what happened in his encounter and Spock doesn't even get a chance to go up against her, so we never learn how each character would deal with the situation. The elements of Trek are there, present and correct, but the whole thing is a bit directionless, much like 'The Squire of Gothos,' which seems to be a favourite for many, but which I find a bit dull. The promise of a Halloween 'fun house' never materialises, and though I felt the shooting of the cat sequences was done well, through a miniature of the passage, the outsized shadow on the wall, the torch being blown out, and the bluescreen of the cat in the doorway, it was all a bit silly. Better when the affected McCoy, Scotty and Sulu try to fight Kirk and Spock, but even that sequence didn't quite live up to its promise. I don't know why Kirk didn't just shoot Sylvia earlier when she was holding the pendant of the Enterprise (I'm surprised Roddenberry didn't have them manufactured to sell!), since he was holding the Phaser when she was heating up the ship.

There are instances of the wider Trek continuity that come up, which is pleasing. For example, Korob tries to bribe them with gemstones, but Kirk says they are meaningless as he can manufacture them on his ship. This could be taken to mean that (as 'DSC' chooses to believe), they had Replicator technology in the 23rd Century and the Food Slots were just that, but there are other references in episodes to support the idea that Food Slots weren't Replicators, such as the fact they had a Quartermaster for supplies and a galley (as late as 'Star Trek VI' we see this, and why would they have it if all food was replicated?). I would suggest that Kirk was referring to their scientific ability to manufacture such things, rather than a device that could do it, so perhaps in the Science Labs they could create things from certain ingredients making previously valued items such as diamonds no longer a commodity. We also hear McCoy wonder if the setup is some kind of parallel Earth development, an idea that was part of Roddenberry's plans for Trek from the beginning as a way of showing alien worlds in a more financially viable way - it was going to be easier to portray periods of Earth history than an entirely new alien culture and there would be a number of episodes that used this concept (called 'Hodgkins' Law of Parallel Planet Development' in 'Bread and Circuses' to come later in the season). 'Miri' and 'The Return of The Archons' may be the only examples before this episode, though I can't recall if it was brought up then or if this is the first mention of the concept.

Korob doesn't understand the reference to 'trick or treat,' about as on the nose as you could get that this was a Halloween episode, and he dismisses it, saying he doesn't know what it means, therefore it is of no relevance, which sounded quite Borg-like to me. Korob isn't the only one to be unaware of the reference as Spock shows ignorance on the subject, despite his human half, which suggests the practice had died out - I can imagine the celebration of evil that is Halloween to finally be considered archaic and backwards by the 23rd Century! One detail that rings hollow is Kirk calling McCoy 'doc' instead of his usual nickname of 'Bones.' He says Bones at first, but changes it to doc when they see a skeleton chained up beside them in the dungeon, so I can see where it came from, but then he keeps it up the rest of the episode and it just sounded strange! Imagine if he'd never used Bones at all, even that little detail would have made the series different, less homely. The gag wasn't even that prominent, it was a little too subtle for the effect it had on the episode. And while there are such things that make the episode uneven, it's the lack of clear motivation or background for the aliens that scuppers things. Again, it's too subtle that they're from another galaxy and that Sylvia wants to experience things because they come from a world without sensation - that in itself is a fascinating concept: what was it like? How did they get here? Who are they? I wonder if the Nacene from 'Voyager,' the sporocystian life forms, were inspired by Korob and Sylvia, since they too came from beyond our galaxy, the male interested in caring for the Ocampa, the female wanting adventure and going against their purpose.

No frivolous end scene closes out the episode here, just a sobering thought. It was all an illusion, except for Crewman Jackson. Perhaps that's another theme that could be read into the story: playing with the occult is death. As I said, it's possible to read into it various themes and ideas that stem naturally from the source matter, and it's all done in a technical, rational and procedural manner, the way Trek used to be until today, which is good, and I would certainly put this above the majority of 'DSC' episodes. At the same time it's really just a simple scare-fest for kiddies with little of the story we'd expect from the series. That may be one reason why they didn't show this episode first originally, to kick off the season, though it seems most likely it was deliberately planned to coincide with Halloween. After being primed this year with 'The Animated Series' it's good to get back to real Trek, especially since I haven't done any reviews at all for the first few episodes of this season, and only cursory, basic ones for the rest, so it's high time I explored the season in depth.

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