WRITTEN BY
Margaret Armen
DIRECTED BY
Jud Taylor
AIRED ON
October 4, 1968
RUNTIME
50 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
230
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-21 12:34:46
PAGE VERSION
Version 7
LIKES
0
DISLIKES
1
SUMMARY
No summary yet.
STORY
No story yet.
BEHIND THE SCENES
- Real Filming Locations: "The Paradise Syndrome" was filmed at the scenic Franklin Canyon Reservoir in Beverly Hills, California, which stood in for the beautiful, idyllic planet of Amerind. This location had been used in earlier episodes of Star Trek and other TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show.
- Shatner's Performance as Kirok: In this episode, Captain Kirk, suffering from amnesia, believes he is "Kirok," a god-like figure to the Native American-like people of Amerind. William Shatner’s portrayal of the emotional transformation—from starship captain to the gentle, god-like Kirok—allowed for a broader range of his acting skills, especially during the climactic moments when he cries out, “I AM KIROK!” Fans and critics often point to Shatner's "Kirok scream" as one of his more dramatic performances.
- Theme of the Episode: "The Paradise Syndrome" explores themes of love, identity, and the consequences of technological interference on less advanced civilizations. It also highlights Kirk’s yearning for a simpler, more peaceful life, a theme explored in other episodes where the burden of command weighs on him.
- DeForest Kelley’s Real-life Connection: DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) grew up in the Southern United States, where he had a personal familiarity with Native American culture and customs. Kelley reportedly gave input on some of the cultural aspects depicted in the episode, as he felt a strong connection to the material.
- Pacing and Plot Issues: The episode, while praised for its ambitious storytelling, has been criticized for its pacing. The subplot involving the Enterprise crew's attempts to deflect an asteroid seems disjointed from Kirk's storyline on the planet. Some fans and writers have felt that the episode could have benefited from more focus on either Kirk’s experience on Amerind or the asteroid subplot, rather than both.
- Tragic Love Story: Kirk's romance with Miramanee, the Amerind woman who becomes his wife, is one of the more emotionally intense stories in Star Trek. Miramanee becomes pregnant with Kirk's child, but tragically, both she and the baby die before Kirk regains his memory. This episode deepens the theme of loss that often surrounds Kirk's romantic relationships in the series.
- Cultural Representation: The portrayal of the Amerind people, modeled after Native Americans, has been a topic of discussion. While Star Trek often tried to tackle contemporary social issues, this depiction has been critiqued for its stereotypical treatment of indigenous cultures.
- Unique Sci-Fi Concept: The obelisk that Kirk encounters is an ancient alien artifact designed to prevent planetary disasters by deflecting asteroids. The idea of advanced technology being mistaken for divine intervention by primitive cultures is a common theme in Star Trek, reflecting the show’s emphasis on science and rationality versus superstition and religion.
- Fan Reception: Although "The Paradise Syndrome" has a mixed reception, it remains a favorite for some fans due to its emotional depth and the rare opportunity to see Kirk in a domestic and peaceful setting, away from his starship and duties as a captain.
QUOTES
McCoy: Well, Spock, you took your calculated risk in your calculated Vulcan way, and you lost. You lost for us, you lost for that planet, and you lost for Jim.
Kirk: I am Kirok! I have come! I am Kirok!
Miramanee: Each kiss is as the first.
FILMING LOCATIONS
TOPICS
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REVIEWS
Asteroid, Indians and amnesia
Written by
Pike on 2020-05-13
★
AN INTERESTING CONCEPT
The episode started with a very interesting concept: a planet that will soon be hit with an asteroid. Kirk, Spock and McCoy visit this planet and discover a strange obelisk. This was a good start.
GREAT LOCATION
Not only this, but after so many episodes taking place in small sets, we finally get to breath in the outdoor of a great and real location. I liked it a lot.
BUT...
But unfortunately, all goes to hell soon after that. Kirk is waking up with amnesia and seen as a God by a type of Indian tribe, this is the type of stories I would read as a kid in Scrooge McDuck or Donald. The episode then becomes even worse and worse, until Kirok (Kirk's new Indian name) and his new wife are being stoned with obvious fake stones. Cheap and really bad.
