WRITTEN BY
Meyer Dolinsky
DIRECTED BY
David Alexander
AIRED ON
November 22, 1968
RUNTIME
50 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
254
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-21 19:52:52
PAGE VERSION
Version 7
LIKES
0
DISLIKES
1
SUMMARY
No summary yet.
STORY
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BEHIND THE SCENES
- The first interracial kiss on television is often credited to the episode "Plato's Stepchildren" of Star Trek: The Original Series, which aired on November 22, 1968. The kiss occurred between Captain James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols). This moment was significant in television history and is remembered for its impact on racial representation.
MYTHOLOGY
The crew encounters a society with advanced psychokinetic powers, who model their civilization on ancient Greece.
Explores themes of power, control, and the ethical implications of using abilities to dominate others.
Notable for its commentary on equality and human rights, as well as featuring one of television's first interracial kisses.
QUOTES
Kirk: Who are the inhabitants of this planet?
Alexander: Oh, Platonians. I'm sure you've never heard of us. Our native star is Sahndara. Millennia ago, just before it went nova, we managed to escape. Our leader liked Plato's ideas Plato, Platonius. See? In fact, our present philosopher-king, Parmen, sometimes calls us Plato's children, although we sometimes think of ourselves more as Plato's stepchildren.
Kirk: Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or colour makes no difference, and nobody has the power.
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REVIEWS
Horrible X100000000000000000000 with a kiss
Written by
Pike on 2020-05-14
★
Oh. My. God. This episode is so awful it hurts watching it. It seems impossible that a script like that could have remotely gone through production. Everything is awfully bad. just dumb and ridiculous. Really horrendous. Without any doubt one of the five worst episodes of the series.
JUMP THE SHARK
There is a scene in which Kirk slaps himself. Very hard to watch.
JUMP THE SHARK, AGAIN
In another scene, Kirk and Spock are seen dancing. Then Spock is dancing over Kirk's body. Just completely out of place and horrendous watching. Please, I want my life back. Make it stop.
JUMP THE SHARK, HIGHER!
Then, Kirk is playing a horse and screams with a dwarf on his back. Jesus, I'm dying.
WITH A KISS
But... this episode is actually part of History. This is the first time on American television that a man would kiss a black woman. For the anecdote, Spock was originally supposed to be kissing Uhura. But William Shatner asked to be the one that would kiss her, in order to be part of History.
VERDICT
Apart from the kiss, just a horrible episode. Beyond bad. 1.
PS: And here comes the longest worst streak of bad episodes in the series. This episode is the first of a series of 8 uninterrupted bad episodes. Watching season 3 is quite a daunting task. If you are reading this review and watching all episodes in order, I say to you:
Good luck, and good night.
TRANSCRIPT
Captain's log, stardate 5784.2. We are responding to desperate distress calls from an unknown planet. My science officer Mister Spock is unable to account for this, since he reported no signs of life on the planet. It is rich in kironide deposits, a very rare and long-lasting source of great power.
[Room]
(Kirk, Spock and McCoy have beamed down into a place of Greek columns and plenty of marble.)
ALEXANDER [OC]: (echoy voice and a huge shadow on the wall) Are you from the spaceship Enterprise?
KIRK: That's right.
(The huge shadow is an optical illusion. The person who walks in is a dwarf with a normal voice.)
ALEXANDER: Alexander, at your service. I sing, I dance, I play all variety of games, and I'm a good loser, a very good loser. Please, sir, try to bear that in mind. Now, would you please accompany me?
KIRK: Who are the inhabitants of this planet?
ALEXANDER: Oh, Platonians. I'm sure you've never heard of us. Our native star is Sahndara. Millennia ago, just before it went nova, we managed to escape. Our leader liked Plato's ideas Plato, Platonius. See? In fact, our present philosopher-king, Parmen, sometimes calls us Plato's children, although we sometimes think of ourselves more as Plato's stepchildren. Excuse me. Someone's waiting for you.
(He stiffens, and scurries off backwards as if dragged by an invisible leash. The landing party follow.)
[Parmen's chamber]
(A man is lying on a couch.)
PHILANA: Welcome to our republic. Whom among you is the physician?
