Star Trek Original Series: Re-Viewing the Third Season, Fifty Years Later

Fifty years ago, the summer reruns of Star Trek's third and final season were coming to an end.  Most observers consider this the weakest season of the series, limited by small budgets and the growing knowledge that the show was not going to be renewed, and everybody would need to be looking for new jobs.

This summer I watched most of those third season episodes, and enjoyed them.  The season overall may be the least impressive of the three, and several of these episodes are misconceived.  But the repetition of their reputation obscures the best of them, and the season overall.

An element missing in prior evaluations is new, for I watched the latest remastered versions that include new visuals: the CGI intro images, and typically new images of the planet of the week and space vehicles, as well as grander cityscapes and (where possible) planetary surfaces and features.  These and other improvements enhance episodes for the first two seasons, but they nearly transform the third season episodes, since they were skimpy on such effects. These new images that usually begin the episode encourage a fresh look at them, perhaps with the wonder that accompanied first viewing in 1969.

I was also reminded that when I tuned into Star Trek in syndication in the mid 1970s, many of the first episodes I saw were from this third season.  I watched these stories every afternoon, and the cumulative effect was pronounced.  It was the very nature of these episodes--tight dramas, character and idea-driven morality plays--that made me a long-term Star Trek enthusiast.

Another feature of this season is the final definition of the major characters of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.  Kirk's romantic involvements may be many, but they are not merely the conquests that critics call them.  Taken individually, they make sense.  Taken cumulatively, these episodes demonstrates Kirk as the active principle as well as the principal character.  Spock is the reactive character, calm where Kirk is excitable, deliberate where Kirk is intuitive.  But when in command, Spock as well as Kirk is decisive, though with different factors in his decisions.  Fascinating.

Despite Leonard Nimoy's many acerbic comments about the third season scripts, his portrayal of Spock during this season is definitive. I'd watched episodes from all three seasons when they first ran, but sporadically. Since these episodes were the first I saw daily in syndication, they formed my idea of Spock.

The third season featured two episodes by Jerome Bixby.  I've written here at length about "Day of the Dove," a season highlight.  The other is "Requiem for Methuselah," the basic plot idea of which Bixby would use in the obscure but fascinating 2007 film, The Man From Earth.  A notable moment at the end of the episode is Spock, seeking to ease Kirk's pain in losing a woman he loved,  performing a quick Vulcan telepathic fix, by whispering "forget."  It is of course the counterpoint to the moment more than a decade later in the feature film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in which the dying Spock whispers to Dr. McCoy, "Remember."

Other highlights of the season might include "Is There in Truth No Beauty?," "Wink of An Eye," "The Cloud Minders" (in which Star Trek deals with class issues, a more common theme in classic Doctor Who) and "All Our Yesterdays."  "Plato's Stepchildren" made television history with the first interracial kiss.

Other usually derided episodes turn out to be not so bad, such as "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" (in which McCoy gets the romance), "And the Children Shall Lead,"  even "The Paradise Syndrome," "The Savage Curtain," and "Spock's Brain" (which is silly but fun.)  I can't begin to defend the gender politics of "Turnabout Intruder," an unfortunate way to end the series.  (Ironically the worst episodes of the season were written by Gene Roddenberry and Gene Coon, who in prior years together created the character of Star Trek as well as many of its best episodes.)

But I also saw third season episodes that are hardly ever mentioned favorably, but were among those that first drew me to Star Trek.  They include the stage-set morality plays I still find fascinating: " Spectre of the Gun" and especially "The Empath."  If there is one episode I remember that got my attention when I saw it in syndication, it was "The Empath," a story told on essentially a bare set--yet with those challenging issues and ideas that set Star Trek apart from other science fiction.  That the character of the Empath communicates basically through movement was brilliant, and is still enchanting.

Yes, the costumes and sets are often laughable, but Star Trek often played near the edge of the absurd. I noticed something else when watching these episodes: the skill with which they built suspense, layering on the jeopardy.  I remember that also was a big attraction.

I appreciate again that the stories are actually about strange new worlds, and not Federation politics and personalities, or spies and warfare--easy devices to hold viewers, but not what Star Trek was about.

I also miss the relative modesty of the stakes.  The Enterprise and members of its crew were often in danger.  A planet that needed medical supplies, or was in the path of an asteroid, were crises enough.  These episodes didn't need to put Earth or the galaxy or the fabric of the universe in danger of extinction every week. They created drama on more of a human scale. They are a real relief from the meaningless and bloated clashes of superheroes invented for the purpose of creating jeopardy and adrenalin-surging CGI battles.

Another historical note: While these episodes were re-running, the first human stepped foot on the Moon.  It was the culmination of the US manned space program which had been ongoing for a decade, including the three years Star Trek was on NBC's weekly schedule.  But it came at Star Trek's lowest point.

