Star Trek: The Original Series
"The Paradise Syndrome"
Air date: 10/4/1968
Written by Margaret Armen
Directed by Jud Taylor
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
An attempt to divert an asteroid from crashing into a populated planet brings Kirk and the landing party to investigate a planet of paradise where the planet's American Indian-like tribes live in simplistic peace. But when Kirk goes missing after falling into the trap door of a mysterious obelisk, Spock and the Enterprise are forced to leave him behind in order to divert the asteroid before it's too late. Kirk wakes up with amnesia, and upon climbing from the obelisk is taken in by the nearby tribe, where he falls in love with the beautiful Miramanee (Sabrina Scharf). Meanwhile, the story's subplot follows Spock's failed attempt to deflect the asteroid.
Both stories, which take place over a period of several months, are fairly palatable, but neither turns out to be captivating. Kirk's story benefits from the enlightening idea that, although he can't remember who he is, he realizes that being in love and living a simple life has made him "truly happy" for the first time in his life. Not of much interest, however, are Kirk's confrontations with a rival tribe member who, unlike the rest of the tribe, doubts Kirk is a god. Just why does Kirk subtly allow the others to think he is a god in the first place? Is he taking advantage of a situation? The story, unfortunately, never stops to ask what Kirk thinks about this aspect of his problem.
Meanwhile, the romance angle is sweet at first, but goes overboard into tiring sappiness. Miramanee's subsequent injury results in a melodramatic deathbed scene that I couldn't help but resist. Tragedies work better when they have a greater purpose for existing other than for the sake of closing lamentable dialog.
Previous episode: The Enterprise Incident
Next episode: And the Children Shall Lead
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62 comments on this post
Sat, Mar 22, 2008, 8:54am (UTC -6)
It makes me wonder, though, would Kirk be a widower now, even though he wasn't exactly himself when he married her? The same could be asked about Picard in "The Inner Light."
Mon, Sep 23, 2013, 12:22pm (UTC -6)
As for the execution well there are so many holes. The obelisk is very specific in what it does, and why even beam down to the planet if time is the essence - not to mention the non interference directive which would suggest let nature take its course.
I find the story on the planet once Kirk has lost his memory rather bland, though the McCoy/Spock dynamic works rather better.
The ultimate nonsense for me though was 'Kirk to Enterprise' triggering the obelisk to open. It seems like so much hogwash. these 'Providers' may have been powerful enough to transport the Indians there and into an environment that is familiar to them, but I cannot see how such a contrivance could possibly make any sense.
I give this 1 1/2 stars because so much of it is ultimately meaningless to me.
Fri, Oct 4, 2013, 2:22pm (UTC -6)
The episode works for me in that god does arrive from heaven, at least from the perspective of the planet's inhabitants. To wit - the planet's inhabitants see Kirok as one of their own; only at the end is he deemed a false God who does not meet their self imposed expectation when he cannot activate the obelisk to save them.
When the landing party materializes we witness the locals flee in terror. Keep that in mind. The episode is brilliant. In the end, Miramanee does not accept that Kirok is anything other than the god who saved her people and dies believing as such. Kirk, not Kirok, expresses no emotion in relation to her passing, as he says, "if that's what you want." One of the best and memorable TOS episodes in my book.
Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 6:22am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 7:48am (UTC -6)
This was a really good episode despite the little hiccups in logic required to make it work. Each Star Trek incarnation has its own take on the concept of the captian coming to terms with a simplier life away from everything that used to matter to them and TOS did a remarkable job when it set the trend. I was gently moved by the ending and there was a certain vibrant visual beauly held throughout the show which perfectly complemented the story.
One last thing, I got the impression Kirk only went along with the notion of being a god because at that point he feels like he came from the sky and believed it might be true!
Fri, Jan 24, 2014, 9:59am (UTC -6)
And Scotty must have been recovering from a bad hangover because this is the one time the miracle worker can't fix the ship. He flat says he can't do anything short of a drydock. The show ends on that point and we never learn how they resolved it. I assume that Kirk had to call AAA for a tow. In real life if you cripple a multi-billion dollar military vessel then tend to end your career. Both Kirk and Spock should have been out of a job at the end of the episode. But hey this is Star Trek and we have a reset button.