NO EPILOGUE
Finally, the episode has no epilogue. Kirk's wife dies. Credits roll.
VERDICT
I give it 1 out of 5. Very bad.
TRANSCRIPT
[Planet surface]
(Conifers stand on the slopes down to a lake, where three figures beam down onto a trackway.)
MCCOY: Look at those pine trees.
KIRK: And that lake.
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. The relative size, age and composition of this planet makes it highly improbable that it would evolve similarly to Earth in any way.
MCCOY: What in blazes is that?
(A bizarre structure on a dais, with steps leading up to it.)
KIRK: Analysis, Spock.
SPOCK: An alien metal of some kind. An alloy resistant to probe. Readings can't even measure its age accurately. These incised symbols are fascinating. Evidently, some form of writing.
KIRK: Any theories about what it is?
SPOCK: Negative, Captain. Structures of this complexity require extremely sophisticated building apparatus, the kind usually found in cultures surpassing or equalling our own.
MCCOY: Meadows and no meteor craters. The whole place is an enigma, biologically and culturally.
KIRK: What's the nearest concentration of life forms, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: Bearing one one seven mark four.
KIRK: And how much time did you say we have to investigate?
SPOCK: If we are to divert the asteroid which is on a collision course with this planet, we must warp out of orbit within thirty minutes. Every second we delay arriving at the deflection point compounds the problem, perhaps past solution.
KIRK: You did say thirty minutes?
SPOCK: Yes, sir.
KIRK: Then let's go. Let's find out what life forms are blessed by this environment.
(Standing on the opposite side of the lake from a collection of tipis and a lodge.)
MCCOY: Why, they look like. I'd swear they're American Indians.
SPOCK: They are, Doctor. A mixture of Navajo, Mohican, and Delaware, I believe. All among the more advanced and peaceful tribes.
KIRK: It's like discovering Atlantis or Shangri-la. Mister Spock, is it possible there's a more evolved civilisation somewhere else on this planet, one capable of building that obelisk or developing a deflector system?
SPOCK: Highly improbable, Captain. Sensor probes indicate only one type of life form here.
MCCOY: Shouldn't we contact them, Jim? Tell them?
KIRK: Tell them what? That an asteroid's coming to smash their world into atoms?
SPOCK: Too primitive to grasp the concept of space flight, Doctor. Our appearance here would only confuse and frighten them.
KIRK: We've got a job to do. Let's get back to the Enterprise.
(Along the path.)
MCCOY: What's the matter, Jim?
KIRK: What? Oh, nothing. It's just so peaceful, uncomplicated. No problems, no command decisions. Just living.
MCCOY: Typical human reaction to an idyllic natural setting. Back in the twentieth century, we referred to it as the Tahiti Syndrome. It's particularly common to over-pressured leader types, like starship captains.
KIRK: Ah, the Tahiti Syndrome. Let's go take care of that asteroid. But first I want another look at that obelisk.
[Obelisk]
(Kirk walks up to it as McCoy scans with the tricorder.)
SPOCK: Doctor?
MCCOY: Yes.
SPOCK: I suggest that any further research on your part be delayed until after we have diverted the asteroid.
KIRK: (standing next to the symbols) Kirk to Enterprise. (and drops suddenly out of our sight)
CHEKOV [OC]: Yes, sir.
(Inside the obelisk chamber, Kirk starts to stand and is hit by and electrical discharge. He collapses across a control panel.)
Captain's Log, stardate 4842.6. First Officer Spock commanding. Numerous search parties and repeated sensor probes of the area have failed to locate Captain Kirk.
[Obelisk]
(Spock is standing where Kirk was when he disappeared.)
SPOCK: Spock to Enterprise.
SCOTT [IC]: Enterprise. Come in, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Prepare to beam us up, Mister Scott. We're warping out of orbit.
MCCOY: Leaving? You can't be serious, Spock.
SPOCK: Doctor, that asteroid is almost as large as your Earth's moon. Far enough away, the angle necessary to divert it enough to avoid destruction is minute, but as the asteroid approaches this planet, the angle becomes so great that even the power of a starship
MCCOY: The devil with an asteroid! It won't get here for two months, Spock!
