The Trouble With Tribbles (2)

DVD, Star Trek S2 (The Trouble With Tribbles) (2)

Tribbles. Troubles. Lots of both of those things, so the title is accurate, and that's a good start. I can't stand an inaccurate title. Just what is it that makes these round furry creatures so different, so appealing? Is it the fur, is it the purr? Is it the 'grrr'? They seem so peaceful and serene, these little creatures, but put them next to a hated Klingon and they start growling in the most aggressive attack-Tribble way imaginable, if an agitated chirruping can be likened to a growl. Which was fortunate. For the story, if not for the Klingons. Because what we have here from David Gerrold is a story that makes logical sense and use of its seemingly whimsical invention. We can also add to this that the characters are dealt with well - though it is something of a comedy it is played seriously, no one is made to lose their dignity and it doesn't become cartoonish, even with Kirk being buried under an avalanche of the little cuties, he still commands respect. Furthering the tally are the addition of the Klingons in their second appearance of the season, once again behaving deviously and finding ways around the Organian Peace Treaty - and that's another thing, the reminder of previously established canon and an example of how to turn what could be chains to bind a lesser writer into an opportunity: by continuing to deal with this imposition of zero conflict upon the two sides by an outside force we see the Klingons having to be much more cunning and therefore the story is raised a level in consequence.

'Tribbles' is considered one of the best of the series and yet when you look at it superficially it has so many of the usual tropes and limitations that lesser episodes have. There's the bureaucratic official who comes into conflict with our Captain and causes him headaches (literally, this time), there's Chekov sounding off about everything's roots being Russian, McCoy with his miracle 'cure' at the end, and while we have the Klingons in person their ship remains as mysterious as a black hole. As if to taunt us with this missing link in the starship canon they go to the trouble of displaying the Enterprise herself shown orbiting the Deep Space Station K-7 from a window in Governor Lurry's office, a great piece of attention to detail that very effectively sells the location. And yet we never see even a small version of a Klingon vessel in the distance through the window! It's likely the reason was budgetary: they couldn't afford to build what is a beautifully designed space station, complete with lighting and the style (later to be magnified in the films), that suggests the Federation starship we know so well, yet is very different and clearly has different design constraints and purposes. It is surprising that they were able to create this, for the time, elaborate model when so often, as is the case with the unseen Klingon ship, they didn't show other spacefaring vessels at all, or they were so 'alien' that they were mere coloured lights in the black web of space. The only reason we had the Shuttlecraft Galileo was due to a development deal for a model, so although we don't get our first glimpse of Klingon architecture, it's still impressive that the station was so visible.

No discussion on this episode can go on for long without bringing in its legacy. I don't mean just the Tribbles species which showed up down the years in various places, be it 'Star Trek III,' 'Enterprise,' infamously in 'Into Darkness' and now the latest era with a 'Short Treks' dedicated to them ('The Trouble With Edward' that succeeded in messing up the canon quite badly and shows the difference in tone and approach most distinctly between the first forty years of serious Trek and this current age of flippancy and lack of dignity and respect for characters and lore - don't get me started!). No, it was left to 'DS9' to create the best 'Tribb-ute' to the fuzzy things that happened to us, a series often thought of as the least Trek-like which is actually the most connected to 'TOS' in both spirit and actuality: 'Trials and Tribble-ations' was an achievement unmatched in Trek, the closest being the recreation of so much of a Constitution-class starship seen in 'Enterprise' ('In A Mirror, Darkly'). As a result, watching this episode having seen the tribute you're always looking out for those moments where you know 'DS9' characters were going about their secret mission in the background, adding a whole new level of pleasure and enjoyment to the original. It was the perfect choice of an episode to revisit because there were so many locations and chances for characters to slip in and out believably. While they couldn't get into the main office and be party to some of the key conversations this meant that the episodes are quite distinctly different, it's only selected scenes that were repeated so it's still very much worth seeing the original play out from its angle with the 'TOS' crew.

For most of that crew it does play out, but George Takei must have been annoyed to have been absent for one of the most highly regarded episodes of the series as this was the time he had definitely gone off to film 'The Green Berets' (though it balanced out in the long run since of all the original cast members who appear in 'Tribble-ations' he was the only one to return 'live' for the 30th Anniversary with the 'Voyager' tribute 'Flashback'). Nurse Chapel also doesn't appear, and in fact we don't see Sickbay at all other than McCoy's office, though it appears the Science Lab is back when he and Spock confer (argue). Chekov is really being used well as this hotheaded youngster, usually so cheeky and self-confident, here itching to fight the Klingons, having to be held back by authority of Mr. Scott who was given specific orders to keep the shore leavers out of trouble. We see writing that shows how well the characters are known, and an excellently written and expertly choreographed fight scene that playfully runs a little story through the action as space trader Cyrano Jones steals drinks from the bar. It's a delightful scene all around and was made even more fun by the later addition of 'DS9' personnel into the fray, a genius move.