MCCOY: I am. What's the problem?
PHILANA: My spouse. His leg. Come this way.
MCCOY: Well, what happened to that leg?
PARMEN: I suppose I scratched it.
MCCOY: I don't understand. This should have been attended to immediately.
PARMEN: Sheer ignorance. Is there anything you can do?
MCCOY: Well, we're certainly going to try. The infection is massive. Let me give you a hypo to ease the pain.
(McCoy opens a pouch, and the hypo flies out on it's own.)
PARMEN: Where?
MCCOY: In the arm.
(The injection is given without human hand.)
ALEXANDER: Philana, they came to help. They deserve better than to die.
(His hand is stuffed into his mouth.)
PHILANA: Alexander, you talk too much.
Captain's log, stardate 5784.3. Doctor McCoy is endeavouring to treat the leader of a strange group of people. When their planet novaed, millennia ago, they transported themselves to Earth in the time of Socrates and Plato. After the death of the Greek civilisation they idolised, they came to this planet and created for themselves a utopia patterned after it.
[Parmen's chamber]
PARMEN: What is it? What is your prognosis, Doctor?
MCCOY: I'll let you know when I have the results. And from now on, it would be better if I handled the instruments without your help.
KIRK: Bones, I can't understand why a simple cut like that could become so serious.
MCCOY: Neither do I, but it has. How do I knock out an infection when the tricorder doesn't show any information on Platonius bacteria? All I can do, and this is going to take time, is to try to match his bugs with a known strain and hope.
(Alexander is playing a near life-size game like chess with two other men.)
ALEXANDER: Your Pan is in jeopardy.
ERACLITUS: (moving an Urn by thought) It isn't now. I win.
DIONIYDE: Well played, Eraclitus.
ERACLITUS: I thank you, Dioniyde.
(They leave.) KIRK: This psychokinetic power of yours, how long have you had it?
PHILANA: Two and a half. Ever since our arrival here on Platonius.
SPOCK: How is the power transmitted?
PHILANA: Brain waves.
SPOCK: Do these waves cease while you are asleep?
PHILANA: No, not if they're embedded in the unconscious.
MCCOY: What about medicine? Why no doctors?
PHILANA: We haven't had any pressing need for the medical arts. You see, while still on Sahndara, we instituted a mass eugenics programme. We're the result. Pared down to a population of thirty eight, we're perfect for our utopia. We're bred for contemplation and self-reliance. And longevity. How old would you say I am? Don't be afraid. I'm not vain.
SPOCK: Thirty five.
PHILANA: That old? I stopped aging at thirty. Well, anyway, you're off by two thousand years. I'm two thousand three hundred years old. We were married very young. I was only a hundred and seventeen, and he was a hundred and twenty eight. So you see, we scarcely have to move anymore, let alone work.
KIRK: That's why you have no resistance?
PHILANA: That's right. A break in the skin or a cut can be fatal.
(A column falls over and breaks. The 'chess' pieces start flying around the room.)
SPOCK: Fascinating. I believe we're experiencing the psychokinetic manifestations of Parmen's delirium.
[Bridge]
(Even the Enterprise is rocking.)
SCOTT: Scott to Captain Kirk.
[Parmen's chamber]
KIRK: Kirk to Enterprise.
[Bridge]
SCOTT: Captain, we're in the midst of a storm.
[Parmen's chamber]
SCOTT [OC]: No discernible cause, and I've never seen anything like it. There's
[Bridge]
SCOTT: Ten scale turbulence right now. Emergency gyros and stabilisers at maximum.
[Parmen's chamber]
SCOTT [OC]: If this keeps up, Captain, we can't last!
KIRK: Engines at full speed. Get her out of orbit and into space.
[Bridge]
SCOTT: I've tried that, sir. She's locked tight.
[Parmen's chamber]
KIRK: Then there's nothing you can do but batten down and weather.
[Bridge]
SCOTT: Right, Captain.
[Parmen's chamber]
KIRK: Parmen's mind is not (something flies past them very fast) Watch it! He's not only throwing around furniture, he's tearing up the Enterprise as well. Bones, knock him out fast.
(McCoy tries to give the injection, but gets flung away by Parmen's mind. Alexander gets jerked around too.)
