Star Trek: The Original Series
"Shore Leave"
Air date: 12/29/1966
Written by Theodore Sturgeon
Directed by Robert Sparr
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Crew members beam down to a beautiful planet, where they slowly realize that their thoughts are magically manifested into reality. After a number of apparent misfortunes, the crew learns the world they're on is a magical alien amusement park, capable of making dreams come true.
"Shore Leave" isn't a wonderful story, but it does have an undeniable sense of fun. Kirk is beat up by his academy-days tormentor, and later gets to return the favor (it's fitting for the captain that his idea of fun is having the chance to "beat the tar out of Finnegan"); Sulu gets to fire off a few rounds with a six-shooter; and Bones gets to chase a white rabbit, then die, and then come back to life. This episode maintains enough balance between adventure, danger, comedy, and silliness that it manages to be a pleasant hour of rather non-cerebral fantasy.
Previous episode: Balance of Terror
Next episode: The Galileo Seven
Like this site? Support it by buying Jammer a coffee.
40 comments on this post
Fri, Jun 1, 2012, 2:06am (UTC -5)
Sat, Jun 1, 2013, 9:18am (UTC -5)
Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:35am (UTC -5)
Seriously, how could even Spock be so dense?
Wed, Apr 2, 2014, 8:52am (UTC -5)
But it wasnt. 1 star to be generous.
Mon, Sep 8, 2014, 11:22pm (UTC -5)
But episodes like "Shore Leave" got me hooked on the series. I didn't appreciate something like "City on the Edge of Forever" until later.
Sat, Nov 29, 2014, 7:10am (UTC -5)
One thing I'll say - I rather envy that chick who caught McCoy's fancy. DeForest Kelley was pretty dang hot! (Nimoy and Shatner are pretty shaggable too, I'd say).
Tue, Mar 3, 2015, 8:58am (UTC -5)
Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 11:24am (UTC -5)
Of course, she was a plant. So...
Sat, Jul 11, 2015, 11:25am (UTC -5)
Some of Jammer's other reviews pointed out that the TOS cast had a natural chemistry that none of the other series' casts were ever able to duplicate; moments like this definitely support that argument.
Thu, Sep 10, 2015, 5:46am (UTC -5)
Earth to Kirk: your old Academy nemesis pops up out of nowhere still 20 years old, then your old girlfriend later. and you still don't get it? Hint, hint: you were JUST thinking about them a moment before they appeared.
In "Mirror, Mirror" you had the entire theory of parallel universes figured out like freakin' Einstein in under a minute. 1 and half stars. I'm done.
Sun, Jul 3, 2016, 11:36am (UTC -5)
Tue, Jul 26, 2016, 9:33pm (UTC -5)
I have to agree that the repetitive nature of the plot and the fact that the crew were completely clueless does kinda render the whole situation rather absurd. Just how many times does someone need to say "I'm reminded of X..." and then X appears for someone to get the hint? And isn't it convenient that practically everything that appeared after the White Rabbit was a threat to the crew? No one was thinking any sort of happy thoughts? Even in the beginning before everyone was worried about all the threats? Heck, even afterwards no one was thinking to themselves how much better it would be back home or with a book or anything else? Pretty convenient to keep the "action" side of things moving along.
For that matter, wasn't it just a week ago that Martine's fiancee died? Shouldn't she have thought about him? Yeah, I know, this is before continuity was important, but still... Actually, more egregiously, did anyone else notice that Martine died and she was never brought back, unlike McCoy? Or at least she disappeared... I guess they intended to show her getting shot by the plane, but it looked like she just ran into a tree and fell down instead. Maybe the fact that she doesn't show up again is just her being too embarrassed to show herself after being that stupid.
I guess the twist in the end that this is just a holodeck-like experience and that they get to enjoy their shore leave after all was kinda nice, and the mystery at the very beginning was ok, but the middle just dragged on way too long. Arsenal of Freedom had a similar idea in TNG, but because the danger was real there it ended up being a lot better. That's kinda sad, being beaten by a Season 1 TNG episode...