And then there's the whole Kirk lets them think he is a God thing. I can kind of forgive him based on that he is coming down off of a bad memory beam high but not much. "Groovy Man this Memory Beam is better than LDS." Kirk's basic character is supposed to be better than that.
And all the Indians are stupid and badly stereotyped. But hey nice rack Miramanee!
And then there is the whole bit about Aliens planting Injuns on doomed planets. Lots of Class M planets around so they pick one with a bad asteroid problem?
The whole episode is Meh. 1 1/2 stars. Typical of the 3rd season.
Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:53am (UTC -6)
The episode also contains a few gags, first when Spock uses two rocks to explain a rudimentary concept to McCoy, and then when Scotty throws his hands up in frustration when the beloved Enterprise engines burn out in the background.
Sat, Mar 29, 2014, 10:13pm (UTC -6)
Kirk was clearly confused. He knew things but didn't know how he knew them. Maybe he thought he might just be a god figure.
Sat, Mar 29, 2014, 10:33pm (UTC -6)
Inner Light improved on the concept, Thine Own Self just regurgitated it.
Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 2:12pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Sep 4, 2014, 1:19pm (UTC -6)
With Spock in "TSoP," there was a real sense that this was a big deal for him; that this moment of peace and joy was something he had never before experienced, and maybe, once it was over, never would again. There is also the big dramatic, devastating plot element of Kirk having to force Spock out of his happiness in order to bring him back to reality, thus dooming his best friend. Spock, once he returns to "himself," makes the choice to leave this happiness behind, as well. There are, in other words, big choices. In contrast, Kirk is completely passive all episode long. He has a memory loss, and then is basically *given* a new life in which he has to do nothing but "be a god" and fall in love with the girl who is automatically betrothed to him. Then, once disaster strikes, he has to do something involving the obelisk, but he doesn't know what -- and his lack of preparation for this big event (partly because no one actually gave him the specifics that he was expected to have godlike powers to stop a calamity) dooms him, and he gets stoned and his wife gets stoned to death. Oops. In the interim, like Picard in "TIL" and Data in "TOS," Kirk does bring forth some modern tech ideas, but they have no impact on the plot, besides showing that Kirk does still have some ambition to do something besides roll around in open fields thinking about how great it is not to have to do anything but sit around and be worshiped for it.
Kirk pines at the episode's beginning for an escape from his responsibilities, and he gets it -- but notably, he doesn't "get" to be an ordinary guy, but he gets to be a god, without having to do anything. He is still the leader -- he's just now a leader based not on his actions or anything at all, but pure happenstance. There are, in a sense, two models of what a leader is contrasted here: the Starfleet model, and the "man-god" model. The man-god model has some advantages for the man-god: he gets worshiped, he gets fed and sheltered, he gets an attractive wife, and he doesn't have to do anything but accept. But the *moment* that he fails to achieve the impossible feat people demand of him, they turn on him viciously. In contrast, we have Spock standing in for the Starfleet model, which Kirk "normally" represents. Spock has to deal with *constant* backtalk and criticism from his officers, particularly McCoy. People demand Spock not only explain his every action to them, but explain it to them like they're children (is there a funnier moment this season than Spock having to pick up two rocks to explain to McCoy why it's important they stop an asteroid from blowing up the planet, and inching them closer to each other to drive the point home?). He makes logical decisions and they criticize him; he stops sleeping at all for weeks in order that he may work harder and harder on their one infinitesimal chance of saving themselves and Kirk and the planet, and he *also* gets criticized for this. However, in spite of the Enterprise crew's in general (and McCoy's in particular) constant contrariness, they fundamentally have Spock's back. It's a more...almost democratic model, in which, yes, Spock is in charge, but open discussion is allowed and even encouraged, and their willingness to see Spock as flawed also allows them to forgive him when he makes a mistake. Meanwhile, Spock recognizes that he has to work, and work hard, to earn their continued faith in them. The day is saved not by Kirk's utter passivity and comfort in his paradise where other people label him a god, but by Spock recognizing that thought and action and effort is required.
