Star Trek: The Original Series
"And the Children Shall Lead"
Air date: 10/11/1968
Written by Edward J. Lakso
Directed by Marvin Chomsky
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
The crew discovers that the members of a research colony have been killed by an unknown force, the only survivors being their children, who are remarkably devoid of grief over their parents' deaths. Once beamed aboard the Enterprise, these children exhibit a bizarre power over the crew, inducing hallucination and mental incapacitation in their victims. It turns out that an alien entity named Gorgan (Melvin Belii) is using the children to hijack the starship so he can consume more worlds and cause more death for his own evil purposes. Bwahahaha.
"And the Children Shall Lead"—that is, lead this episode straight into the gutter. A dismally frustrating, repetitive, and bland hour, we're forced to watch five children take over the ship in extremely uninteresting ways, making the crew look helpless (who wants to see that, anyway?). The "magic pump-fist action" gets really, really goofy, becoming what feels like a lame parlor trick. Melvin Belii is terrible as the completely uninteresting Gorgan, reciting his lines like a robot. Meanwhile, Bones has the thankless role of telling Kirk every five or ten minutes that these children have to be treated with kid gloves in order to prevent psychological damage. Funny, you'd think their helping an evil alien that murdered their parents might already have done that.
The one potentially promising aspect of the episode—playing off the crew's fears—is not utilized the least bit effectively. This is an episode created on autopilot, lacking any and all sense of inspiration. At least "Spock's Brain's" level of badness made it somewhat amusing. This episode is simply dull to the point of being unwatchable.
Previous episode: The Paradise Syndrome
Next episode: Is There In Truth No Beauty?
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69 comments on this post
Mon, Apr 9, 2012, 5:25pm (UTC -5)
Sun, May 20, 2012, 11:15am (UTC -5)
Sun, May 20, 2012, 11:23am (UTC -5)
Wed, Mar 20, 2013, 11:56pm (UTC -5)
That's all I care to say. At least there was some snark value when the redshirt got shot by a flower in "The Apple".
Sun, Oct 27, 2013, 11:21pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:41am (UTC -5)
Thu, Nov 28, 2013, 1:11am (UTC -5)
Sat, Feb 8, 2014, 8:42pm (UTC -5)
And Kirk's solution is so simple it destroys any credibility that evil really had such an iron grip on these kids anyway.
Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 5:20pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Apr 12, 2014, 9:21pm (UTC -5)
Not the best but a good middle of pack. To each his own I guess.
Mon, Apr 28, 2014, 12:37am (UTC -5)
1. The kids have just been witness to severe psychological trauma, yet they have access to the bridge. Is there no security on he ship?
2. Same point for engineering. Why do they have access to such key areas of the ship?
3. This one really bugs me - 3 years in space, and Kirk calls Sulu "helmsman." Wut? Seriously?
4. Every time something weird happens, a kid is present doing the magical fist pump action. Uh, so stun the kids or put them in the brig.
5. Seems like there should be a lot more safety protocols in place so that you can't beam someone to the middle of nowhere.
6. Gorgon - the fat, glowing, old kook delivering lines in a robotic monotone - NOT scary. Just stupid.
Lastly, and most important, I just want to smack that ginger kid so freaking bad.
This episode plain sucks. Remastering didn't improve it any.
Fri, May 2, 2014, 6:08pm (UTC -5)
While it at LEAST include
*an alien planet or ship
*an alien being
*some unknown techology or power
(and thats more than can be said from most TOS series)
they make YET AGAIN the mistake of making the alien look human (come on!) and make this a drama play.
But even than, there are the MAYOR plotholes :
-the children SEE their parents dead perhaps even see them being killed, and are totally fine with than, yet when they rewatch it on tape, suddenly they have a change of hearth?
-Children who are willfulling killing their own parents, and are fully willing to kill all adults on a whole planet, just to gain adult rights before actually being an adult, and hence are complete psychopats, suddenly turn back in totally fine kids after seeing 1 videotape, rather than needing severe psychotherapy?
-Even how ridiculous the air-fist power may be
(it gets on my nerves almost as much as the equally corky "no-bam-bam" from earlier episode)
when kirk sees it performs as does spock, they both don't do a think to stop it?
Yes in the end they conclude KILL THE KIDS, but really could one not have drawn that conclusion much earlier? or at very least stun them all?