The series had been cancelled, which until then permanently sealed the fate of a show.  William Shatner, not only unemployed but broke (due to a recent divorce), described watching the moon landing on a portable TV set, trying to hold its uncertain reception as he reclined in the back of his truck, which was his traveling home while doing summer theatre.  The fictional Captain Kirk of the starship Enterprise watched the actual moon landing alone in an empty parking lot.

When the third season reruns ended, fifty summers ago, it seemed that Star Trek was nothing more than a failed television series, and would never be seen or heard from again.

Captain's Log: Next Movie Chatter, Dark Matter and Watery Worlds

A few items approaching news surfaced recently regarding the next Star Trek Paramount feature film, due for release in the 50th anniversary summer of 2016.  Actually they were more like somebody spilling tea leaves on your plate, but then a lot of news is like that.

One story (which flared like a meteor and disappeared) was about a prominent British actor "in early stages" of negotiations to play the "villain" in the next Trek feature.  While Trek bbs parse the idea, nobody seems to be asking the key question: where did this story come from? It's possible it leaked from Paramount, perhaps as a trial balloon but the phrase "in early stages of negotiation" suggests to me that it's much more likely to have come from this actor's agent or publicist, who seems adept at getting publicity for this client that has no substance beyond speculation.

If that's so, it seems less likely that this bit of casting is going to happen.  It looks too strategic in terms of the actor's career.  Doesn't mean it won't happen, but it doesn't feel that way to me.

Of course the V word is discouraging to a number of Trek fans, who've seen three straight Trek features try to reinvent the single-villain success of exactly one of the previously successful movies, namely the second, The Wrath of Khan.  And even that film was about more than revenge or Kirk v. Khan.

The other tea leaves spill was an interview by one of the new writers for the movie, who also plays engineer Scott, Simon Pegg.  It seems to confirm that the story for the film as well as the previous screenplay have been totally thrown out, suggesting to some fans that there isn't enough time for (a) a movie in summer 2016 or (b) a good movie in summer 2016.

However, several of the first ten Trek movies were made on tight schedules, with new screenplays written quickly after prior ones were rejected.  Whether it works out this time, and especially with the complexities of visual effects and editing of movies now, remains to be seen.

Some fans see Pegg's insistence on being true to the original series as hopeful, which it may be.  On the other hand, it is the 50th anniversary of a saga that went well beyond the original series.  Star Trek began but did not end with the original series or even its films.  The soul of Star Trek contains elements from the entire saga.

There seem to be two concerns building about this feature.  First, that it will be the kind of pandering big villain misfire as some believe the last one was, and second, that it will not honor the saga by including actors from prior Trek series, especially the first.

As one comment on the Trek Movie thread noted, the JJA Star Wars movie in preparation includes its classic crew while it seems unlikely that this 50th anniversary Trek movie will.  It makes the death of Leonard Nimoy--the only such actor to appear in the JJA features-- just a year before the 50th anniversary especially poignant.

Trek Universe V. Real Universe

The Trek universe includes a mirror universe, and with the JJA films, embraces the reality of parallel universes.  This week's science suggests that if there is a mirror universe, it isn't made of dark matter.  But what dark matter is remains a mystery.  Since it comprises some 70% of the known real universe, that's a big mystery.

We may experience first contact with a parallel universe however, along with a the creation of a mini-black hole, at least in this interpretation of what the Large Hadron Collider will be up to next.

But like a lot of phenomena (and inventions) that draw Trek universe analogies, these are much more modest and technical.

The more understandable stuff, and in its way the more exciting, has to do with recent discoveries about our own solar system, which gets short shrift in Trek but is likely to be our outer space future, if any, for a considerable time, and perhaps forever.

Scientists announced recently that they believe observations by means of the Hubble Telescope confirm the existence of liquid water--of an underground ocean in fact-- on Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter.  Scientists were already excited about the possibilities for life on two other moons of Jupiter: Europa and Callisto.

  At almost the same time, other research suggests that Saturn's moon Enceladus has hot springs in its own underground ocean, which on Earth hosts some of the more exotic forms of life on the planet.

The existence of water at one time or another in so many places, and especially these latest findings, means life may be possible to find elsewhere in the solar system, or at least evidence of life in the past.  But proof of life will take actual observation, and the outer planets are still very far away.  So even if probes are sent soon, it will probably be near the end of this century before the questions can be answered.  (The discovery of nitrogen on Mars however is another plus in the search for life in that nearer planet's history.)

The solar system itself is sort of changing, at least in our view.  There's a theory that there are actually one or two more large planets on its outer edges beyond direct observation, and another theory that there once may have been more small planets closer to the sun, until Jupiter blew them away.  It turns out we're still not sure there aren't more very small planets in our solar system, especially since scientists can't decide on what qualifies as a planet.

Evidence grows also for the possibility of panspermia--the spread of microbial life from one place in the universe to others, including to Earth--and also of lithopanspermia--the spread of life from Earth to Mars and elsewhere.  Life arising independently on planets and moons, or life transferred from a common ancestor to several places---both are exciting possibilities.  Though we seem tantalizingly closer to answers, we are still in the realm of science fiction.