Mon, Sep 12, 2016, 3:36pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Jan 30, 2017, 3:41pm (UTC -5)
The premise is kind of silly - that the crew gets themselves into all kinds of trouble because what they think of comes to life. It should become obvious to them quite quickly of what is going on, yet it doesn't, and therefore we have a weak episode.
The fight scene with Kirk/Finnegan drags on far too long as does this whole episode. The ending is weak with the creator of the amusement park world showing up and just explaining everything.
The episode looks even weaker when coming right after "Conscience..." and "Balance..." And why was the force field on the planet affecting the ship and preventing communications etc.?
For me, 1/4 stars, weakest of Season 1 so far, weaker than "Mudd's Women" for sure.
Fri, Feb 17, 2017, 4:52pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 23, 2017, 12:36pm (UTC -5)
Mon, May 29, 2017, 10:44pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 8:43pm (UTC -5)
Of course I started with the third episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" because it's actually the pilot and looks different (a different doctor than McCoy, etc.) than all the others -- it's so weird that NBC aired episodes out of order and showed "The Man Trap" first.
Anyway, this is the original Holodeck episode, a fun little romp that actually feels a bit welcome at this point in the series after several heavy and tragic stories. (And although there's no actual holodeck, let's remember that the Enterprise holodeck first appears with the original cast in The Animated Series, not TNG.) We see some great cast chemistry in this one (the Spock dialogue luring Kirk into shore leave is much funnier than the TNG homage in "Captain's Holiday" where Crusher uses almost the same dialogue with Picard) and it's nice to see location shooting. Altogether, "Shore Leave" is just an excuse to spend 50 minutes with people you like, and it's a pretty good romp -- Scotty doesn't appear and Uhura gets little screen time, but several main and semi-recurring characters develop nicely in this one, and Uhura plays a bigger role in The Animated Series sequel to this episode when they return to the planet. Even though there's not much depth to it, this one is highly enjoyable when it catches you in the right mood and doesn't descend into embarrassment like some later Holodeck episodes, so I give it 3 or 3 1/2 stars.
Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 1:56am (UTC -5)
Wed, Sep 26, 2018, 8:23pm (UTC -5)
One other thing--when they first chose this planet for shore leave because it was so pristine and lovely, where were they planning to sleep? I didn't see any camping gear . . .
Sun, Nov 18, 2018, 7:11pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 2:43pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 10:05pm (UTC -5)
Well, we're off to a strange start, as McCoy sees Alice in Wonderland characters on a planet he's scouting with Sulu.
Pretty silly so far, as the crew's random daydreams come to life.
Now the yeoman is flirting with McCoy who's flirting back. She looks young enough to be his daughter. But McCoy dies before this pairing can go any father. I mean farther.
Endless fight with Finnegan. Endless.
McCoy is back from the dead and no one notices or cares that "dead" crew member Angela is still missing.
Below average. Too much silly.
Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 2:37am (UTC -5)
This episode seems to be the first which introduced the closing pun among crew (Kirk and McCoy mostly) usually aiming at Spock, which became a feature in many episodes. So this is significant for the chemistry thing TOS is famous for, among other things.
Also enjoyable dry remarks of Spock to Kirk: the moment he tells Kirk he's supposed to go on shore leave, as has been honored already in comments here. And when he shows up after Kirk is done with beating up Finnegan, standing there at a distance and asking Kirk "Did you enjoy it?" Priceless.
--
Too bad they did not establish Yeoman Barrows as a new regular cast member. More sexy than Rand for sure.
Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 9:37am (UTC -5)
Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 9:49am (UTC -5)
As I’m rewatching TOS I notice that they hardly ever keep a regular Yeoman around, even when the actress was exceptional. Number One’s absence from the show’s chemistry is really noticeable in 2019. (Thanks NBC!)
Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 3:14pm (UTC -5)
Roddenberry didn't fire Scotty, but he did go and hire an actor who looked like one of the Monkees. This was their strategy to appeal to teenagers and give the girls someone to look at*. Of course, Roddenberry made the character Russian to advance his vision of a united Earth, but the character was primarily there to look pretty.
*I think the girls mostly still preferred Nimoy
Sun, Jun 23, 2019, 4:09pm (UTC -5)
You know like the Rock... I can already see him telling it to the warp drive...