-they dont check the actual cordinates where they just beamed 2 people to?? how about checking where you beam people too before beaming, seems like standard protocol to me??
-you just have something that killed many adults, and kids behaving like psychopaths, but you just bring them aboard? ever heard of quarantine untill the cause was found?
-you see a field full of dead humans, on an alien world, but you walk around without rubber gloves or other sensable protection, and even rub inside their wounds, smell their breath, and all? thats a REALLY good way to spread infections! again protocol?
Sun, Sep 14, 2014, 7:00pm (UTC -5)
The other edge of that double-edged floating space sword or dagger is that Gorgon's/the kids' powers/motivations are so poorly defined that it's basically nearly impossible to discern what is going on throughout the show -- how much did the kids actually kill their parents, and how much were they purely mind-controlled? Were they mind-controlled at all, or just talked into it by a "charismatic" leader with no powers of his own? But then they got powers from him, so.... Evaluating what this episode is *trying* to say about kids and parents is pointless, because it's unclear whether we're to expect there was some kind of full-scale childhood rebellion or simply a massive case of brainwashing.
1/2 star is probably fair; I don't think it quite reaches zero-star levels. Makes the way the similarly-themed "Miri" or "Imaginary Friend" deals with children seem like they're Mark Twain.
Tue, Aug 4, 2015, 1:25am (UTC -5)
Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 1:43pm (UTC -5)
The episode probably is Shatner's worst hour.
Fri, Dec 11, 2015, 10:25am (UTC -5)
This one here didn't have the best plot, acting (Shatner was obviously just phoning in on this one) or guest stars, but it wasn't exactly bad either. I actually found a few elements here quite scary - the children's performance (especially the red-haired boy), the alien's speeches and the fact that those two redshirts were simply beamed into empty space. The resolution, though a tad too simple, was also quite moving to me. So in spite of all its flaws, I'd give this episode at least 2 stars.
Mon, Dec 14, 2015, 4:05pm (UTC -5)
Captain Kirk did save Enterprise by doing the unexpected, he did what was right. Even in the very dark situation he did not beat or hurt the children. They where innocent. He met them on their own level, treated the with respect and dignity. He destroyed the devil by showing and exposing it.
But I agree, it was, as some other plots have been, quite silly.
Wed, Jul 20, 2016, 5:48pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Oct 6, 2016, 7:30am (UTC -5)
JUST STUN THEM! STUN THEM IN THEIR FUCKING FACES JIM!
Sat, Oct 15, 2016, 3:07am (UTC -5)
Mon, Feb 13, 2017, 4:34pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Mar 7, 2017, 8:43pm (UTC -5)
Where do you start with an episode like this? I guess with the premise itself. I suppose there could have been some promise here, but it's hard to see. Kids that seem brainwashed by an all powerful entity? Kids unable to come to terms with their parents death and their own guilt? Kirk having to protect his ship from people who are as much victims as they are aggressors? Those ideas COULD work, but it's not a slam dunk idea to begin with. So you better make sure the execution makes the relatively weak idea worthwhile. And needless to say, this episode did not do that.
When your all powerful entity that has to carry the episode is an old fat guy in a grandma dress whose voice makes Ben Stein sound animated, it's hard to take the episode seriously.
When four little kids and one annoying teenager manage to take over the Enterprise that easily, even with magic powers, it's hard to keep the willing suspension of disbelief going. Almost as bad as the Ferengi taking over in Rascals.
When that teenager has the worst fashion sense ever, it starts becoming impossible not to laugh at them.
When the solution to the crisis is just Spock and Kirk, well, coming out of it for some reason, it just makes you go "huh"? So nobody else had the willpower as these two? Nobody that evil green guy ever met before? Or is this just more of the magic Swiss Army Knife powers that Spock gets whenever the writers find themselves stuck in a corner? And frankly, seeing them with strained faces for 10 seconds and then suddenly all better is hardly an effective means of showing their inner struggle. Then again, Shatner's acting was so over the top this episode that
When the solution to the kids' lack of emotion over the death of their parents is nothing more than showing them pictures of everyone playing, it completely ruins any depth that this theme might have. By the way, what's with McCoy constantly saying that recognizing their parents' death would traumatize the kids, and then look pleased once they actually do recognize it?
In other words, a weak idea, and now terrible execution. So yeah, it's definitely among the worst.