That's kind of a neat story -- an elegant use of the A and B plots to make a point about the futility of wishing for "paradise," because the "Tahiti syndrome" paradise is actually really the desire to be waited on, treated like a god, and not to have to do anything to earn it, not actually a fantasy of living in a pre-industrial civilization, or at least it seems to be in Kirk's case. That said, it is kind of boring; I don't feel very attached to Kirk's life here at all, nor is there enough variety in the Spock/Enterprise plot to make those themes pop (the way the leadership conflict story popped in, say, "The Galileo Seven"). There's also no explanation of how the Enterprise's total loss of warp engines gets resolved at the episode's end. And further, I would like the episode better if it didn't explicitly make it Native American analogues that Kirk falls in with, though. As...*types*, the Noble Savage Woman and the Angry Primitive Religious Zealots are offensive enough, but linked directly to Native Americans they simplify a complex set of peoples down. I think I'm gonna go with 2 stars for the whole endeavour.
Sat, Jun 6, 2015, 11:38pm (UTC -6)
To any Star Trek fans out there, no matter which Trek series is/are your favorite(s), I *HIGHLY* recommend checking out Star Trek Continues (Vic Mignogna) and Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II (James Cawley). They did an excellent, and I mean *EXCELLENT* job keeping the spirit of Star Trek alive until it comes back to our TV screens again, creating episodes with impeccable production values and staying true to the characters - lots of references to new series too. (Perhaps we can get you to review them Jammer? Just kidding, 700+ episodes of Trek is a huge enough undertaking for anyone.)
Seriously, though, "White Iris" is probably my favorite episode by Star Trek Continues by far, just because of how much depth it added to Kirk's character - I was moved to tears by the end, and you're talking to a guy who didn't cry through DS9's "The Visitor". If nothing else, check that one episode out - it's on their website.
startrekcontinues.com/episodes.html
I really cannot say enough about Continues and New Voyages/Phase II. Doubtless there are many other great fan series out there, but these two are the two most well known ones.
Fri, Oct 16, 2015, 7:27pm (UTC -6)
A LOT of big mistakes :
Sin 1
One more earthlike planet, sigh.
Sin 2
More sexism, and one more woman that Kirk will forget about next week, join the Harem.
Sin 3
It presumes that in the 23d century a ships doctor would not now about some simple mathematics like angles of deflection, bogus, anyone who is a doctor will have hath basic math and will know.
Sin 4
The "Kirk to enterprise" line, shenenigans on that, WAY to conviniant.
Sin 5
The energy needed to transport a starship across space by generating a warp-field is MUCH higher than the energy in an moving object, even one the size of the moon, it should be able to displace it.
Sin 6
Pushing against an object the size of the moon from an earthlike planet, would cause that earthlike-planet to shift orbit as well, and probably also will cause an axis-shift. this would have MASSIVE inpact on the climate on said world, and would far from make everything peace and quit again
Sin 7
The indians at the end are still doomed, enterprise will leave, no medicineman left to operate the machine in the next bad event.
But this episode was not all bad.. though much of it was.
*seeing kirk in some other role than captain is not that bad, the benifits of simple life and such is a theory I support. He who multiplies knowledge, multiplies sorrow, ignorance IS bliss, but still one must fight ignorance, man is simply not ment to be happy indeed.
*the storyline of those preservers explains at least SOMEWHAT how that -way to convenient- indian culture + obelisk came to be there, an explenation in many episodes not given, and it even ties some lose ends for other episodes
Overall I would rate this episode at 1.5 stars, it is not pure torture to watch, but no great fun either.
Tue, Dec 1, 2015, 1:42pm (UTC -6)
Sun, May 22, 2016, 5:44pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Jun 24, 2016, 5:44pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Sep 20, 2016, 7:17pm (UTC -6)
Spock pushing the ship that far beyond its limits seems uncharacteristically reckless, more like something Kirk would do. (Maybe that's the point, though, to show he's grown in leadership abilities. Unlike Kirk, though, he isn't infinitely lucky, so he naturally failed. Lol)
Vic McNyanyanya? Nooooooo. I'm getting flashbacks to middle school. (Seems like there's always a few actors who spread themselves across the nerd spectrum. I'm shocked, though. Didn't think the guy known for dubbing anime would be playing Captain Kirk in a web series.)