I need a tall guy with muscles not a dwarf with a fancy haircut.
Tue, Jun 25, 2019, 10:50pm (UTC -5)
When I think of shore leave, I think of spending time with someone who has Barrows’ righteous curves.
Wed, Jun 26, 2019, 1:42pm (UTC -5)
Also good were the jokes between Spock and Kirk, especially the one that got Kirk to finally take some away time and go on the planet.
Unfortunately, the solution to the mystery is painfully obvious, and I found myself yelling at my iPad a few times when characters didn't make basic connections like "I was just talking about Alice in Wonderland then Alice showed up". Could there possibly be a connection, Doctor? Hmm...
Also, I'm not really keen on the ending. Okay, so the caretaker insists it was all in good fun and the Doctor wasn't really killed so there's no problem right? Wrong! The crew was stalked by tigers, lampooned by medieval weapons, and shot down by warplanes! Even if the caretakers can heal the physical wounds, it sounds like a traumatic experience to me. It makes me wonder if Kirk's idea to let everyone beam down and enjoy the planet was really well-conceived. I mean what if someone imagines something horrible and has nightmares the whole time? It's just not worth the risk, is it?
Mon, Jul 15, 2019, 1:14pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Aug 3, 2019, 1:28pm (UTC -5)
Ahahahahahaha
hahahaha
oh hahahahaha
ha
ha ha
...
ohhh
Sat, Aug 3, 2019, 2:20pm (UTC -5)
hahahahahahahaha
Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 7:26am (UTC -5)
I know that, back then, women were supposed to be taken by force - like Rand almost was by Bad Kirk in The Enemy Within - but Barrows' tears here do not configure a nice day of relax and recreation.
Tue, Nov 10, 2020, 2:27am (UTC -5)
I still am amazed at watching shows I watched as a young child. The pretty women were totally unnoticed by me, but I liked kids around my age! I guess that is normal, but still, it is so jarring looking back on it.
Anyway, I think this one is neat, and it is a shame that the planet was never mentioned again. Oh well, I guess by the 24th century, the ships had holodecks so they could basically have the shore leave of this planet on their own ships anyway!
Tue, Nov 17, 2020, 2:18am (UTC -5)
I really liked this one and the location filming was very nice. Episodes like this make the show feel more epic than if they had filmed entirely on sound stages.
@Madbaggins
This is better than Balance of Terror definitely.
Thu, Nov 19, 2020, 9:31am (UTC -5)
@Springy, DeForest (Bones) was 46, Yeoman Barrows (Emily Banks) was 33. Fairly reasonable age pairing.
@Spinoza, Barrows said she was thinking about how nice it would be meet a Don Juan, who of course is well known for a life of violence, gambling and seducing women:
TONIA BARROWS: I was thinking, all a girl needs is Don Juan. Just day dreaming, the way you would about someone you'd like to meet.
So she enjoyed rape fantasy @Spinoza, what’s wrong with that?
@Sean J Hagins, I agree - I have zero memory of Yeoman Barrows! This was a top episode for me when I was a little kid watching re-runs and marathons. I remember always enjoying Finnegan beating Kirk up! But no memory of Beautiful Barrows. The mind of children indeed.
Yes, @NCC-1701-Z, I literally laughed out loud when Spock tricked Kirk into going on shore leave. It’s the simple things.
I have no idea how @Jammer gave this three stars. I can only surmise that he has retained a child-like enjoyment that I seem to have misplaced. Makes me jealous.
Sun, Mar 14, 2021, 4:01am (UTC -5)
What especially grated was all the women being either nothing but eye candy playthings, or silly helpless creatures who screamed loudly and needed rescuing.
And who validated the initial scientific report? “No mammals, no birds, no insects...”. Uh? No insects yet an entire planet of lush vegetation? Yes, it made sense in the end, but no-one questioned it to start with.
Still, there was at least a great example of Shatner Speak:
“How.
Could you.
Possibly.
Be here?”
Sorry, just barely 2 stars.
Wed, May 26, 2021, 6:08pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jul 28, 2021, 10:19pm (UTC -5)
Probably the worst episode ending in the entire series. 1 star.
Submit a comment
◄ Season Index