ALEXANDER: Help! Save me!
KIRK: Alexander. Stand behind me.
(Kirk takes psychic punches.)
ALEXANDER: His mind will find me anyhow. Don't save him. Let him die. The others will kill each other trying to take his place.
KIRK: Hurry up with that shot!
PHILANA: Now, Doctor!
(McCoy is able to give the injection.)
ALEXANDER: (apparently throttling himself) I can't breathe. I'm choking.
KIRK: Bones! Shake him. Break his concentration.
(Parmen passes out, and relaxes. Alexander can breath again.)
KIRK: Kirk to Enterprise.
SCOTT [OC]: Scott on the Enterprise.
[Bridge]
SCOTT: It's all right, Captain. The turbulence has abated.
[Parmen's chamber]
KIRK: Good. I think you'll find the orbit lock is broken as well. Assess damage and repair whatever is necessary.
SCOTT [OC]: Aye, Captain.
PHILANA: I don't know how I can ever thank you, not only for Platonius, but for myself.
KIRK: No thanks is necessary.
PHILANA: Alexander, show our guests to the south wing.
KIRK: Oh, thank you, we must return to the ship.
MCCOY: I think I'd better wait until the fever breaks.
KIRK: Well, in that case, we'll stay.
[Guest room]
ALEXANDER: Anything you want, Just ask me. Anything.
KIRK: Thank you, Alexander.
ALEXANDER: Think nothing of it. You saved my life. I think I should tell you that
KIRK: Tell me what?
ALEXANDER: Well, just that I never knew any people like you existed.
KIRK: Where is everyone?
ALEXANDER: They're all in chambers, meditating.
KIRK: Alexander, are there other Platonians like you?
ALEXANDER: What do you mean, like me?
KIRK: Who don't have the psychokinetic ability.
ALEXANDER: I thought you were talking about my size, because they make fun of me for my size. But, to answer your question, I'm the only one without it. I was brought here as the court buffoon. That's why I'm everybody's slave and I have to be ten places at once, and I never do anything right.
SPOCK: How does one obtain the power?
ALEXANDER: As far as I know it just comes to you sometime after you're born. They say I'm a throwback, and I am, and so are you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.
KIRK: Don't worry about it. We're happy without it.
ALEXANDER: You know, I believe you are. Listen, where you come from, are there a lot of people without the power and my size?
KIRK: Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or colour makes no difference, and nobody has the power.
ALEXANDER: Nobody? Somebody wants me.
(And whirling round, he is dragged out of the room by that invisible leash of someone's mind.)
SPOCK: Captain, it will be very gratifying to leave here.
KIRK: That might not be easy should Parmen die.
SPOCK: Even if he shouldn't.
KIRK: Yes. This utopia of theirs is one of the best-kept secret in the galaxy. Screening themselves from our sensors, locking us into orbit. All this adds up to a pattern.
(McCoy enters, happy.)
MCCOY: Jim, my concoction actually worked. The fever's broken. And what recuperative powers. The infection's begun to drain already.
SPOCK: Doctor McCoy, you may yet cure the common cold.
KIRK: If ever there was a time to get out of here, it is now. Kirk to Enterprise. Scotty, come in.
[Bridge]
SCOTT: Scott here, sir.
KIRK [OC]: Prepare to beam us up.
SCOTT: I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. Everything's frozen.
[Guest room]
KIRK: The turbulence hit you that hard?
[Bridge]
SCOTT: It's not the turbulence, sir. Damage to the ship is minimal.
KIRK [OC]: What caused it?
SCOTT: I don't know, sir, and those are the facts.
[Guest room]
KIRK: Did you get up into space?
SCOTT [OC]: No, sir. The orbit's locked tighter than ever.
[Bridge]
SCOTT: And subspace communication with Starfleet, it's completely severed.
[Guest room]
KIRK: All right, Scotty. I'll handle it down here. Stand by.
[Parmen's chamber]
(Alexander is entertaining his master by singing whist playing a lyre.)
ALEXANDER: Great Pan sounds his horn. Marking time to the rhyme with his hoof, with his hoof. Forward, forward in our plan. We proceed as we began.