SPOCK: If we arrive at the deflection point in time, it may not get here at all.
MCCOY: In the meantime, what about Jim?
SPOCK: Once the asteroid has been diverted, we'll return here and resume the search.
MCCOY: That may be hours from now. He may be injured or dying.
SPOCK: (picking up two stoned to illustrate his point) Doctor, assume this is the planet we're on. This is the approaching asteroid. If we don't get to that deflection point in time, it will become physically impossible to divert this asteroid. In that case, everyone on this planet will die, including the captain.
MCCOY: Can a few more minutes matter, Spock?
SPOCK: In the time it's taken me to explain the problem, the asteroid has moved from here to here. The longer we delay, the less the likelihood of being able to divert it. Beam us up, Mister Scott.
[Obelisk chamber]
KIRK [OC]: (dazed and confused) Where am I? What place is this? What are these? (phaser and communicator) I feel should know. They're familiar and yet unfamiliar. How did I get here? Who am I? Try to remember.
(He finds a flight of stairs and walks up, out into the sunshine)
[Obelisk]
(Two young women are approaching, carrying baskets of food.)
MIRAMANEE: Wait.
(They kneel at the sight of Kirk. Then one gets up and walks up the steps to him, and puts his hand to her forehead.)
KIRK: Who are you?
MIRAMANEE: We are your people. We've been waiting for you to come to us.
Captain's log, stardate 4843.6. First Officer Spock commanding. We've been en route to the asteroid for several hours. Our delay on the planet's surface has made it imperative that we proceed at maximum warp speed for a period which exceeds the recommended safety margin.
[Engineering]
SCOTT: I can't give you warp nine much longer, Mister Spock. These engines are beginning to show signs of stress.
[Bridge]
SPOCK: Stress or not, we cannot reduce speed. I do not intend to miss that
[Engineering]
SPOCK [OC]: Deflection point.
SCOTT: All right, but we're moving further into the danger range all the time.
[Bridge]
SCOTT [OC]: If these circuits
SPOCK: Objection noted, Mister Scott. Carry on.
[Lodge]
ELDER: Miramanee has said that you appeared to her and to her handmaiden from the walls of the temple, just as our legend foretells. We do not doubt the words of our priestess, but these are troubled times, and we must be sure.
KIRK: I'll answer anything I can, but as I told you, many things are strange to me.
SALISH: He knows nothing of our danger. How could he save us?
ELDER: It is against custom to interrupt a tribal elder at council, even for the medicine chief.
SALISH: Elder, words will not save us when the skies darken. We must be certain. I say he must prove he is a god.
ELDER: Our skies have darkened three times since the harvest. The last time worst of all. Our legend predicts such danger and promises that the Wise Ones who planted us here will send a god to save us, one who can rouse the temple spirit and make the sky grow quiet. Can you do this?
KIRK: I came from the temple, as Miramanee said, and it was a beginning for me here. But I came from the sky, too. Only I can't remember. I can't remember.
MIRAMANEE: Salish, a terrible thing has happened. The boy was attending the fishnets, and he became entangled in them and sank to the bottom of the river. Lumo brought him up quickly, but he doesn't move.
SALISH: There is no sound in the body. There is no light in the eyes. He will move no more.
KIRK: Wait a moment.
(Kirk gives the kiss of life.)
ELDER: Wait.
(Kirk massages the boy's legs and he coughs, waking up.)
KIRK: He'll be all right now.
ELDER: My people are grateful.
KIRK: It's a simple technique. It goes way back. Way back.
ELDER: Only a god can breathe life into the dead. Do you still question? Give him the medicine badge.
Miramanee takes the headband with the metal disc from Salish's head and puts it on Kirk. They all salute him.
[Bridge]
(The Enterprise has arrived at the asteroid.)
CHEKOV: Deflection point minus seven.
[Engineering]
SPOCK [OC]: Full power, Mister Scott.
SCOTT: The relays will reject the overload, Mister Spock!
SPOCK: Then bypass the relays and go to manual control.
[Bridge]
SCOTT [OC]: We'll burn out the engines!
