Okay, so I have to admit this is one of my least favourite episodes, so if my review is sub-standard, you will know why.
We have the premise that this is Spock's first Command, which hardly makes sense as he is already an Officer so, anyway, Spock is in command of the Enterprise's shuttle craft, The Galileo; he and his team are off to get a closer look at a quasar-like phenomena. Meanwhile, the Enterprise has an appointment to keep delivering much needed medical supplies to the plague-ridden Markus III - talk about your ticking clock! Well of course the mandatory ion-storm comes along and drags our hapless shuttlenauts down to the surface of a hostile planet...well it's not the planet that is hostile, but the 10 foot tall, spear-throwing ape-men, who have the pleasure of living there.
Well our Spock makes all the logical decisions and still manages to lose two Redhsirts to the natives, luckily he has Scotty there to help repair the shuttle.
Meanwhile Kirk has the very antsy and officious Commissioner Ferris breathing down his neck, insisting that the Enterprise leave the crew of Galileo to their fate and get those medical supplies where they should be. But his Spocky is down there, isn't he? So we know Kirk isn't going to give up that easily.
Spock is faced with more and more decisions, including whether to bury the dead and whether the shuttle craft will even be able to achieve orbit, well they do and it does, but they only have enough fuel to remain in orbit for a very short time.
Kirk waits until the very last moment, stalling for every last second, but has to reluctantly depart...leaving his scanners pointing aft.
In a desperate last act Spock jettisons the shuttle's last remaining fuel and sets it alight, as a distress beacon. The shuttle burns up in the atmosphere, but the crew are beamed aboard the Enterprise in the nick of time.
The final scene is a lovely little bit of slash, with Kirk almost snuggling up to Spock and teasing him unmercilessly about taking a gamble; Spock of course maintains that it was a logical decision and everyone has a laugh about it...end of episode.
I'm completely the opposite to you with this episode, as it's absolutely one of my all-time favourites, and definately my favourite season 1 episode.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the premise itself is a little shaky though. I mean, how important can scientific investigation of a quasar be when hundreds of lives are at risk from a deadly plague. And you're right that it's unlikely that this would have been Spock's first command.
But...if you can get past all that, then I think it's a wonderful episode to demonstrate just how conflicted Spock is, and the kind of reactions he has to deal with every day from his fellow crewmembers.
We see him truly struggling with each of the decisions that he makes (even if he is careful not to show that struggle to his colleagues), and of course, in the end he takes the most enlightened of gambles and saves the shuttle and its crew.
I also love Scotty in this episode, and his relationship with Spock. While the rest of the crew are falling over each other to criticise Spock and his seemingly cold approach to command, Scotty simply gets on with the tasks assigned to him. He is a pillar of strength for Spock, and this is something that we don't see much in any other episodes.
I really do adore this ep, and after Mirror, Mirror and Tribbles it's probably the one I've seen most.
Nimoy and Doohan are both totally amazing in episode, I totally agree with what you are saying about how important this episode is in terms of Spock's character development and as usual Nimoy is just totally 'there' with his performance,
ReplyDeleteAnd yes Scotty is a total brick. If you ever watched an episode with me, you would hear this phrase, quite often:
Di: "Scotty's in charge, everything is going to be okay."
Let's name just few eps where he shows his mettle as a Commander: 'A Taste of Armageddon' 'A Piece of the Action' 'Whom Gods Destroy'
But I do have a hard time getting past the plot problems/silliness and it has always taken me out of the story. I wish it weren't the case and of course I can still watch and appreciate 'Galileo Seven' it's never going to be one of my favourites.