Wed, May 31, 2017, 10:15pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 10:46pm (UTC -5)
However, I don't think it is the worst Star Trek episode. To me, that dubious honor goes to The Alternative Factor (which, to my surprise, Jammer gave 2 stars), as it is the only truly boring episode of Star Trek TOS. I think the next worst are The Lights of Zetar and That Which Survives, both of which are somewhat boring.
While this episode is absurd, at least it isn't boring. A show can be good or bad (preferably good obviously), but one thing it cannot be is boring.
Fri, Jun 16, 2017, 9:53pm (UTC -5)
The idea that it plays on one's individual fears might work but it definitely did not in this episode as Kirk/Spock seem to somehow snap out of it. Inconsistent and convenient to suit the poor writing.
And finally the kids snap out of Gorgon's spell by seeing the good times they had playing with their parents -- it's just an insult to the Trek fan who expects better.
Unfortunately a similar theme comes up in "The Way to Eden" except it's not children but space hippies. Too bad TOS didn't learn its lesson from this disaster.
This was a boring episode as well, which I can't say for many of the bad episodes -- I mean, how long do they have to spend showing the kids and their fist-pump inducing mental control/hallucinations in the crew? It was just stupid. The episode could have been done in 30 mins. instead of 1 hour.
I'd give "And the Children Shall Lead" a weak 0.5 stars for the first 15-20 mins. of suspense as to what caused the mass suicides and setting up a potentially decent episode -- after that the episode just fell apart as the kids/Gorgon idiocy took over.
Sat, Aug 19, 2017, 1:05pm (UTC -5)
And look of the series dramatically improved in the third season expect Spock's pinwheel scanner stopped spinning after the first season and it was static in season 2 and completely off on season 3 can anyone enlighten me?
Sun, Sep 3, 2017, 5:27pm (UTC -5)
Not so sure of that...
Try "Profit and Lace" or "Threshold" and maybe "Let He Who Is Without Sin" as either those eps were just as inane, or had an interesting idea but was too half-baked to begin with, unless the writers were already baked to begin with...
Sat, Oct 7, 2017, 1:06am (UTC -5)
Mon, May 7, 2018, 9:16pm (UTC -5)
Whose idea was it to hire Melvin Belii when an actual actor could had enough at least tried to make the Gorgon more than a holographic stick figure? Why is Belli dressed in aluminum foil? Was Reynolds Wrap having a fire sale?
The episode has no point, no moral, no theme (not to mention no humor,no sense of pacing, and no sense of how bad it is), and the idea of Belli commanding an army of vulenerable children to do his bidding (why couldn’t he do it himself?Because it would have prevented him from double- billing?) ups the ick factor considerably
The crew’s biggest fears are revewled to be knives,swords, and getting old (the latter in Uhura’s case). What a lethally dull way to establish backstory.
Wed, Jul 11, 2018, 11:07pm (UTC -5)
Re: the crew’s fears: I get that Sulu’s vision of space knives is symbolic. His actual fear is making some mistake at the helm that causes damage or destruction of the Enterprise. Likewise, Uhura’s fear is death and painful disease, and not specifically ugliness. Okay.
But since when is Kirk’s biggest fear losing command? I would have thought, from many previous episodes, his greatest fear is the death of his crew and destruction of the ship, as he clearly feels responsible for the safety of both. Making him out to be someone who cannot stand the loss of power, even for a few minutes, does a disservice to the character.
A less important issue is the costuming. Normally I like what William Thiess did, even though he never met a pastel jumpsuit he didn’t like, but he really phoned it in on this one. The alien is dressed in some kind of shiny plastic tent meant to obscure his body. It looks weird with a normal-looking older guy’s head perched on top. Weird as in ridiculous rather than eerie. Contrast that tonthe aliens of Talos IV in the pilot, with their pulsing distended skulls and shiny robes, to see how an alien could be done well even back then. But the kid’s costumes are the worst of all. Like Theis decided to use some curtain fabrics to make pajamas for each of them.
Wed, Aug 1, 2018, 5:03pm (UTC -5)
I'm surprised Spock's Brain seems to carry the banner for bad TOS episodes when this one exists.
Tue, Aug 28, 2018, 5:30pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 8:08pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Oct 8, 2018, 8:31pm (UTC -5)
After the theft of brain, it is a scream watching Shatner and Kelley talk about the loss. ...we will look for his brain; ......where(?) ...would we look? I would love to know how hard these guys laughed during filming. This proves that proper studying of the craft one can control one's own actions. They were very serious during this dialog......