SPOCK: I want full power, Mister Scott.
SCOTT [OC]: Aye, sir.
[Engineering]
SCOTT: All right, you lovelies. Hold together. Full power, Mister Spock.
[Bridge]
SPOCK: Magnification factor twelve, Mister Sulu.
SULU: Aye, sir.
CHEKOV: Deflection point minus four.
SPOCK: All engines stop. Hold position here.
SCOTT [OC]: All engines stop, sir.
SPOCK: Prepare to activate deflectors.
SULU: Aye, sir.
CHEKOV: Power dropping, sir.
(The lights dim.)
SPOCK: Engineering, maintain full power. Full power.
SCOTT [OC]: Dilithium crystal circuit's failing, sir. We'll have to replace it.
SPOCK: Not now.
CHEKOV: Zero. Deflection point now, sir.
SPOCK: Activate deflectors.
(A beam shoots out and pulses against the big lump of rock.)
CHEKOV: Power dropping, sir.
SPOCK: Degree of deflection, Mister Sulu.
SULU: Not enough, Mister Spock. It's only point zero zero one three degrees.
SPOCK: Recircuit power to engines. Maximum speed heading three seven mark zero one zero.
SULU: Aye, sir.
CHEKOV: That heading will put us directly in the asteroid's path, sir.
SPOCK: Correct, Mister Chekov. I intend to retreat in front of that asteroid until we can employ all power on phaser beams.
MCCOY: What for?
SPOCK: To destroy it. A narrow beam concentrated on a single spot will split that mass.
MCCOY: It might also cripple the ship, and we would be crushed by the asteroid.
SPOCK: Incorrect. We'll still be able to get out of its path by use of impulse power.
MCCOY: Jim won't be able to get out of its path.
SPOCK: That, Doctor, is another calculated risk we must take.
[Lakeside]
(Miramanee has just filled a skin with water.)
SALISH: Miramanee. What are you doing?
MIRAMANEE: I must see to the needs of the god, as is my duty.
SALISH: You should be working on our ritual cloak.
MIRAMANEE: There will be no ritual between us now, Salish.
SALISH: What do you mean? We cannot go against tradition.
MIRAMANEE: It is because of tradition that I cannot marry you.
SALISH: But you are promised to me.
MIRAMANEE: That was before he came.
SALISH: Tribal priestess and medicine chief are always joined.
MIRAMANEE: He is medicine chief now. Salish, choose another. Any maiden would be honoured to join with you.
SALISH: I wish no other.
MIRAMANEE: You have no choice.
SALISH: Miramanee, if you could choose, would you choose me?
(She lowers her eyes and walks away.)
[Lodge]
(Kirk is carving a hole in a gourd.)
MIRAMANEE: Perhaps you would like to bathe now.
KIRK: Miramanee, tell me about the Wise Ones.
MIRAMANEE: Tell? But a god knows everything.
KIRK: Not this one. Tell me.
MIRAMANEE: The Wise Ones brought us here from far away. They chose a medicine chief to keep the secret of the temple and to use it when the sky darkens.
KIRK: Secrets of the temple.
MIRAMANEE: There are no lacings. (his uniform top) How is this thing removed?
KIRK: The secrets were passed on from father to son?
MIRAMANEE: Yes. How does this open?
KIRK: Well, why doesn't Salish use it? Why are the people in danger?
MIRAMANEE: His father did not wish to share his power too soon. He died before he told Salish the secret.
(Two young women enter with trays of fruit, then the tribal elder comes in.)
ELDER: Our people rejoice and wish to honour your name, but I did not know what you wish to be called. What may I tell them?
KIRK: Ki, Kir
ELDER: Kirok?
(The women leave.)
ELDER: Have we displeased you?
KIRK: No, no, everything is fine.
ELDER: Then it must be ourselves, the way we live. Perhaps we have not improved as quickly as the Wise Ones wish.
KIRK: Your land is rich, your people happy. Who could be displeased with that?
ELDER: But there is something. Tell us. We will change it.
KIRK: I can't tell you anything. All I can tell you is that I'm happy and peaceful here. I'm not sure, but I think I've never felt that way before.