Scotty's penchant for being out of the ordinary is where much of his character comedy comes from - his delight in being restricted to Quarters because it'll give him time to catch up on his technical journals, as if he thinks Kirk's actually secretly rewarding him for the defence of the Enterprise's honour (when we first see him reading those journals on a monitor, an example of visuals we see so rarely on one of those personal screens, I thought he was in his Quarters, but we pull back to find it's the Mess Hall, so he likes to 'socialise' by reading in a roomful of people!). We forget that Scotty is also a tough cookie and his upbeat, open demeanour covers a leathery hide - he competes with Chekov about which drink is more manly between scotch or vodka (no synthehol in those days!), then he's into beating bells out of the voluble Klingon Korax. I notice again how sly the Klingons were at this time - it's like Korax realises his insults on the Captain are having no effect, comes over to Scotty, recognises he's an Engineer and quickly changes tack to attack his ship which he'll be much more sensitive to, and he was right! And it was all done without resorting to swearing or obscenity, the likes of which modern Trek throws in with gay abandon because the writers have not a tenth of the wit and deftness of Gerrold.

One of the things I liked about the fight was the aftermath, and not just because we later get Bashir and O'Brien in the revised lineup in front of Kirk (Lieutenant Freeman is the one replaced by O'Brien - he's also the man they mistakenly think is Kirk when they first see the Starfleet party in the bar), but due to the fact we see some actual results of the  carnage: Chekov has a bruise on his cheek, Scotty a black eye, the kind of damage so rarely seen in TV and film fights, be it Trek or otherwise: violence has consequences, kids! Kirk is hard on his men, but he comes across as being quite dismissive and uppity in the episode, the slurs of the Klingons about him being a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator may have some basis from his attitude here. It's because he was summoned by Nilz Baris on a Code 1 Emergency just to protect some grain, and he feels it was unjustified and though he's given orders from above you sense he doesn't really appreciate all this for some grain. He takes an instant dislike to Baris (easy to do when this man really is overbearing), and things go down from there. He's having a bad day, suffering from headaches, a ship that becomes plagued by Tribbles and a crew not taking it too seriously (or taking things too seriously when Scotty starts the fight), so it is understandable, though we somehow expect more from the great Captain Kirk. Everyone has their off days, and this proves it.

One thing this episode proves, or not, as the case may be, is the existence of Replicators. According to the revisionist history of 'Discovery' they do have that technology and it's widely used, but in 'TOS' its very difficult to justify such tech from what we see, though there's evidence both ways: the food slots (which Scotty calls food processors), seem to show a form of synthesis in solid food and beverages (Kirk's chicken sandwich and coffee in this case, replaced by Tribbles). But if it was replicating then how would the Tribbles have eaten and drunk it all in the seconds it takes for Kirk to open the hatch? It seems more logical these meals are sent through a hatch system from a chef (we know there is one from 'Charlie X,' voiced by Roddenberry, no less!), which is how the Tribbles could get inside and consume. There's also the example of the grain itself: why would such a thing be invented if Replicators could simply magic every food into being, even given some people's preference for naturally grown produce? Then again, we see the drinks machine in the bar being used to dispense glasses of whatever it is on several occasions, but it could just be a sophisticated dispenser rather than replicating (as we saw in the older tech of 'Enterprise'). So the conclusion, at least from this episode, is difficult to reach, but certainly doesn't justify the addition of 24th Century all-singing, all-creating technology at this time and earlier, and if anything edges more towards simpler tech (one of 'DSC's most grievous sins was in so poorly representing different eras as they should be, so they all feel the same - lack of imagination and intelligent design in exchange for surface glitz, that appears to be its mandate).

Technology can still be quite advanced, however, as seen with such an example as Uhura talking to Kirk on the Tri-screen (no Tri-ladder sightings to be reported this time, though!), and instead of looking at her console with the Bridge in the background as you might expect with their equivalent of webcams, she's turned round as if to face a cameraman on the Bridge (how 'strange'!), her console behind her, so either there's some kind of floating drone recording (which we never saw), or the Bridge has the ability to zoom in on the face of whoever's talking on the comm system and transmit it to the other end. In reality of course it's just easier to film Uhura at her station than it would be to shoot from her station's POV (though didn't they do just that with Spock's station in a recent episode? - his was easier to manoeuvre around as it was at the edge of a removable pie wedge of the set. That's not the only intelligent viewing device in the episode - when Kirk talks to Lurry on screen, at the right dramatic moment the view pulls back to reveal the Klingons with him!). It's quite a good one for Uhura as not only does she get to show up on a screen, she also has the authority to call for Red Alert and plays a part in the unfolding Tribble story when she's given Cyrano Jones' sample Tribble (the only love money can buy, according to him she later reports), in order to drum up demand for the little blighters. Interestingly, we have more evidence of a monetary system (if we didn't already have several references this season), with Jones and the barkeeper haggling over 'credits,' and Uhura herself wanting to shop on her shore leave, which means money, presumably (and suggests the female predilection for shopping hasn't receded even by the 23rd Century!).

