October 11th, 1968, "And the Children Shall Lead"
Oh, this is gonna hurt...
Fiver (by Derek)
Transcript
Memory Alpha
The Episode
SFDebris did this one better than I ever could, but highlights...
* First Kirk calls it a scientific colony, then suddenly it's an exploration party. Those aren't the same thing, especially when you consider that later Kirk specifically says that this was a long-term thing, hence the children being brought along. I suppose this was another example of "it's the last season and the editors were asleep on the job again."
* None of the children are hungry or dirty? This is a recurring problem in fiction when the people responsible for maintaining support systems disappear or dies. Are you going to tell me that Gorgon can maintain all of them for days?
* Furthermore, if the idea is to get transport to another planet to get more followers, why wouldn't Gorgon tell them to act sad about their parents so our heroes won't create delays?
* When Bones can't find a physical or medical explanation for the children's behavior, he gives up. I don't like this; they've met more than their share of aliens that can affect people's actions.
* Beaming the two guys into space is horrifying, I wish there had been more followup.
* I wish that Gorgon's powers had been more codified. Is it simply casting illusions (affecting the senses), or can he outright hypnotize and control people? If the former, there are things that happen that counter that. If the latter, why does he need the kids anyway?
The Fiver
Kirk: And stay away from that cave. What's with that, anyway?
Tommy: This cave... is strong with the dark side of the force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go.
Nice gag, although I thought that you capitalize "Force" in this context.
Spock: You don't seem all right, Jim. You're acting hammier than usual.
And things must be really bad for that to be noticeable!
Kirk: You know Tommy, you remind me a lot of my nephew.
Tommy: I don't care.
I never knew they were the same actor. The more you know...
Gorgan: Hello children. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, isn't it? Today, we will learn about commandeering. Can you say "commandeer"?
I thought that the Mr. Rogers "can you say X" thing was a myth, but apparently he used it at least twice.
Memory Alpha
*
There's debate on what sort of flavor "chocolate wobble" is. Putting aside the obvious options like "it's an alien flavor" or "the child actor flubbed the line", other opinions go from "secondary alcohol flavor" (you wobble when drunk) to the ice cream incorporates some wobbly gelatin (ugh) to there's a wobbly swirl of another flavor. I'll stick with "the child actor flubbed the line, and the director didn't feel it was important enough to reshoot." In any event, mixing chocolate ice cream and pistachio ice cream doesn't sound very good.
* Somehow Kirk knew Gorgon's name without being told it. In a previous version of the script he had been told it, but this is another example of the editors being asleep on the job, I guess...
* The editors posit that maybe Uhura's mirror appeared out of nowhere because it, too, was an illusion. Fair enough, and I guess seeing a mirage of herself as an old hag would've been too expensive.
* Only appearance of the red UFP pennant flag.
* Gorgan's appearance in the "Q Continuum" trilogy of novels is pointed out.
Nitpicker's Guide
* Phil says that even if the mirror is an illusion, it was at Uhura's station before the children start pumping their fists to summon Gorgon's power. Oops...
* In "The City on the Edge of Forever" Spock needed additional equipment to enable the playback function on his tricorder. This time it's built in. There are a few possible explanations for this, but I'll bet the creators
Just Didn't Care.