(The elder leaves.)
KIRK: Why are they so sure I can help them?
MIRAMANEE: Well, you came from the stone metal. Did you not bring life to the child?
KIRK: Yes, but I. I need time to remember.
MIRAMANEE: Here there is much time. For everything.
[Bridge]
SPOCK: Co-ordinates, Mister Chekov.
CHEKOV: Tau eight point seven. Beta point zero four one.
SPOCK: That is our target. The asteroid's weakest point.
CHEKOV: Almost dead centre, sir.
SPOCK: Lock all phasers on that mark. Maximum intensity, narrow beam. I want to split that fissure wide open.
MCCOY: You sound like you're cutting a diamond.
SPOCK: Very astute, Doctor.
SULU: All phasers locked, sir.
SPOCK: We'll fire in sequence and continue firing as long as Mister Scott can maintain power.
SULU: Standing by, sir.
SPOCK: Fire phasers.
SULU: Phaser one firing.
[Engineering]
SCOTT: That Vulcan won't be satisfied till these panels are a puddle of lead.
SULU [OC]: Phaser two firing.
ENGINEER: Main relay's out again, Mister Scott.
[Bridge]
SULU: Phaser four firing. All phasers fired, sir.
SPOCK: Rig for simultaneous firing, Mister Sulu. Commence simultaneous bombardment.
[Engineering]
(There are flashes and a sizzling sound from the engines, then they go dark.)
SCOTT: My bairns. My poor bairns.
[Lodge]
(Kirk is dressed in decorated buckskins.)
MIRAMANEE: The ritual cloak is finished. If it pleases you, I would like to name the Joining day.
KIRK: The Joining day?
MIRAMANEE: I'm the daughter of the chief. Tribal law betroths me to our leader. If there is another, I will step aside.
KIRK: No, Miramanee, there's no one else in my mind or my heart.
MIRAMANEE: God's wish is above tribal law.
KIRK: Name the Joining day.
MIRAMANEE: The sooner our happiness together begins, the longer it will last. Tomorrow.
(They kiss.)
[Spock's quarters]
(An image of the obelisk is on the monitor. Spock looks as if he is meditating upon it.)
SCOTT [OC]: Don't ask for anymore warp nine speeds, Mister Spock. Our star drive is completely burned out. The only thing we have left is impulse power.
SPOCK: Estimated repair time?
{Engineering]
SCOTT: Hanging here in space? Forever.
[Spock's quarters]
SCOTT [OC]: The only thing that'll fix these poor darlings is the nearest repair base.
SPOCK: I've already surmised that. Thank you, Mister Scott.
MCCOY: Well, Spock, you took your calculated risk in your calculated Vulcan way, and you lost. You lost for us, you lost for that planet, and you lost for Jim.
SPOCK: I accept the responsibility, Doctor.
MCCOY: And my responsibility is the health of this crew. You've been driving yourself too hard, and I want you to get some rest.
SPOCK: Mister Chekov, resume heading eight eight three mark four one.
MCCOY: Back to that planet? Without warp speed, it'll take months, Spock.
SPOCK: Exactly fifty nine point two two three days, Doctor, and that asteroid will be four hours behind us all the way.
MCCOY: Well then what's the use? We might not be able to save the captain even if he still is alive. We might not be able to save anything, including this ship! You haven't heard a word I've said. All you've been doing is staring at that blasted obelisk.
SPOCK: Another calculated Vulcan risk, Doctor.
[lodge]
(Miramanee is attended by three young women, preparing her for her wedding.)
WOMAN: This joining means the end of darkness.
MIRAMANEE: It's a time for joy for all my people.
[Obelisk]
(Kirk is having ritual signs painted on his face.)
ELDER: You will wait until I walk the holy path to the earth lodge first, to give me time to tell the priestess that you follow and that the Joining will take place.
(He leaves Kirk to rejoice in his new life.)
KIRK [OC]: I have found paradise. Surely no man has ever attained such happiness.
[Path]
(Salish blocks Kirk's way. He has a knife.)
KIRK: Get out of my way, Salish.
SALISH: Even though you be a god, Kirok, I cannot permit this Joining.
