Whenever they beam down to a planet that again (AGAIN!) features classical Greek or Roman names, architecture, garments or - oh gosh! - ancient mythology or philosophy, my klaxon begins to ring. Plus: a dwarf. Before the title theme has even been played, I'm very angry and I expect the worst.
With every minute passing, it gets worse and worse: Kirk wrestling and choking a dwarf, a telepathic malfunction (?) making dishes fly, Caesar (?), actors impersonating the movement of marionettes, Kirk and Spock performing a dance (? What is that? That's worse than DS9's Allamaraine, count to four, - Allamaraine, then three more) and recite a play (?). That's note ven funny. I refuse to give more examples of the madness.
If you want to be [very, very, very!] generous there's a philosophical core to that: A society controlled by a telepathic system (?) and a philosopher emperor with a flawed definition of democracy. Unfortunately the (mind-control) system is malfunctioning and - if there's a higher being behind it all - this being is not as benevolent as you might expect in utopia. A utopia in which god-like people don't age, don't work, don't encounter illness, never get in an argument but in turn are very vulnerable to the malfunction of said system, to criticism in general, and in case of a medical emergency. There's even the issue how beautiful and powerful people treat people (namely the dwarf) that don't meet their expected standards.
If the writers ever had the idea to discuss issues along these lines, they failed miserably. But I guess that was never the point. They probably found the stage somewhere in a movie studio they could use free of charge. Then they decided to make the actors perform a profoundly silly and mad play, so that Nimoy, Kelley and Shatner can be shamed and ridiculed for this episode for years to come.
0.5 points for Uhura in Aphrodite's nighty. 0.5 points for Nimoy's singing voice. One point for historic significance of the interracial kissing scene (allegedly!). 2/10. And that's generous.
Review by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2022-12-04T10:35:59Z
WTF did I just watch?
Whenever they beam down to a planet that again (AGAIN!) features classical Greek or Roman names, architecture, garments or - oh gosh! - ancient mythology or philosophy, my klaxon begins to ring. Plus: a dwarf. Before the title theme has even been played, I'm very angry and I expect the worst.
With every minute passing, it gets worse and worse: Kirk wrestling and choking a dwarf, a telepathic malfunction (?) making dishes fly, Caesar (?), actors impersonating the movement of marionettes, Kirk and Spock performing a dance (? What is that? That's worse than DS9's Allamaraine, count to four, - Allamaraine, then three more) and recite a play (?). That's note ven funny. I refuse to give more examples of the madness.
If you want to be [very, very, very!] generous there's a philosophical core to that: A society controlled by a telepathic system (?) and a philosopher emperor with a flawed definition of democracy. Unfortunately the (mind-control) system is malfunctioning and - if there's a higher being behind it all - this being is not as benevolent as you might expect in utopia. A utopia in which god-like people don't age, don't work, don't encounter illness, never get in an argument but in turn are very vulnerable to the malfunction of said system, to criticism in general, and in case of a medical emergency. There's even the issue how beautiful and powerful people treat people (namely the dwarf) that don't meet their expected standards.
If the writers ever had the idea to discuss issues along these lines, they failed miserably. But I guess that was never the point. They probably found the stage somewhere in a movie studio they could use free of charge. Then they decided to make the actors perform a profoundly silly and mad play, so that Nimoy, Kelley and Shatner can be shamed and ridiculed for this episode for years to come.
0.5 points for Uhura in Aphrodite's nighty. 0.5 points for Nimoy's singing voice. One point for historic significance of the interracial kissing scene (allegedly!). 2/10. And that's generous.