[Nate the Great]

October 27th, 1967, "Catspaw"

Fiver (by Derek)
Transcript
Memory Alpha

The Episode

Captain's Log, stardate 3018.2. Crewman Jackson is dead and there are no apparent physical causes. Mister Scott and Mister Sulu are still out of touch on the planet below. Leaving Assistant Chief Engineer DeSalle in command of the Enterprise, I'm beaming down to the planet's surface to find my two missing crewmen and discover what killed Jackson.

Even though Uhura and Chekov are still on board, it's nice to know that there are still people on the ship who outrank them, and that the first seven people in the chain of command aren't always the main characters. "Disaster" comes to mind immediately.

KIRK: Spock. Comment?
SPOCK: Very bad poetry, Captain.

Sometimes you need an utterly deadpan comment, don't you?

KIRK: If we weren't missing two officers and a third one dead I'd say someone was playing an elaborate trick or treat on us.
SPOCK: Trick or treat, Captain?

Just like Data, it'd be interesting to make a list of what these eggheads know that most other people don't and a list of what they don't know that most other people do. You'd think Amanda would have taught him the Halloween traditions if only for educational purposes.

MCCOY: Could this be an Earth parallel development of some sort?

I think this might be the first time the crew jumped to "parallel development" rather than "Prime Directive violation/contamination." Still doesn't make sense, but at least they're making an effort.

KIRK: DeSalle, channel bypass power into your heat dissipation units.
DESALLE [OC]: We've already done it, Captain. It had no effect. We're cooking up here.

I suddenly wonder if Doctor Reyga's metaphasic shields would be useful in this situation. Also, "heat dissipation units"? Dissipate to where?

DESALLE: All right, but it's there and it's real. If it's real, it can be affected. Engineering, stand by to divert all power systems to the outer hull. Prepare impulse engines for generation of maximum heat directed as ordered. Maybe we can't break it, but I'll bet you credits to navy beans we can put a dent in it.

Okay, so by "heat dissipation units" he means converting the impulse engines from shooting out a hydrogen stream into shooting out infrared. It still doesn't mean you can "direct" it. The impulse engines shoot straight back; it's the thrusters that make the minor course corrections.

KIRK: They tried to tap our conscious mind.
SPOCK: And they missed. They reached basically only the subconscious. Korob seemed puzzled by your reaction to the environment he'd provided.
KIRK: He expected me to react as though it were all normal.

So it's yet another manufactured environment, no parallel development. And yet again we have a supposedly advanced alien with a huge blind spot; in this case tapping into the subconscious rather than the conscious. I do like how an attempt is made to make the supposedly godlike entity merely different. Not that it necessarily works, but they're making the attempt.

The Fiver

Kirk: I'm bored. Why haven't Scotty and Sulu contacted us? For that matter, why didn't I beam down to this strange new world?
Jackson: (over the comm) Excuse me, sir. Can I please beam up now?
Kirk: What? The redshirt survived and the bridge officers didn't? That's just not right.

Space is warped and time is bendable! Jackson just became his own grandpa! Egads!

Spock: So do you have any theories about our alien captors?
Kirk: I think the female one wants me.
Spock: I was expecting something more about how the aliens are using our subconscious to build this world and how they must be utterly alien from us, but I don't know why.

Spock, it's been over a year. You should have the pattern down by now. Hehe.

Korob: Quick! You've got to escape! Sylvia's gone power hungry. She really thinks she's the cat's meow.
Cat: Meow!
Korob: Aaaaah! It's Sylvia! Ruuuuuun!
Kirk: Geez, don't be such a scaredy cat.

Ack, the puns! The wit is scathing me!

Memory Alpha

* The only holiday-specific episode, but I'd counterargue that there are a few other horror-themed episodes that could easily be Halloween episodes.
* First episode filmed with Chekov, bad wig and all.
* The Enterprise-in-plastic prop was donated to the Smithsonian. I wonder if someone ever made replicas as paperweights or whatever.
* This episode features DeSalle in his third uniform color. Ugh.

YouTube

* "Very bad poetry"