Tue, Sep 20, 2016, 7:33pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Jun 5, 2017, 10:42am (UTC -6)
Fri, Jun 16, 2017, 3:03pm (UTC -6)
Seems to me to be one of the very few TOS episodes with 2 separate plots operating: Spock and the Enterprise trying to deal with the asteroid and Kirk having lost his memory living with the Indians on the planet.
Spock and McCoy have a good dialogue about how to deal with the asteroid - as Season 2 got on and as we go into Season 3, their interaction gets more and more complex. In a way it's like "The Galileo Seven" from S1 with Spock's command decisions being challenged and not working out.
Kirk's time with the Indians is mostly light-hearted although Salish provides a bit of an antagonist. Again Kirk gets the girl and finds true happiness. It's hard to believe he basically spends 2 months with the Indians. The supposed elapsed time for this episode may be the longest of any TOS episode.
I like the concept of the Preservers - a super-race - spreading humanoid species throughout the galaxy.
Spock with the 1st push of a button manages to deflect the asteroid - is he good or what? A bit of a convenient ending -- but the main point of the episode is Kirk finding true love and happiness and the simple life with the Indians.
"I will bear you many strong sons," says Miramanee as she dies -- are daughters no good?
I'd rate this 2.5 stars. Not a bad episode - some nice moments, some silly ones, but a touching ending with Kirk and Miramanee.
Wed, Nov 22, 2017, 7:02pm (UTC -6)
This story continues the trend, which is very clear at this point in the series, of focusing on our regulars: McCoy, Scotty, Chekov, Sulu, and Uhura are all in fine form here. Watching all the episodes in order, more or less one a day as I've been doing, really shows how the cast chemistry grows throughout the series as stories begin accentuating just the regulars without shoehorning too many guest crewmen. Nicely done here. But the star of this one is Shatner: His love for Miramanee and heartbreak at the end feel unusually vulnerable for the character, shunning his usual glibness, and the concern and love of Spock for his friend really come through. I like this material.
The Space Indian stuff is okay, the Obelisk is suitably alien and mysterious, but all of that is just backdrop for the central story of "captain catches Tahiti syndrome." And you know what? It's a good story, well-acted, with good location shooting and some beautiful moments. I think this is a highly underrated Star Trek episode.
Sat, Dec 30, 2017, 7:28am (UTC -6)
@Trek fan
I liked your comments, and something else struck me while reading them, that this show really made me believe they were out past the edge of known space, all alone. They chugged along at impulse for quite some time, and it seems no other ships were close enough (at warp) to help them. No matter what they ended up doing, it was all on the Enterprise.
Regards... RT
Sat, Feb 17, 2018, 1:01pm (UTC -6)
I know this wasn't stated in the final cut. It comes from earlier drafts of the script (and is mentioned in the James Blish adaptation ). But really, unless the obelisk is some kind of all in one Swiss Army knife problem solver, the existence of a dedicated deflector begs explaining.
If this had been a NexGen episode, I wonder if we'd've had a debate on whether or not deflecting the asteroid was a Prime Directive issue, lol!
Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 9:52am (UTC -6)
Mon, Dec 24, 2018, 9:35pm (UTC -6)
It's the Noble Savage meme: that primitive peoples, living simply, had a better life--a kind of modernized Garden of Eden myth.
Another meme is the Western stud. Western guys are more appreciated outside their Western countries. Ironic our women do not appreciate us as much as women who can barely speak English.
I find this episode, pure hetero-romance that only the pre-2000s could produce. It's my favorite. Reminds me of the crushes I had as a teenager.
Wed, Jan 9, 2019, 1:08pm (UTC -6)
The Enterprise unable to warp ahead of asteroid or divert it as well as the amnesia are all parts of the story needed to develop Kirks lengthy time on planet.
Sat, Mar 16, 2019, 12:54pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Apr 4, 2019, 11:15am (UTC -6)
Sat, May 18, 2019, 10:30pm (UTC -6)
The plot hung together, it was sweet.
Shatner had a few majorily awkward moments, too hammy and such. But mostly, he did OK.
I liked it. Above average.
Wed, Jul 24, 2019, 9:07pm (UTC -6)
Why on Earth would Kirk cut it so close to begin with? Very, very set-up that makes Kirk look like an idiot.
Otherwise, it could have been a good mid-range episode.