KIRK: Nobody's asking for your permission.
SALISH: Then you must strike me dead.
KIRK: I have no intention of striking you dead.
(Salish cuts Kirk's hand.)
SALISH: You bleed. You bleed, Kirok. Behold a god who bleeds! Behold a god who bleeds!
(They fight, and Kirk gets Salish pinned to the ground.)
SALISH: Kill me. Kill me, Kirok, for I will not rest until I prove to my people that you are no god.
(Kirk throws down the knife and walks away.)
(In the Earth Lodge, Kirk is dressed in the cloak of many coloured feathers, and he and Miramanee stand in front of the elder.)
[Spock's quarters]
MCCOY: I thought you were reporting to Sickbay.
SPOCK: There isn't time, Doctor. I must decipher those obelisk's symbols. They're a highly advanced form of cipher writing.
MCCOY: You've been trying to do that ever since we started back to that planet. Fifty eight days.
SPOCK: I'm aware of that, Doctor. I'm also aware when we arrive at the planet, we'll have barely four hours to effect rescue. I believe those symbols are the key.
MCCOY: Well, you won't read them by killing yourself. You've hardly eaten or slept for weeks. Now if you don't let up, you're going to collapse.
SPOCK: I am not hungry, Doctor. And under stress, we Vulcans can do without sleep for weeks.
MCCOY: Well, your Vulcan metabolism is so low it can hardly be measured, and as for the pressure, that green ice water you call blood
SPOCK: My physical condition is not important, Doctor. That obelisk is.
MCCOY: Well, my diagnosis is exhaustion brought on from overwork and guilt. You're blaming yourself for crippling this ship, just as we blamed you. Well, we were wrong. So were you. You made a command decision. Jim would have done the same. My prescription is rest, now. Do I have to call the security guards to enforce it?
(Spock goes and lies on his bed. McCoy leaves. Spock gets up again and returns to his study of the symbols.)
[Forest]
(Bare-chested Kirk is chasing laughing Miramanee through the trees.)
KIRK: Miramanee. Come here. Miramanee.
(He catches her and they kiss.)
MIRAMANEE: Each time your arms hold me is as joyous as the first.
KIRK: I'm happy. I'm so happy. If it weren't for the dreams, my mind would be completely at peace.
MIRAMANEE: I thought you no longer had the dreams, that you no longer saw the strange lodge which moves through the sky.
KIRK: They've come back. They were gone for a while, but they've come back, and I see faces, too. Very dim. I feel I should know know them. I feel my place is with them, not here. I don't deserve this happiness.
MIRAMANEE: I have a gift for you.
KIRK: A gift? What?
MIRAMANEE: It may make you happy. Wait.
KIRK [OC]: These last few weeks, my love for Miramanee grows stronger with each passing day. However, the dreams return every night. Fragments of memories. I can almost get hold of them, and then
(Miramanee returns with what native american women carry their babies in.)
MIRAMANEE: I bear your child.
KIRK: You!
(They embrace again.)
[Lodge]
(Kirk has made a puddle in the mud floor of their home and is explaining irrigation to Miramanee.)
KIRK: A canal. And with it we'll bring the water from the lake right to the lodge. And we can expand the system, and irrigate the fields and double the food supply.
MIRAMANEE: And with the power of the lamp. Lamp?
KIRK: Lamp.
MIRAMANEE: Which turns night into day, we can cook twice as much food, and as you taught us, pre
KIRK: Preserve.
MIRAMANEE: Preserve.
KIRK: Preserve.
MIRAMANEE@ For times of famine. That is why you made the lamp, Kirok, so that I would never know when it was night, and I would be forever cooking.
KIRK: Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. That's not why I made the lamp at all, to keep you forever cooking.
(Thunder and lightning as they kiss, then a wind starts up.)
KIRK: It's only the wind and the thunder.
MIRAMANEE: I act like a stupid child. I have nothing to fear. You are here. (she looks outside) It is time.
KIRK; Time?
MIRAMANEE: To go to the temple. The people will be waiting.
KIRK: Why?
MIRAMANEE: To save them.
KIRK: But it's only the wind. The wind can't harm them.