(Kirk enters. Alexander sings in Greek from Aristophanes' The Frogs.)
ALEXANDER: ?????????? ???? ????
(Pronounced bre-ke-ke-kex, ko-ax, ko-ax. Thanks, Larry.)
KIRK: Your Excellency.
PARMEN: Parmen will do. Philosopher kings have no need of titles.
KIRK: I would like to know why the ship's instrumentation and weaponry is frozen, and why the Enterprise is locked in orbit.
PARMEN: Captain, please. You are mistaken, I assure you.
KIRK: Parmen, I've talked to the engineer aboard the ship. We've showed our good faith. Now you show yours. I want this ship released immediately.
PARMEN: The amenities, Captain. Allow me to remind you that I am the head of this principality. Guests do not come barging in here, making demands and issuing orders.
(Kirk's phaser flies into Parmen's hand.)
KIRK: Guests? You don't know the meaning of the word. Guests aren't treated like common prisoners.
PARMEN: Do not take that tone with me.
(Kirk is forced to slap his own face repeatedly.)
[Guest room]
KIRK: Kirk to Enterprise. Acknowledge. Acknowledge. Enterprise, come in. Enterprise. I can't raise them.
SPOCK: Obviously Parmen does not wish any contact made with the Enterprise.
MCCOY: He may still need the ship's medical stores. Why prevent contact?
SPOCK: To shut out any knowledge of his brutal treatment of a Starfleet captain.
KIRK: No, Mister Spock. One thing for certain. Parmen is not concerned with my dignity or safety.
SPOCK: Agreed, Captain. And Parmen wouldn't have treated you so brutally if he had any intention of releasing you or the Enterprise.
(McCoy suddenly stands up stiffly and moves towards the door.)
KIRK: Where are you going?
MCCOY: I don't know. I don't want to go, but I can't help myself.
(Kirk and Spock also move as if pulled along by something.)
[Parmen's chamber]
(Alexander sounds a horn as the door opens and the unwilling three stagger in.)
PHILANA: Gentle spacemen, we are eternally in your debt. We've some trifles for you. Please accept them as tokens of our gratitude. They stem from the very source of our inspiration. To our noble captain, the shield carried by Pericles, as a symbol of gallant leadership.
(The round shield flies to Kirk's arms.)
PHILANA: To our silent and cerebral Mister Spock, this kithara to pluck music, to soothe his ever-active brow.
(It too flies to him.)
PHILANA: And lastly, to the physician Doctor McCoy, who saved Platonius and my spouse, this ancient collection of Greek cures, penned by Hippocrates himself.
(A scroll wings it's way to McCoy.)
KIRK: Has the Enterprise been released yet?
PARMEN: Captain, wait. I know what you're thinking. My humble apologies. You were badly used. In my own defence, allow me to say that my illness was more profoundly disturbing that I myself realised. I am sure that you, too, have been out of sorts and have been driven to fits of temper and rage. Unlike you, however, what I think and feel, whether for good or ill, is instantly translated into reality. So please, find it in your heart to forgive me.
KIRK: Certainly. Has the Enterprise been released yet?
PARMEN: It will be shortly.
KIRK: Then good day, and thank you for the presents.
PARMEN: Not at all. But there is one final request. After my nearly fatal infection, it has become obvious to us all that we cannot afford to be without a skilled physician. Therefore we should like you, Doctor McCoy, to remain.
MCCOY: I'm very sorry, but that's impossible.
PARMEN: Your duties will be extraordinarily light. You'll be free to read, meditate, conduct research, whatever you like. You'll want for nothing.
MCCOY: The answer is no.
PARMEN: We should like to keep it cordial, but we are determined to have you stay, Doctor.
KIRK: Doctor McCoy saved your life.
PARMEN: I am losing patience, Captain.
KIRK: And you consider yourself a disciple of Plato?
PARMEN: We manage to live in peace and harmony.
SPOCK: Whose harmony? Yours? Plato wanted truth and beauty, and above all, justice.
PARMEN: My dear Mister Spock, I admit that circumstances have forced us to make a few adaptations of Plato, but ours is the most democratic society conceivable. Anyone can, at any moment, be or do anything he wishes, even to becoming ruler of Platonius if his mind is strong enough.