As for the swords, know this, George said in several interviews that he did not play with swords, he played cowboys and Indians. He was an American history buff. So, when he chased crewmen in THE NAKED TIME with an epee, it was out of his realm. He didn't do karate or any of the other martial arts; therefore he had to learn them.
The old and ugly. My God, we have no choice, on our trip to death it will happen. I found that ridiculous.
Melvin Belli wanted to be on Star Trek and so they let him. It was fun for him. He was one of the TOP attorney's in California at that time and served the rich and famous and many Hollywood stars.
As for those hateful children, all spoiled brats who were probably offspring of the people who ran Star Trek just the same as it was in Miri. Only in Miri there were 3 kids who were real actors. In fact, one was a grown man.
As for the story line, it was awful. I always hated to see the top crew put into being total idiots; everyone falling into coma-like stupors; I would love to kill the kids, esp. the red-headed brat from hell. There really was much of a story.
Doc McCoy and his they need to grieve crap. If a child never grieved over a dead person, he would not become a killer. He would grow out of it.
You have to consider the people writing, producing and such, which is their true nationalities, ------- the way Trek people live is some misguided jerks dream. Earth human beings will never be like that because of where we came from. Do research and learn because humans had to have their freedom for thousands of years before any of them became what we are today.
As for the jumpsuits, think long underwear......go to DEVIL IN THE DARK......those were long underwear and they did not fit properly.
Sun, May 12, 2019, 6:59pm (UTC -5)
Mon, May 20, 2019, 7:23am (UTC -5)
Definitely worse than Spock's Brain. A smidge better than The Alternative Factor, Threshold, or Meridian.
Ugh.
Wed, Jul 24, 2019, 11:07am (UTC -5)
Turn this thing into a detective story about why the adults committed suicide and the children didn't seem to care.
And instead of a vague "evil" alien, it's a medical mystery.
Sat, Sep 21, 2019, 9:46pm (UTC -5)
When the show is not being boring, awkward, stilted, and repetitive (and when it is, come to think about it), it’s being offensively stupid. As in McCoy’s clueless grin at the end.
Belli has feathers in his hair and feathers in his head
Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 7:23pm (UTC -5)
So this DOCTOR believes that Kirk's intended course of action has a real possibility of harming children who have just been through a terrible trauma, but defers to the captain's decision? What happened to the Chief Medical Officer's authority in matters of health? Shouldn't he be ordering the captain to take the kids to the starbase for the treatment he believes, in his expert medical opinion, they require? Or at the very least ordering him not to play psychotherapist with them?
Apparently, that whole "the doctor can overrule even the captain in case of medical necessity" thing only applies when convenient to the story.
Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 8:18pm (UTC -5)
It's true that it is thin on motivation, apparently just evil for evil's own sake. I am willing to presume that the evil angel has more of a motivation than that, but I wish we were privy to it.
His way of accomplishing that evil is the one thing of interest, and it underlies everything that happens in the episode: Evil manipulates the specific "beast" in each person, some quality that usually serves them well but has been twisted into a dangerous weakness:
Sulu's enthusiasm for martial arts, a respect that needs but a nudge to plunge him into an abyss of terror.
Uhura's youthful vitality and beauty, betraying a paralyzing fear of the ugliness of death.
Chekov's reverence for Starfleet's hierarchy, which usually gives him unswerving loyalty to his captain but is rooted in a deep fear of disobedience, even when the situation calls for him to question authority.
Scotty's dedication to the physical operation of the ship, perverted into a protectiveness that loses all sense of that ship's purpose.
Kirk's own identity as a natural leader, turned against him as he fears losing control over his ship and crew.
And of course, it all started with the children's beast, their dependence upon loving parents, a dependence they transferred onto an evil being who used their fantasies of power for his own aims.
As for the evil angel himself, he insists, "I fear nothing," but he ultimately fears the most powerful beast of all, the one beast that could have conquered all the personal beasts he had exploited: the truth.
The episode's execution is not always perfect, but the story beneath the plot is a profound one about the universal human experience. This episode implicitly asks two questions of every viewer: "What is your beast?" and then "How can you keep evil from exploiting it?"