MIRAMANEE: The wind is only the beginning. Soon the sky will darken, the lake will go wild, and the earth will tremble. Only you can save us.
KIRK: But I can't do anything about the wind or the sky.
MIRAMANEE: If we don't go now, it will be too late. You must go inside the temple and make the blue flame come out.
KIRK: I don't know how to get inside the temple.
MIRAMANEE: But you are a god.
ELDER: (bursting in) Kirok! Kirok!
SALISH: Why are you not at the temple, Kirok? Soon the ground will begin to tremble. The people need your help.
KIRK: We'll go to the caves. It'll be safe there.
SALISH: The caves? Surely a legend can do more than that for his people.
ELDER: When the ground trembles the caves are not safe, Kirok. If you do not rouse the temple spirit, we will all die.
MIRAMANEE: There is nothing you cannot do, my husband.
SALISH: Well, what do you wait for, god? Your robes?
KIRK: Take care of Miramanee.
[Obelisk]
(Salish watches from a distance as Kirk beats on the obelisk's wall trying to work out how to get inside.)
KIRK: I am Kirok! I have come! I am Kirok!
(Salish smiles at his failure.)
[Spock's quarters]
(Spock is playing his lyre.)
MCCOY: I prescribed sleep.
SPOCK: You prescribed rest, Doctor. The symbols on the obelisk are not words. They are musical notes.
MCCOY: Musical notes? You mean it's nothing but a song?
SPOCK: In a way, yes. Other cultures, among them certain Vulcan offshoots, use musical notes as words. The tones correspond roughly to an alphabet.
MCCOY: Were you able to make sense our of the symbols?
SPOCK: Yes. The obelisk is a marker, just as I thought. It was left by a super-race known as the Preservers. They passed through the galaxy rescuing primitive cultures which were in danger of extinction and seeding them, so to speak, where they could live and grow.
MCCOY: I've always wondered why there were so many humanoids scattered through the galaxy.
SPOCK: So have I. Apparently the Preservers account for a number of them.
MCCOY: That's probably how the planet has survived all these centuries. The Preservers put an asteroid deflector on the planet.
SPOCK: Which has now become defective and is failing to operate.
MCCOY: And we have to find that deflector and put it back into working order, otherwise
SPOCK: Precisely, Doctor.
[Obelisk]
(Salish has brought a crowd armed with stones.)
SALISH: There's the false one!
(They throw their stones at Kirk.) ALL: Die! Die! Die!
MIRAMANEE: No! No! Don't hurt him!
(Salish holds her back.)
KIRK: Miramanee!
MIRAMANEE: Don't hurt him! He can save us!
SALISH: He's false!
MIRAMANEE: I belong to him.
SALISH: Then go. Go die with your false god.
ALL: You'll be killed! Kill him! We're all doomed! Die, impostor! You lied to us! You're not a god! We'll kill you now!
(Spock and McCoy beam down as Miramanee and Kirk fall under the hail of stones. The crowd runs away when they see them. McCoy checks Kirk first.)
MCCOY: I need Nurse Chapel.
SPOCK: Spock to Enterprise.
SCOTT [OC]: Come in, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: We've located the captain. Beam down Nurse Chapel with an emergency surgical kit.
KIRK: My wife. Is she all right?
MCCOY: Wife?
SPOCK: Hallucinations?
(Chapel beams down.)
KIRK: Miramanee.
(Spock rolls Miramanee onto her back, and Chapel gives her an injection.)
SPOCK: The nurse has given you something to ease the pain. Why were you being stoned?
MIRAMANEE: Kirok could not get back into the temple.
SPOCK: Naturally, since he did not come from there.
MIRAMANEE: I saw him come, come.
CHAPEL: Does he recognise us?
MCCOY: His brain is unimpaired. Everything else is functionally normally except his memory.
SPOCK:: Can you help him?
MCCOY: It'd take time.
SPOCK: Time, Doctor McCoy, is the one thing we do not have in abundance. (communicator beeps) Spock here.
SULU [OC]: Tracking report, sir. Sixty five minutes to end of safety margin.
SPOCK: Report noted. Doctor, is he strong enough for the Vulcan mind fusion?