KIRK: And if his mind isn't strong enough, he gets torn apart like Alexander.
PARMEN: Oh, come now. We are not children. In your culture, justice is the will of the stronger. It is forced upon people by means of weapons and fleets of spaceships. Our justice is the will of the stronger mind, and I for one, consider it a vast improvement.
KIRK: We don't use our weapons for the kind of brutality you practice.
PARMEN: Farewell, Captain.
KIRK: Come on, Doctor. McCoy.
MCCOY: I can't move, Jim. They're going to keep me here no matter what. Leave, please.
KIRK: No. You're the doctor. They don't want to force you. They need your goodwill. They're trying
PARMEN: Captain, go while you still can.
KIRK: We're not leaving until McCoy is released.
PARMEN: This is not the Enterprise. You are not in command, captain.
PHILANA: Why even discuss it? Get rid of them.
PARMEN: No, my dear. That might offend the good doctor. You wish to stay? By all means. You can help us celebrate our anniversary. In the process, I hope we can persuade you to join our tiny republic.
MCCOY: You won't persuade me.
PARMEN: I think we will.
(McCoy is pulled over to sit beside Parmen and Philana. Laurel wreaths are thrown in front of Kirk and Spock, who are forced to kneel and put them on. Then standing again, they are made to dance around each other and 'sing' this rhyme.)
KIRK: I'm Tweedledee, he's Tweedledum.
SPOCK: Two spacemen marching to a drum.
KIRK + SPOCK: We slith among the mimsey toves, and gyre among the borogoves.
(On their knees again.)
KIRK: You're not staying, McCoy. No matter what he tries to
(Prostrate on the floor.)
KIRK: Being your slave, what should I do but tend upon the hours and times of your desire? I have no precious time at all to spend, nor services to do, till you
MCCOY: Stop it! Don't do this to him, Parmen!
KIRK: McCoy. No matter what he makes me say or do, the answer's no.
MCCOY: No, Parmen! Stop it!
(Kirk rolls in agony.)
PARMEN: Well, Doctor?
MCCOY: I have my orders.
PARMEN: As you wish, Doctor.
KIRK: Is this your utopia, your grand vision of the future? You don't even (screams)
PARMEN: We've had enough or your moralising.
MCCOY: And we've had too much of yours. I'll never get me to stay here.
PARMEN: You will be happy to stay. It takes a little time, Doctor, but you will be happy to stay.
(Spock is forced to dance close to Kirk's head. Flamenco-style, I think, ending with a boot directly over Kirk's face. Then Spock is allowed to rest, and he starts to laugh heartily. He crawls over to Alexander, who cannot help but join in.)
MCCOY: He's a Vulcan. You can't force emotion out of him.
PHILANA: You must be joking, Doctor.
MCCOY: You'll destroy him.
PARMEN: We can't let him die laughing, can we?
(Now Spock cries.)
MCCOY: I beg you.
KIRK: Spock. Spock. Don't let them break you. Hold on. Don't
ALEXANDER: Parmen, they saved your life. I'm ashamed to be a Platonian. Ashamed!
(Kirk is on all fours, like a horse, and Alexander has to climb on his back and ride him around the room. Kirk rears and neighs during this.)
PARMEN: How can you let this go on?
[Guest room]
(Spock is very withdrawn. Alexander watches helplessly.)
KIRK: Can you do anything for him?
MCCOY: There is no medicine that can help him. He'll have to come through this himself.
SPOCK: I trust they did not injure you too much, Captain.
KIRK: My muscles are sore, that's all.
SPOCK: The humiliation must have been most difficult for you to bear. I can understand.
MCCOY: The release of emotions, Mister Spock, is what keeps us healthy. Emotionally healthy, that is.
SPOCK: That may be, Doctor. However, I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you.
KIRK: Which just goes to prove that there's no such thing as a perfect solution.
SPOCK: So it would seem. Captain.
KIRK: Yes, Spock.
SPOCK: Do you still feel anger toward Parmen?
KIRK: Great anger.
SPOCK: And you, Doctor?
MCCOY: Yes, Spock. And hatred.