Entire spiritual retreats have been structured around such questions. I think they make this episode worth a great deal more than half a star.
I'm not afraid of being alone in that assessment.
Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 8:24pm (UTC -5)
"What happened to the Chief Medical Officer's authority in matters of health? Shouldn't he be ordering the captain to take the kids to the starbase for the treatment he believes, in his expert medical opinion, they require? Or at the very least ordering him not to play psychotherapist with them?"
That's a very reasonable question and really does impact on how we read some of these Trek stories (by no means just this episode). Maybe someone who knows officer regs in the current military will comment too, but from what I can gather from Trek itself the CMO has medical authority with regard to the fitness of the Captain and crew only, and does not have any mission authority nor authority over the Captain's decisions so long as the Captain is fit for command. If the Captain gives an order that's that, although the CMO can file a protest if they wish. So the CMO can order the Captain to take leave or dismiss the Captain from duty if the Captain is medically unfit, but other than that cannot issue orders to a superior officer.
Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 8:54pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Mar 23, 2020, 4:10am (UTC -5)
The kids got really annoying after a while, and for the love of God, why didn't Kirk throw a towel over Uhura's mirror? Still, I liked Gorgan and the overall story wasn't that bad. I found the scene where the two red shirts who got beamed out in space quite disturbing.
II of IV
Thu, Apr 9, 2020, 4:53pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jul 15, 2020, 11:27am (UTC -5)
Sun, Sep 27, 2020, 5:18am (UTC -5)
Kirk and McCoy take a receptacle out of a dead woman' mouth and examine it with....their own noses. Well done geniuses; you just died from the same poison. Except you didn't because this episode is fucking trash.
Fist pumping ginger and that stupid instrument parp made me want to beam into space like a redshirt.
Fri, Dec 18, 2020, 10:52pm (UTC -5)
It’s no beauty, and the orchestra sting each time they pump their fists wasn’t the best choice. Turn that into a drinking game and you’ll be dead before the credits roll.
But there are a number of effective possessed character scenes, particularly Doohan when he tells K&S he will kill them if they don’t leave the room. Doohan sells the hell out of that scene.
Chekov’s phaser scene is also quite strong.
The casual death of the two security guards beamed into space is subtly horrific.
It’s comical that a recording of the kids’ chant summoned the Gorgon.
Sat, Jan 9, 2021, 1:07pm (UTC -5)
https://youtu.be/rrfTLNUsqRc
@Trek fan, i love you, but you sound like baghdad bob.
Mon, Mar 22, 2021, 9:14am (UTC -5)
Sat, May 1, 2021, 3:08am (UTC -5)
There is lots to hate about this one, but at its heart is a potentially scary Henry James style ghost story. The first third is actually quite good, until the first appearance of the “friendly angel” Gorgon. At least, until then it was a sinister mystery that had potential - kids are often at the heart of such stories as no-one expects evil to emerge from their innocence.
But I agree - so many moments when the danger could have been diverted and neutralised. And the fist-pump got REALLY annoying!
On the whole I would give this 2.5 stars for potential, but only 1.5 for the final production. However, the 3rd series isn’t as bad as its reputation (so far...)
Sat, May 1, 2021, 2:59pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jul 2, 2021, 8:25pm (UTC -5)
Well, I don't quite think it's the worst episode. It's certainly awful. Bottom five, no question. No one would ever confuse this episode with entertainment. But for my money, it isn't quite the worst. The Alternative Factor is definitely worse. That one is painful to watch. This one is just silly, and campy. You can't watch it without your eyes wanting to roll out of your head. But it isn't mind-achingly painful like The Alternative Factor. Spock's Brain, Catspaw, and The Way to Eden are also in the running for second-worst episode . . . but I think this one takes that dubious honor.
The beginning of this episode isn't all that terrible. If the Gorgon had been played by an actual actor who could be menacing . . . and if the kids had been portrayed more sinisterly . . . and if there had been more of a mystery surrounding them . . . and if the kids taking over the ship had been more subtle in method . . . well, maybe something adequate could have been made of it. It would be hard. But maybe. Kids can be very creepy, after all. Horror movies know this and use it to great effect all the time. But I have no idea how to save the last twenty minutes. Maybe the children aren't children at all but evil aliens disguising themselves as the children. And the crew have to kill them and come to terms with the reality that that's what they have to do. That might work. It couldn't get made that way, of course. Maybe now. Maybe. But not in 1968 for network TV.