Cyrano had a bumbling facade, but was actually a shrewd businessman that you wish could have interacted with Quark, his spiritual successor, both in schemes and the unsuccessful result of them, so it's fitting that 'Tribble-ations' ended with a shot of Quark in the same position as the K-7 barkeeper, miserably leaning on the bar surrounded by Tribbles! Like Mudd, Jones is a bit of a con artist, though I'm sure he considers himself merely a good businessman. He's described as an 'independent scout' by Baris, a licenced asteroid locator and prospector, which shows that not all humans (presuming - there are plenty of aliens that look human), and citizens of the Federation lead lives of dedication to Starfleet, there are some still out there trying to line their pockets as the best existence they can muster. Stanley Adams was one of the few to return to play his character, he did the voice in 'The Animated Series' for the sequel episode 'More Tribbles, More Troubles,' but what is less well known is that he co-wrote the third season 'TOS' episode 'The Mark of Gideon.' He didn't win the award for longest gap between appearances on Trek from actors in this episode with the six years between, as William Schallert (Baris), returned to Trek for the Season 2 'DS9' story 'Sanctuary,' playing a Bajoran musician. But even he didn't win the award with only twenty-six years between appearances, as Charlie Brill (Baris' aide, Arne Darvin), returned, and as the same character, twenty-nine years later, an impressive record that can't be beaten by any other guest actor in this episode (though Leonard Nimoy had the longest reign, first appearing in 1965's 'The Cage' still playing the character as late as 2013's 'Into Darkness'!).

A little more texture is added to the history with the knowledge that a Klingon outpost isn't far away and that the Battle of Donatu V was held near Sherman's Planet twenty-three years ago (the battle pleasingly referenced by 'DSC,' as the planet was in 'DS9'). We're also told Sherman's was first mapped two hundred years ago by John Burke of the old English Royal Academy, so is this the first mention of England in Trek canon? And that would put it in the 21st Century, which would at least be possible. There's the impression that Kirk and Koloth know each other from the way they meet in Lurry's office, though it could be that they both have reputations. William Campbell was never my favourite version of a Klingon as he was too identified as Trelane from 'The Squire of Gothos,' the spoilt brat alien boy in an episode I've not been particularly fond of for its foppish filler. But here again we have yet another actor who went decades before appearing again, beating Schallert by appearing twenty-seven years later, and the only one of the big three (Kor, Kang and Koloth), to return but once, killed off in 'Blood Oath' on 'DS9,' so this really is a hub of all kinds of Trek offshoots! Koloth wants an official apology to the Klingon High Command something Kirk is never going to give him, and the plot is entertainingly revealed to be Klingon sabotage with the exciting possibilities inherent in the idea of Klingon spies altered to appear human, something they really should have explored in future episodes, though with mention of the Organian Peace Treaty it's easy to forget that 'TOS' didn't often rely on continuity for its stories.

If there's a mistake in the episode it's that Kirk chooses to open that overhead hatch to the granary, because he must have known that even if there had been no Tribbles up there it would have been filled with grain and he'd be covered in the stuff. But perhaps he wasn't thinking straight with all these problems mounting on his shoulders and the Tribbles doing the same was like a visual metaphor for the weight of responsibility covering him as he dealt with enemies both Klingon and domestic. He behaves realistically, not politically correct as he deals with either Klingons or Baris and doesn't hesitate to show his disdain for poor authority, so perhaps his diplomacy was a bit shot this time, but he was certainly honest. And it's always good to see him go up against the familiar foe. If Koloth was a little too refined for a good Klingon adversary, his subordinate Korax had much more of the belligerent swagger and sneering glare so it's a shame he never returned to the series, although actor Michael Pataki (even his surname sounds Klingon, if only an insult!), did come back in one of the many good episodes from Season 1 'TNG' ('Too Short A Season'), again playing a bad guy, though not, sadly, a Klingon. Paul Baxley (Freeman), played several roles on 'TOS' including going uncredited as the Black Knight of the previous most famous shore leave ('Shore Leave'). Maybe doing another comedic episode immediately after 'I, Mudd' might not have been the best choice for variety, but then they didn't show the episodes in production order so these two episodes had others sandwiched between in that December 1967, and however you balance it, this was one of the finest and most charming of the series.

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