SPOCK: Then you must release it, gentlemen, as I must master mine. I might have seriously injured you, Captain, even killed you. They have evoked such great hatred in me, I cannot allow it to go further. I must master it. I must control.
(Spock breaks a goblet with one hand.)
MCCOY: Jim. This is senseless. I've thought it over. I'm staying.
KIRK: You can't.
MCCOY: Parmen has promised me you'll be safe.
KIRK: Promised? Parmen? He'd let us beam up to the Enterprise, and plunge the ship back into the atmosphere.
MCCOY: Why? Why trick me?
KIRK: Because, if he killed us outright in front of you, you'd retaliate. You're a doctor. You have the means. Bones, I know you're trying to do the right thing, but if any one of us escaped, Parmen knows Starfleet would never let this planet go unpunished. Sacrifice yourself by agreeing to stay, and you sign our death warrant.
ALEXANDER: He's right. I should have warned you. They were treating you the same way they treat me. Just like me, only you fight them. All the time, I thought it was me, my mind that couldn't move a pebble. They even told I was lucky they bothered keep me around at all, and I believed them. The arms and legs of everybody's whim. Look down, don't meet their eyes. Smile. Smile. These great people, they were gods to me. But you showed me what they really are. And now I know, don't you see. It's not me, it's not my size, it's them! It's them! It's them!
(Alexander breaks an urn and takes a sharp shard of pottery.)
KIRK: Put it down.
ALEXANDER: No. This is the best thing for them.
KIRK: Put it down. Do what I say.
ALEXANDER: I'm going to cut their I'm going to cut them. Parmen first, and they'll all get infected. But this time, listen, whatever they say, don't save them. Let them die.
KIRK: Give it to me!
ALEXANDER: At least let me give them a taste of what they gave me. Please, they're going to kill you anyway. You know that.
KIRK: In that case, what's the point in you dying too, Alexander? Give it to me.
ALEXANDER: That's the first time anybody ever thought of my life before his own. I should have told you when you first came here that they were going to kill you. Because I knew, but I was afraid. I was afraid.
KIRK: That's all right. It's all right, Alexander. Listen, we haven't given up, and there may be something you can do to help.
ALEXANDER: Anything I can do to help, you just tell me.
KIRK: All right. Did the Platonians always have this power?
ALEXANDER: No, not until we came to this planet.
SPOCK: Alexander, it is possible for you to recall how long after you arrived here that that power began to develop?
ALEXANDER: How could I forget that? It was exactly six months and fourteen days after we got here that they started pushing me around.
SPOCK: And would you know how many months' supplies you brought with you?
ALEXANDER: Well, four, I think. Or three.
SPOCK: That's close enough, Alexander. Fascinating. Their power developed two or three months after they started eating the native foods.
ALEXANDER: That's right.
SPOCK: Then it is logical to assume that there is a connection between the psychokinetic power and the eating of the native foods.
MCCOY: Then why wouldn't Alexander have the same power as the others?
SPOCK: Perhaps his system cannot absorb the crucial element.
KIRK: Bones, I think it'd be a good idea if you took a reading of Alexander's blood.
ALEXANDER: Not that I'm afraid or anything, but will it hurt much?
MCCOY: You won't even know it happened.
KIRK: You still have a tricorder reading of Parmen's blood, don't you?
MCCOY: Of course. Parmen possesses the highest order of psychokinetic ability, and Alexander the lowest, in the same environmental conditions.
SPOCK: The probabilities are that Alexander was born with some biochemical deficiency relative to Platonius.
MCCOY: I'll run both their blood samples through for a full comparative test on the tricorder.
KIRK: And if our theory works out, we've got a weapon.
MCCOY: The one significant difference between Parmen's blood and Alexander's is a concentration of kironide, broken down by pituitary hormone.
KIRK: Kironide. It's a high-energy source. That could be it.
SPOCK: The pituitary hormones confirm the hypothesis. They also regulate body growth.
ALEXANDER: Oh. You mean the same thing that kept me from having the power made me a dwarf?
SPOCK: Yes. It's also obvious why Parmen kept this little utopia secret. Anyone coming down here and remaining long enough would acquire the power.