I still think many Enterprise season one & two episodes are worse than this. And, of course, Threshold.
Fri, Oct 29, 2021, 5:06am (UTC -5)
Craig Huxley (Tommy Starnes) and Pamelyn Ferdin (Mary) were child actors seen everywhere in the period of production. I thought they did a great job of portraying children of priviledge twisted into becoming sociopaths. This was a rampant fear in 1968/1969; as was the fear of false messiahs (to quote David Bowie) enslaving young minds, which explains the episode from start to finish.
The name Gorgan comes out of nowhere, it is true, but recalls the gorgon of ancient Greece and adds to the idea that the friendly angel is indeed monstrous.
Tue, Mar 22, 2022, 3:29pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Mar 22, 2022, 4:26pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 2:52pm (UTC -5)
[[omg. just shoot the fucking kids. shoot everyone. blow up the ship. burn the whole fucking thing to the ground.]]
“Jean-Luc, blow up the damn ship!”
Thu, Jul 21, 2022, 8:51pm (UTC -5)
C'mom, they obviously where not able to pull that off, but there's a cool story there.
Sun, Nov 6, 2022, 12:51am (UTC -5)
Tue, Dec 27, 2022, 7:31pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Dec 27, 2022, 8:06pm (UTC -5)
Also in "The Trouble With Tribbles", Kirk orders some kind of soup & sandwich from the replicator (which came with tribbles).
Tue, Dec 27, 2022, 10:34pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Dec 27, 2022, 10:44pm (UTC -5)
Re: replicators, I'm making a distinction between ordering food from the food dispensers, which obviously everyone does, from ordering some random dish out of left field and having it make it for you. In previous episodes, such as Trouble with Tribbles, Kirk does order a meal, but for all we knew he was ordering from a pre-existing menu out of a finite amount of choices, which are pre-prepared and just dispensed from the slot. Think re-hydrating a pizza, like Back to the Future 2. And the fact that the tribbles had already eaten it when it emerged suggests that the soup and sandwich were previously made and were sitting and waiting for him, giving the tribbles time to get into the system and eat it. The dispenser didn't pop it into existence just as Kirk ordered it, which is what seems to happen here when the kid orders the pistachio-whatever dessert he made up out of his butt.
Wed, Dec 28, 2022, 6:03am (UTC -5)
If I remember it correctly, the creepy kids each insert a plastic rectangle given to them by Nurse Chapel into the wall dispenser device and they get a different flavor of ice cream. Stevie didn't get what he wanted and gets weepy. Nurse C. asks him what kind of ice cream he wants and he, trying to over-tax her compassion, asks for a mixture that is somewhat off-the-wall. Nurse C. inserts one of those plastic rectangles into a slot in the wall device and it, (i.e. , the wall device whatever it is), produces the correct mixture for him.
I may have to watch the scene again. Unless there was an "odd mixture" plastic rectangle that can work singly to make weird recipes, the operating system is a complete mystery to me.
Wed, Dec 28, 2022, 8:33am (UTC -5)
Yes, I remember this part in the episode the same way, as well as the soup in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday". So it would seem that either TOS wasn't consistent with replicators or food dispensers, as Peter G. I think rightly clarifies, or they just had them both.
There were a lot of odd inconsistencies in TOS...
Wed, Dec 28, 2022, 4:10pm (UTC -5)
Thanks. Yeah...I think TOS definitely channeled different ideas about food on-board. They were somewhat inspired by the old American automat restaurants...like Horn & Hardardt's, famous in several eastern US cities. The wall was filled with see-through sliding doors with prepared food behind each.
Then there's the red, yellow and green nutritional cube things. I'm not sure where those came from.
But coffee could be heated up with a hand phaser if the power went out...Yeoman Rand did that once. : )
Thu, Jan 12, 2023, 3:55pm (UTC -5)
There is no character development, camaraderie, or substance. Viewers don't even get any redeeming features supplied by prior seasons, like a Playboy model, humor, or fun quotes. The best this has to offer is a highly-mockable hand gesture. This episode deserves as much as it gives: zero of four bowls of chocolate wobble, whatever that is.
Mon, Jan 23, 2023, 7:50pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Apr 6, 2023, 8:05am (UTC -5)
Mon, May 29, 2023, 9:09pm (UTC -5)
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