Wed, Aug 14, 2019, 1:58am (UTC -6)
KIRK: "Hey Bones, this indigenous woman and I just had some stones thrown at us. I'm a little banged up, but apparently none too worse for the wear. Stay with her. Do what you can."
*McCoy scans Miramanee, discovers she's carrying Kirk's child*
(30 Minutes later)
MCCOY: "She had bad internal injuries, Jim. "
KIRK: "Will she live? "
MCCOY: "No."
KIRK: "No? No?!? Wasn't it just 2 episodes ago where you successfully surgically reattached Spock's brain after it had been stolen from his skull?! And now you're telling me you can't heal a woman with a few internal injuries sustained from some rocks."
MCCOY: "Do you want to explain to Starfleet Command how a woman on an alien pre-warp pre-industrial civilization ended up birthing your child?"
KIRK: "I'll love you, Miramanee. Always."
MCCOY: I swear that's honeysuckle I smell.
KIRK: I swear that's a little orange blossom thrown in. It's unbelievable. Growth exactly like that of Earth on a planet half a galaxy away. What are the odds on such duplication?
SPOCK: Astronomical, Captain.
Thu, Aug 15, 2019, 3:26pm (UTC -6)
Wading through pages of bonfires, wasted pixels, repeated blather of the Nth by the same characters using different handles AND THEN I FIND YOUR GEM.
Thank you for the best funniest comment - in years.
Sun, May 10, 2020, 3:04pm (UTC -6)
I think this one has the most sort of "fan service" to it as it kind of plays like a greatest hits of Kirk's romances -- Rayna, Edith Keeler, Miramanee, and some woman from the Farragut. Some creative license is taken in Kirk's use of the holodeck to revisit scenes of old episodes and be absolved of letting those women die -- but it's a clever use of the device, I must say. Reminds me of the kind of thing one would expect to see on a good VOY episode.
You've got another Trek staple of 2 warring planets and that adds the ticking clock to Kirk to get resolution and remember the passcode for the defense system. That the passcode to the defense system be reliant on Kirk's memory is a bit of an oops...
2.5 stars for "The White Iris" -- Nearly 3 stars here for me. There is an interesting link between the lonely white iris in Van Gogh's painting and a ship's captain. The ship's [very hot] counselor points Kirk on the right path to getting closure as Spock's mind meld would have had Kirk believe he had failed those lost loves, which wasn't the case. Another solid STC production that's definitely worth a re-watch at some point.
Sat, May 23, 2020, 1:55pm (UTC -6)
I won't go deep in the weeds on this, but suffice it to say that the characterization of the american indians in this boils down to the "noble savage" stereotype, and they are consistently portrayed as simple minded, where Kirk is shown to be smarter and superior at every turn. It also just runs rough shod over actual beliefs, traditions and aspects of native american culture in favor of gross stereotypes, boiling them down to little more than mascot level representation. This might be forgivable, if they hadn't so explicitly named the culture as "American Indians" right at the start of the episode.
I suspect the reason that no one has commented on this, versus something like Code of Honor in TNG Season 1, is because years of Hollywood stereotyping of an entire indigenous people has made this type of characterization ubiquitous, to the point that people either don't even think about it, or they believe this is an actual representation of native american culture. Which is exactly why this type of casual sterotyping and racism is so incredibly damaging.
Sat, Jan 9, 2021, 9:51am (UTC -6)
There are TNG episodes that could easily have been TOS episodes ("The Naked Now"). This is a TOS episode that - with its clear A/B format - could have easily been a TNG episode. It basically is half "Inner Light" (Picard = Kirk) and half "Deja Q" (astroid = astroid).
I'm happy to give The Paradise Syndrome 3 stars, if only because Kirk gets to sleep with a Playboy bunny and for once be happy. That, and they've actually done a pretty good job transposing Paul Gaugin's Tahiti Syndrome from paintings
https://www.google.com/search?q=paul+gauguin+tahiti&tbm=isch
to television.
That said, Farscape did a far more interesting job with the episode "Jeremiah Crichton".
https://youtu.be/a2fSEXbRD8o
Wed, Jan 20, 2021, 9:37pm (UTC -6)
Though it is curious that the woman didn't survive her injuries whole Kirk was completely conscious and not injured. I'm developing a theory that Bones faked her injuries so that Kirk wouldn't want to stay and be with his child. ALSO that Bones has been doing this across the galaxy and Kirk has like 50 children. By the events of DS9 you have a 1/10 chance of being related to someone related to Kirk.
Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 5:06am (UTC -6)
Mon, Mar 1, 2021, 11:32am (UTC -6)
Mon, Mar 1, 2021, 12:50pm (UTC -6)
In the words of the late great Warren Oates: Lighten up, Kirok.
If I like Alice in Wonderland, does that make me a pedophile? Do I have to explicitly state that I am definitely NOT a pedophile every time I discuss the book?
I hope not. But that seems to be the standard you are employing here.
There is a difference between liking something because of its problematic qualities, and liking something despite its problematic qualities.
I think it's a mistake that, just because someone doesn't begin every discussion with a disavowal of all the unacceptable things in a work of fiction, that they must actually agree with them.
If you have a problem with something then by all means speak up. There are racists in this world, and I have read comments here that probably qualify as racist. But I think automatically assuming the worst of your fellow posters is a mistake.
Fri, Mar 5, 2021, 10:31am (UTC -6)
Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 1:57am (UTC -6)
Yet, like Jammer, I was strangely unmoved. There were far too many longueurs in the tribal scenes. Instead of Kirk chasing Miramanee through the trees in slow motion, why not show some of his dreams? The familiar faces would be blurred and the ship’s locations would be distorted in a semi-recognisable manner, lending a quasi nightmarish tone ... an opportunity missed perhaps?
Not bad, but not great either. I think Jammer’s 2.5 stars is fair.
Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 2:12am (UTC -6)
Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 7:48am (UTC -6)
Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 8:49am (UTC -6)
Sat, May 1, 2021, 1:23am (UTC -6)
I totally do not come here randomly to read comments for TOS episodes. :-)
Sat, May 1, 2021, 2:45am (UTC -6)
It seems that I may have misremembered which episode that scene was from. Thanks for setting me straight. A comment above by someone else who misremembered misled me!
Fri, Jul 2, 2021, 1:13am (UTC -6)
I don't think a discussion of the episode should start and end there, though, and I would hope everybody, after noticing and remarking on it, is capable of seeing past that to what else the episode has to offer.
Anyway, I think the Enterprise noticed the asteroid was going to hit a class-M planet, realized they could deflect it, and figured that, whether or not the planet was inhabited, they should deflect it, because maybe the Federation would want to colonize it later. Why let it wreck an M-class world, right? When they got closer to the system, they detected the obelisk on the planet, and assumed there was a technologically advanced civilization there, so they diverted there instead and beamed down to make first contact, and ask why they hadn't deflected the asteroid. Don't want to be moving somebody else's asteroid unannounced, right? Better understand the situation first. But they discovered the civilization wasn't advanced, so they didn't make contact, and then Kirk went missing. With little time, Spock decides that since the inhabitants of the planet can't divert the asteroid, it's up to the Enterprise, and they have to leave RIGHT NOW to make it happen. He can't leave McCoy or anyone else on the planet to search for Kirk because leaving people behind on a planet with uncontactable people where they might be discovered is a violation of the Prime Directive. (In fact, even beaming down was, but they only did that because they assumed it was an advanced civilization because of the obelisk.)
So that's my take on why the Enterprise beams people down with only a thirty minute window, why they didn't deflect the asteroid first, and why they leave Kirk alone without letting McCoy stay on the surface to look for him while the Enterprise does what it needs to do.
Spock never asks the question of IF the Enterprise should continue to deflect the asteroid after discovering the pre-warp civilization on the planet or if that would be a violation of the Prime Directive . . . personally, I choose to believe the PD isn't THAT restrictive. There's evidence either way, but I'd argue moving an asteroid is sufficiently removed from direct interference that Spock could make the case it didn't apply. Oh, I guess someone could argue that, then, isn't the reverse also true--is moving an asteroid INTO a collision course with the planet ALSO not a violation of the Prime Directive? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but it's definitely a violation of other Starfleet directives about attacking alien civilizations, so nyaaahhh.
Sun, Jul 11, 2021, 3:30pm (UTC -6)
It would've been much better if Spock and McCoy were stranded on the planet too. Then they would've had to begrudgingly work together to activate the asteroid deflector.
