“The Eye of the Beholder”

I have always liked this episode. This is another one (like ENT Carbon Creek) where I think Jammer got out of the wrong side of his bed the morning he viewed and reviewed. The whacky planet was fun, and obviously created artificially for some reason. The elephant/slugs were interesting aliens, not unattractive in a weird way, and considering the huge and obvious differences between them and humans, it's not surprising that, telepathic or not, they had trouble understanding the crew. I perceived them as being somewhat pleasantly benign, and on a quest for more understanding. The child elephant/slug was beamed onto the Enterprise by mistake. The story certainly didn't fall apart--it made perfect sense to me. I think Scotty took it up to the bridge to figure out with the rest of the bridge crew what they should do with it. Anyway, it ended up back on the planet with its parents, with an "All's well that ends well." conclusion. The elephant/slugs are far too intelligent for a relationship with humans, but they are not evil or anything like that. A pleasant episode, probably leaning more toward science fantasy than toward science fiction.

Good episode with a building mystery for the big 3 in search of lost personnel from another ship and then the predicament of being in a zoo. They understand that their captors would not want to see them harmed and use that to try to escape. Spock and McCoy contribute a fair bit to the dialog about their predicament and the analysis from both is decent.

The unpredictable twist is the young Lactran getting beamed aboard the Enterprise but actually acting responsibly. It's a bit odd that the Lactrans would initially think the humans are just like some of the other zoo specimens they had collected and are prepared to treat them similarly. But ultimately, it takes a Trekkian turn when the little Lactran is able to fully learn about the Federation personnel and probably like in "The Menagerie" realize that humans/Vulcans should not be kept in captivity.

2.5 stars

I say 3 1/2 stars. This memorable episode finally reduces the crew to actual animals in a futuristic alien zoo, an oft-parodied Trek idea that never in fact appeared quite so explicitly in TOS other than The Cage/Menagerie. I love the depiction of the big telepathic aliens, who look like sloths/animals but are so sophisticated that we never even hear them talk directly.

So Kirk told the Enterprise to beam up two parties, and emphasized ‘All human’. Luckily apparently Spock convinced him to change his mind.

I think Jammer might need to re-watch this one.

"The aliens are telepathic, and yet they don't realize that what they're doing with this zoo is negatively affecting sentient life? Or don't care?"


No, the theme of "better understanding through better communication" that is found in so many Trek episodes is at work here.

The Slugs don't know that humans are sentient. They have no idea that the little critters they found in the woods flew there in a spaceship. Yes, they are telepathic, but just because I can hear a cat or a dog doesn't mean I understand what they want from me. The scene where the Slugs sense that the humans want something and mistakenly give them food is very telling.


Jammer said: "an alien child is beamed aboard the Enterprise, at which point Scotty inexplicably takes the thing to the bridge, where it appears to seize control of the ship"

This isn't what happened. I mean the slug is literally carrying Scotty on to the bridge.

SCOTT: Everyone clear out.
M'RESS: What's going on?
SCOTT: I think it's harmless, but I'm not sure.
M'RESS: What do you want us to do?
SCOTT: Whatever it wants me to.
SCOTT: Now, supposing you and I talk this over. You can talk, can't you? You can't talk. Well, what can you do?


Jammer said: "All of this happens while Spock provides exposition using assumptions and leaps of logic that could only be arrived at because the script said so."

I don't really agree with this either. Spock can't communicate with the Slugs, but he is able to sense what they are focusing on and get a vague sense of their emotions. He makes fairly logical deductions from that.


Jammer said: "If these beings are telepathic, shouldn't they know a lot more than what Spock says they seem to know?"

I think we should look at this episode as a story about parents who bring some new pets home for their kid. They first make sure that the animals aren't dangerous, and then they make a nice comfortable cage for them. They aren't being cruel; they have no idea that the animals are sentient.

I think it's also noteworthy that the baby is the one who learns to communicate with humans. Like a kid who understands their pet better than their parents do. And also because, mentally, the child is closer to the level of the primitive humans.



Jammer said: "And, really, wouldn't this whole zoo thing not really be a thing?"

Ask the monkeys at the zoo, and the dolphins at SeaWorld, and see what they tell you.

I always love the banter between Spock and McCoy. It’s frequently lively, clever, fun, and I don’t want it to stop. But in this episode, I wanted it to stop. It’s almost like the script was too short, and David Harmon, rather than expand on any of the themes here, simply said, “Oh, I got it. I’ll just go back and add some Spock-McCoy bickering after every one of their lines to pad it out.” It sure did feel cut-and-pasted from a master list of grumblings. It’s not quippy this time, it’s just endless bitching and there’s way too much of it. I’m with Kirk: “Gentlemen, please.”

The best moment, as @Black_Oat points out, is when the alien slugs sense that their “pets” want something, and they just assume that it's food. Any pet owner nodded knowingly and shook their head in amused shame at that one. They’re actually inventing apps now that will “translate” your dog’s barks and your cat’s meows. It’s all in good fun of course, but what if you could actually communicate with your pets beyond body language and emotional cues?

I know damn well that cats are not only sentient, but they’re secretly sapient and probably more intelligent than we are. They have secret Machiavellian plans to take control of the Earth--they’re just smart enough to not let us know how advanced they really are. I kid, of course. But the fact that the aliens look simply like little goofy tentacled elephants--what we think of as “zoo animals”--while actually being thousands of times more advanced than Spock is meant to get us to look at the whole concept of zoos with a critical eye. What if our zoo animals are more acutely aware than we could possibly know? I like zoos. In lots of cases, the animals are permanently disabled or otherwise too tame to survive in the wilderness, so the zoo is their only option. They’re cared for and fed. Zoos can even play a critical role in helping endangered species. Still, it’s painful sometimes to see a lion and lioness caged up in little more than an acre.

Of course, “we’re now the zoo animals” is an obvious choice for a fantasy sci-fi show, animated or not, and while the message is worthwhile, there’s really nothing fascinating or groundbreaking about any of this. It’s a by-the-numbers plot with cheesy visuals (any time that our people are being carried by the elephants’ tentacles just looks comically dreadful), a sketchy presentation (like Jammer says, it’s all telling and not showing) and TOO MUCH BRAINLESS BICKERING BETWEEN SPOCK AND MCCOY. Seriously, can we at least go back to the brainy bickering?

One big plus: William Shatner finally, for the first time in TAS, gets to William Shatner (verb).


Speak Freely:
Markel -- “Captain, we are a scientific contact team, and we learned practically nothing.”
[Hey man, it’s a kids’ show.]


My Grade: C-