Take on a Deep Breath & Listening Trek

The first Peter Capaldi season of Doctor Who is now available on DVD etc., my preferred medium, so I've recently seen the first one, "Deep Breath."  This is also the long episode that got shown in movie theatres (a la the 50th anniversary ep "Day of the Doctor") following a world publicity tour.  So the most disappointing thing about this DVD is that the special features are mostly about the pre and post showing hype.  Although even that has its moments.  No commentary on the episode, though.

It's interesting that the guests and fans on the BBC and BBC America post-episode shows were so breathlessly hyped up about "Deep Breath," and talked about its most pleasing surface features, its cute, exciting, touching and tweetable moments, so the show succeeded on that level immediately.  The opening image (a dinosaur in Victorian London, spitting out the Tardis) got predictable wows, and everybody loved Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.

But what really interests me is that once producer/writer Steven Moffat got all the flashy stuff going, and all the coy references that fans will get, he actually did what he probably didn't have to do and gave the story some texture and substance, as it dealt with the Doctor's questions about his own identity, and went head-on at the most obvious change: he's older.  In the process, the ep said some things about how people feel as they get older, that you maybe have to be older to get.

There are these writerly, even classical moments of reflected meanings, as when the Doctor (apparently asleep) seems to be vocalizing the thoughts of the dinosaur roaring outside but ends up saying something that's about himself, identifying himself in some sense with the dinosaur, as a stranger and perhaps--in a way--as old.

Later Calpaldi in a Scrooge-like nightshirt has a great rant as he tries to deal with his new self after regeneration, muttering that he's seen his face before (and of course, fans know where--in the David Tennant episode about Pompei), speculating on what message he was trying to send himself with this face, but still not remembering where it came from.

Then when he confronts the android (derived from yet another Tennant episode) who is a machine remaking itself with human parts, he accuses him of not even remembering where he got his face. To emphasize the connected point, he's holding up a shiny metal tray to the android's face as a mirror, but we can also see the Doctor's face reflected in the other side.  (Mirrors as well as various kinds of reflections and projections are prominent in this ep.)

You've changed so much and so many times, there must be very little of who you were originally, the Doctor shouts, in a nice piece of projecting, so you wonder if he's not wondering if that's his fate as well.

Moffat neatly disposes of the possible awkwardness of quite older Doctor and quite younger companion by having the Doctor say directly, I'm not your boyfriend.  But he also manages to broaden the Doctor's post-regeneration identity crisis, and Clara's not being able to accept him because he's much older than her boyfriend Doctor (Matt Smith, who makes a brief and emotionally effective appearance), by having the Capaldi Doctor say, "You can't see me, can you?  You look at me and you can't see me.  You have any idea what that's like?  I'm not on the phone.  I'm right here standing in front of you.  Just look at me."

Besides the Doctor talking to Clara, he's speaking for many older people, who may no longer look like the person they feel they are inside.   Younger people do tend to look right through them, but even worse, they don't see who they are.

The episode also includes that intrepid trio of Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax, fighting crime in Victorian London.  Strax is great comic relief, Jenny is appealing and apparently a fan favorite, but I am most impressed with Neve McIntosh as Vastra.  I sense their repeated appearance is setting up the possibility of their own spinoff series, which would only be right: since the Moffatverse has eliminated Sherlock Holmes from late 19th century London, it's only fair to replace his crime-solving skills with Madame Vastra and her crew.

Meanwhile in Trekville...

Speculation and consternation continue as, soon after the new director for the 2016 official NuTrek feature film was announced, so were the new writers.   Consternation seems natural, whatever the gifts of the people newly in creative charge, since 2016 happens to be Star Trek's 50th anniversary, and so far there is no clear connection to that living legacy.  Even Abrams' Trek films had a connection through Leonard Nimoy.  Now so far there's nothing, except rumors of cameos.  Meanwhile there are all these talented and experienced directors, actors etc. whose lineage goes back to Gene Roddenberry, who know what Star Trek is about, with many of them quite eloquent on the subject.

Meanwhile, it's interesting to look at the Star Trek sites in this period between movies, and the Doctor Who sites, between seasons.  Though both announce new ancilliary stories through comics and novels, and both tout products (toys, memorabilia), the balance on the Trek sites is much more towards products, and on Doctor Who sites towards stories.  And it's worth seeing why.

Doctor Who seems much more active in revisiting its past, in creating new stories for past characters, and especially in using actors from that past.  That's largely through an emphasis on audio/radio drama, something that Star Trek has never really done much of.

Partly that's a cultural thing--radio drama (as well as stage drama) is much more part of UK culture (and Canadian, come to that) than US.  Some years ago, Star Trek actors employed themselves in radio/audio drama, doing (for example) non-Trek science fiction, through Alien Voices and L.A. Theatre Works.  But official Star Trek has not embraced this medium.  Which means that those great voices out there associated with various Star Trek series are not doing the new stories they could be doing, adding to the Star Trek legacy as well as reviving it.  Instead, we get the Star Trek cuckoo clock.