KIRK: Exactly. McCoy, there must be a quick way of building up a concentration of kironide in our blood.
MCCOY: It'll take some doing, but it is possible.
KIRK: What are we waiting for?
(McCoy takes a couple of ampoules from his bag, then hesitates.)
KIRK: What is it, Bones?
MCCOY: Even if the kironide reaches the desired effect, it still may not help us get out of here.
KIRK: Yes. There are thirty eight of them.
SPOCK: The point is well taken. However, the psychokinetic power is not additive. If it were, considering the Platonians' hostile propensities, two or three of them would have combined forces centuries ago and deposed Parmen.
ALEXANDER: He's right. Do you know, Parmen says each has his own separate power frequency, because before when they've tried to combine their powers, and use them together, it never worked.
MCCOY: I'm ready.
KIRK: Let's not any waste time. Give us double the concentration in Parmen's bloodstream.
(McCoy injects Kirk and Spock.)
SPOCK: The time factor concerns me. It may take days or even weeks before there's enough build up from the kironide to be of any benefit to us.
KIRK: Yes. What about Alexander?
MCCOY: Since the kironide's broken down and injected directly into his bloodstream, it should work on him as well as us. Better in fact, because he's acclimated.
ALEXANDER: Oh, no. Not after what they've done to me.
KIRK: Why not? You could conceivably take Parmen's place and run the whole planet.
ALEXANDER: You think that's what I want? Become one of them? Become my own enemy? Just lie around like a big blob of nothing and have things done for me? I want to move around for myself. If I'm going to laugh or cry, I want do it for myself. You can keep your precious power. All I ask is one thing. If you do make it out of here, take me with you. Just drop me any place they never heard of kironide or Platonius.
KIRK: Alexander.
(Two figures beam in.)
KIRK: Nurse. Lieutenant Uhura.
(The women try to speak, but no sound comes. Then they turn and leave the room.)
KIRK: I guess we weren't sufficiently entertaining.
[Entertainment Chamber]
(Uhura and Chapel are dressed in long robes. Kirk and Spock enter in short tunics wearing laurel wreaths.)
CHAPEL: Are we ever glad to see you.
UHURA: We were forced in the transporter and beamed down. It was like becoming someone's puppet.
CHAPEL: I thought I was sleepwalking. I couldn't stop myself. Captain, what is it? What's going on?
KIRK: Spock, do you feel any effect of the kironide shot?
SPOCK: I have experienced a slight flush, Captain.
KIRK: So did l. Let's try a simple test. Concentrate on raising this plate of fruit. Nothing.
(Shutters draw back to reveal their audience, the Platonians and McCoy.)
PARMEN: Fellow academicians. Twenty five hundred years ago, a band of hearty vagabonds arrived on this barren, rough-hewn planet. There was a desperate hardship of backbreaking toil. And then a divine providence graced our genius and our dedication with the power of powers. And through it, our every need instantly materialised. We thereupon determined to form a utopian brotherhood. This night is indeed a festive occasion, for tonight, we welcome into that brotherhood its first new member.
KIRK: Not yet, Parmen. You have to convince the doctor first.
MCCOY: They'll never do it, Jim.
PARMEN: Doctor, please. You have destroyed the festive mood of the ladies. We must recapture it at once. I know. What would be better than a serenade from the laughing spaceman?
(Spock, Uhura and Chapel are dragged over to a couch. Alexander plucks his lyre.)
SPOCK: (singing) Take care, young ladies, and value your wine. Be watchful of young men in their velvet prime.
Deeply they'll swallow from your finest kegs. Then swiftly be gone leaving bitter dregs. Ah, bitter dregs.
With smiling words and tender touch. Man offers little and asks for so much"
He loves in the breathless excitement of night, then leaves with your treasure in cold morning light. Ah, in cold morning light"
PARMEN: And now let the revels begin.
(The four toys are paired up, and the furniture moves around. Chapel and Spock on one couch, Kirk and Uhura on the other. The men swap, then return.)
DIONIYDE: Oh, how faithless and fickle.
ERACLITUS: Make up your minds.
CHAPEL: I'm so ashamed. Please make them stop.
SPOCK: We have tried.
CHAPEL: Please, please make them stop.