MCCOY: We have no choice.
(So Spock places his hands on Kirk's face and starts the procedure.)
SPOCK: I am Spock. You are James Kirk. Our minds are moving closer. Closer, closer, closer, James Kirk. Closer.
KIRK: No!
SPOCK: James Kirk.
KIRK: Miramanee! No! Miramanee!
SPOCK: Our minds are one.
BOTH: I am Kirok. I am Kirok.
SPOCK: I am Kir
KIRK: I am Kirok! I am
SPOCK: Spock!
(He breaks the link)
MCCOY: What is it?
SPOCK: His mind. He is an extremely dynamic individual.
KIRK: It worked.
(Kirk goes to Miramanee.)
SPOCK: Captain, were you inside this structure?
KIRK: Yes. What's inside is loaded with scientific equipment.
SPOCK: This obelisk is one huge deflector mechanism. It is imperative that we get inside immediately. Captain, we do not have much time.
KIRK: McCoy.
(McCoy and Chapel start tending to Miramanee.)
KIRK: I don't know how to get inside.
SPOCK: If we are not able to gain entry and activate the deflector mechanism within the next fifty minutes, this entire planet will be destroyed.
KIRK: The key must be in these symbols. We've got to decipher them.
SPOCK: I already have to some extent, Captain. They are musical notes.
KIRK: You mean entry can be gained by playing certain notes on a musical instrument?
SPOCK: That would be one method. Another would be a series of tonal qualities spoken in their proper sequence.
KIRK: Give me your communicator. Tonal control, consonants and vowels. I must have hit it accidentally when I contacted the ship.
SPOCK: If you could remember your exact words, Captain.
KIRK: (flipping open the communicator) Kirk to Enterprise.
SCOTT [OC]: Aye, Captain.
(The hatch slides open, with Miramanee still lying on it.)
KIRK: Scotty, if the deflector isn't activated within twenty minutes, get out of orbit. Get the Enterprise out of the danger zone. The landing party is expendable. The Enterprise isn't. Kirk out. Miramanee. Bones, stay with her. Do what you can.
[Obelisk Chamber]
SPOCK: It is similar to deflector panels I've seen, Captain, but far more complicated.
KIRK: Careful. I must have hit something accidentally. A beam caught me and that's when I stopped remembering.
SPOCK: Probably a memory beam. You must have activated it out of sequence.
KIRK: More symbols. Can you read them?
SPOCK: I do have an excellent eye for musical notes, Captain. They would seem to indicate that this series of relays activated in their proper
KIRK: Spock, just press the right button.
(Spock presses the middle button of a row of three, and other sections light up. A blue beam shoots out of the top of the obelisk and pushes the asteroid away.)
[Lodge]
KIRK: How is she?
MCCOY: She had bad internal injuries, Jim.
KIRK: Will she live?
MCCOY: No.
MIRAMANEE: (in pain) Kirok. It is true. You are safe.
KIRK: And so are your people, Miramanee.
MIRAMANEE: I knew you would save them, my chief. When I am better, it will be as it was, will it not?
KIRK: If that's what you want.
MIRAMANEE: We will live long and happy lives. I will bear you many strong sons. I'll love you always.
KIRK: And I'll love you, Miramanee. Always.
(He kisses her.)
MIRAMANEE: Each kiss is as the first. (she dies)
2024-09-21 12:45:47 -
Pike:
Review modified.
2024-09-21 12:45:08 -
Pike:
New quote added.
2024-09-21 12:35:14 -
Pike:
New quote added.
2024-09-21 12:34:46 -
Pike:
Added some trivia.
2024-09-21 12:31:40 -
Pike:
Review modified.
2024-09-21 12:22:20 -
Pike:
New quote added.
2024-09-21 12:06:29 -
Pike:
Added some actors.
2024-09-21 12:05:09 -
Pike:
Review modified.
2024-09-19 11:05:42 -
Pike:
Added the writer.
2024-09-17 21:44:36 -
Pike:
Added the director.
2024-09-14 18:33:56 -
Pike:
Added a banner.
2024-09-14 15:32:45 -
Pike:
Added the air date.