Maybe that was the plan before the budget cuts. At least we had ONE episode from S3 that was filmed on-location.
Fri, Jul 16, 2021, 10:34pm (UTC -6)
Rewatching The Paradise Syndrome didn’t impress me as much as others. It is better than I remembered, but not by too much. Two and a half stars seems fair.
Wed, Sep 1, 2021, 5:40pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Sep 1, 2021, 7:58pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Sep 20, 2021, 2:05pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Jul 15, 2022, 5:57am (UTC -6)
Sun, Nov 27, 2022, 11:03am (UTC -6)
Mon, Dec 19, 2022, 9:56pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Jan 23, 2023, 7:49am (UTC -6)
Thu, Apr 6, 2023, 7:57am (UTC -6)
Sun, Jul 23, 2023, 11:29am (UTC -6)
But anyway, I also think this episode sort of buries the lead a bit when it comes to its most interesting idea: the providers. Who were they, why’d they do what they did, where’d they go? I don’t mind mystery and ambiguity, but I’d rather spend the episode investigating this situation than watching Kirk grow some wicked sideburns.
I will say, the romance and pathos of Kirk and miramanee’s doomed relationship is pretty moving. I also find it interesting to think about what one would do if you had amnesia and everyone around you kept insisting that you were a god? Very confusing experience I’d imagine. A few other thoughts:
-was Spock explaining asteroid deflection to McCoy with rocks done for McCoy’s benefit or for the audience’s? Either way it’s a wildly condescending scene, made stranger by McCoy’s lack of reaction to such an obvious insult.
-is deflecting an asteroid really against the PD? I’m no prime directive scholar, but if the culture in question is unaware of the asteroid or the efforts to deflect it then I don’t see how it would influence their social development in any sort of detrimental fashion. Now if there was a comet that periodically became visible to this hypothetical society and they developed a religion or something around it, and due to some quirk of orbital mechanics it entered a collision course with their planet, THEN deflecting it might be a PD issue, as having your god literally smash into and devastate your world would probably be a seminal event for any civilization. But if it all occurs outside of their knowledge I’m not sure what logic there is in letting such a catastrophe happen.
-it’s a good thing Kirk took CPR class. Totally got him laid.
-was there some sort of parallel with the villagers stoning Kirk and miramanee and the planet about to be “stoned” by an asteroid?
2/4 memory obliterating obelisks of mystery.
Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 8:01pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 9:27pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Aug 5, 2023, 3:35pm (UTC -6)
Good points on the ambivalence of “returning to a simple life”. I found Kirk’s reaction to it quite revealing. When he is in his right mind, he’s quite allergic to a simple life in paradise… we’ve seen that in a number of episodes. Here, in the opening scene, at the sight of the village, he expresses his wish to settle down and live a simple life, but it’s obviously a fantasy he knows he can’t have. When he loses his memory, this inhibition is gone. For a while, he’s able to settle down with Miramanee and her people, and he seems to have found happiness indeed… but what he’s definitely not found is inner peace. He’s still plagued by visions and dreams which are subconscious manifestations of his sense of duty. What’s more, he starts inventing and improving things, pushing their society from the simple life he cherishes towards a progress which would inevitably change their way of life. Like you mentioned the benefits of modern medicine, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to show them how to irrigate the fields (although it adds to the simplistic portrayal of Native Americans which is certainly the weakest point of this episode). But most of all, it speaks volumes about Kirk. Even though he says he’s found paradise, he can’t just sit on his rear end and be happy with what he’s got. Ultimately, he seems to be one of these persons who simply aren’t made for settling down, who always feel the urge to move on, from one challenge to the next… From this point of view, it’s not surprising that the story ends in death and grief.
Sun, Sep 10, 2023, 11:35pm (UTC -6)
It offers a far better explanation for off-Earth humanoids than TNG's The Chase, and is similar to the Stargate and FarScape mythos: advanced aliens took some very ancient humans and carted them off throughout the galaxy. Is this perfect? No. But it makes a whole lot more sense than "magic bacteria planted by humanoids would result in humanoids evolving everywhere" as written by people who do not understand Darwinian evolution at all.
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