SPOCK: I haven't the power. I'm deeply sorry. We've failed you.
CHAPEL: For so long I've wanted to be close to you. Now all I want to crawl away and die.
(Finally they are forced to kiss.)
DIONIYDE: Careful, Mister Spock. Too much love is dangerous.
ERACLITUS: Remember, Cupid's arrow kills Vulcans. (general laughter)
UHURA: (in Kirk's arms) I'm so frightened, Captain. I'm so very frightened.
KIRK: That's the way they want you to feel. It makes them think that they're alive.
UHURA: I know it, but I wish I could stop trembling.
KIRK: Try not to think of them. Try.
UHURA: I'm thinking. I'm thinking of all the times on the Enterprise when I was scared to death and I would see you so busy at your commands. And I would hear your voice from all the parts of the ship and my fears would fade. And now they are making me tremble. But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid.
(As the camera closes in, Uhura's head is turned to obscure our view - and the lips don't quite touch.)
PHILANA: Parmen, let's get on with it.
PARMEN: You are so impatient, my wife. Observe the doctor and learn. He's quite content to wait for the piece de resistance.
(A table with a whip and other weapons slides across. Kirk and Spock approach it. Kirk takes the whip, Spock the red-hot poker. Just as they get to the women, Kirk turns.)
KIRK: You're half dead, all of you! You've been dead for centuries. We may disappear tomorrow, but at least we're living now, and you can't stand that, can you? You're half crazy because there's nothing inside. Nothing. And you have to torture us to convince yourselves you're superior.
(Kirk cracks the whip in front of Uhura's face. Alexander creeps away.)
MCCOY: Stop it, Parmen! Stop it! I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll stay and serve you, but stop it!
PHILANA: Parmen.
(Alexander is frozen in the act of trying to stab Parmen.)
PARMEN: Alexander again. He likes to play with knives. Very well, we shall indulge him.
(Alexander struggles not to stab himself, when suddenly he is released.)
PARMEN: Who did that?
KIRK: (throwing down the whip.) I did.
ERACLITUS: Impossible!
SPOCK: Quite possible and logical.
(Spock throws away the poker.)
DIONIYDE: What is this?
PHILANA: What's going on?
KIRK: Platonians, listen to me. The next one of you that tries any trick will get hurt. Not only do we have your psychokinetic abilities, but at twice your power level.
PARMEN: Not twice mine!
(Parmen controls Alexander and sends him to attack Kirk, but Kirk sends him back. To and fro he turns until finally the dagger is inches from Parmen's body.)
PARMEN: Captain, no! Captain! I beg of you, I'll do anything you say. I do not wish to die. Captain, do you hear me?
ALEXANDER: Don't stop me. Let me finish him off.
KIRK: Do you want to be like him?
(Alexander puts down the knife by his own choice. Parmen is dragged out of his seat.)
ALEXANDER: Parmen, listen to me. I could have had your power, but I didn't want it. I could have had your place right now, but the sight of you and your Academicians sickens me. Despite your brains, you're the most contemptible things that ever lived in this universe.
PARMEN: Captain, you knew that I intended to destroy both you and the Enterprise, yet you spared me.
KIRK: To us, killing is murder, even for revenge. But there will be other starships.
PARMEN: There's no need for concern. They'll be safe. Of late, I have begun to think that we've become bizarre and unproductive. We are existing merely to nourish our own power. It's time for some fresh air. We shall welcome your interstellar visits.
KIRK: I don't believe you.
SPOCK: That would be highly uncharacteristic. We must expect, Parmen, that the moment we leave here, your fear would be gone and you would again be as sadistic and as arrogant as your twenty five hundred years have made you.
KIRK: Just remember, we can recreate that power in a matter of hours, so don't try anything.
PARMEN: Understood, Captain. And you're right, none of us can be trusted. Uncontrolled, power will turn even saints into savages, and we can all be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses.
KIRK: You're very good at making speeches, Parmen. Just make sure that this one sinks in. Now move aside. Alexander. Kirk to Enterprise. Mister Scott, prepare to beam us up. I have a little surprise for you. I'm bringing a visitor aboard.
2024-09-22 17:05:12 -
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