Quite a decent story. Execution is mediocre, but it's sort of classic Star Trek with later iterations in TNG or DS9. The crew encounters an allen who is first to be believed a common thief or criminal. Turns out he's some sort of asylum seeker asking the crew for help. Prosecutors are relentlessly after him. The law system of the aliens seems to be archaic but widely incomprehensible by Federation standards. Allegedly, he's somehow responsible for mass murder but regards himself to flee from participating a war, that eventually erased their civilization - not sure if I get this right.The Captain needs to make a decision on how to deal with this issue. He even pulls of one of the most Trek-ish white rabbits from the hat: activating auto sequence. I'm amazed he resorts to such elaborated means. I expected him to punch the guy. The story also discusses issues of racial discrimination. This part comes across a bit pontificating and Kirk's race theory is mostly based on genetics - and seems therefore a bit odd (not to say racist) 50 years later. But I guess he wanted to say the right thing. I guess that was a bold move in 60s TV. There's also a glimpse into Vulcan history - that's always fascinating.
The conclusion is a bit odd - too much on the nose. But as I said, overall it's a classic story, that still works today.
Review by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2022-12-09T18:54:49Z— updated 2022-12-16T20:46:12Z
Quite a decent story. Execution is mediocre, but it's sort of classic Star Trek with later iterations in TNG or DS9. The crew encounters an allen who is first to be believed a common thief or criminal. Turns out he's some sort of asylum seeker asking the crew for help. Prosecutors are relentlessly after him. The law system of the aliens seems to be archaic but widely incomprehensible by Federation standards. Allegedly, he's somehow responsible for mass murder but regards himself to flee from participating a war, that eventually erased their civilization - not sure if I get this right.The Captain needs to make a decision on how to deal with this issue. He even pulls of one of the most Trek-ish white rabbits from the hat: activating auto sequence. I'm amazed he resorts to such elaborated means. I expected him to punch the guy. The story also discusses issues of racial discrimination. This part comes across a bit pontificating and Kirk's race theory is mostly based on genetics - and seems therefore a bit odd (not to say racist) 50 years later. But I guess he wanted to say the right thing. I guess that was a bold move in 60s TV. There's also a glimpse into Vulcan history - that's always fascinating.
The conclusion is a bit odd - too much on the nose. But as I said, overall it's a classic story, that still works today.