The Federation and the Klingon Empire go to war. Kirk and Spock beam down to the pacifist but strategically-located planet Organia to negotiate with the inhabitants for use of their world in the coming conflict. But then the Enterprise gets driven away from the planet by a Klingon invasion fleet, and Kirk and Spock get marooned on Organia as the Klingons occupy it. And as Kirk and Spock try to figure a way out of this mess, the native Organians seem inexplicably indifferent that the Klingons have taken over their world and threaten their lives.
This episode resides at the top of the heap of Trek. Here is a well-paced, tension-filled, logical plot with good characters and an intriguing riddle at its core. John Colicos gives a simply great performance as the Klingon commander Kor, who is menacing and ruthless, yet oddly likable as he pontificates on martial virtue and survival of the fittest. And he gets the all time great line in Trek: "I don't trust a man who smiles too much." What is so interesting is that, despite Kirk's protests that he and Kor have completely different world views, and despite Kirk's obvious disgust with the Klingons, Kirk and Kor do seem to have similarities in character. They certainly agree in their contempt for the passive Organians.
John Abbot is fascinating as the seemingly spineless Organian leader who turns out to be a lot more than anybody anticipated. And the riddle of what the Organians are all about, and why they seem so aloof to what's happening around them, drives the episode nicely. And as always, the interplay between Kirk and Spock is familiar, comforting, and entertaining; note the scene where Spock provides a guesstimate of their chances of surviving a particular ordeal, and Kirk is as always respectfully amused at his best bud's brilliant yet socially oblivious personality.
And the final scene, where we learn why and who the Organians are, is a perfect wrap up of character and plot. It's great to see Kirk and Kor both devolve into helpless outrage when they realize their war is being preempted by beings they had previously looked down upon as weaklings. And it's even better to see Kirk grow embarrassed when the Organians bring it home to him that he is behaving as much like a bore as the Klingons are. It's a triumph of realistic, sympathetic character development.
Overall, "Errand of Mercy" nails it. It's too bad every episode could not be this good.
This episode resides at the top of the heap of Trek. Here is a well-paced, tension-filled, logical plot with good characters and an intriguing riddle at its core. John Colicos gives a simply great performance as the Klingon commander Kor, who is menacing and ruthless, yet oddly likable as he pontificates on martial virtue and survival of the fittest. And he gets the all time great line in Trek: "I don't trust a man who smiles too much." What is so interesting is that, despite Kirk's protests that he and Kor have completely different world views, and despite Kirk's obvious disgust with the Klingons, Kirk and Kor do seem to have similarities in character. They certainly agree in their contempt for the passive Organians.
John Abbot is fascinating as the seemingly spineless Organian leader who turns out to be a lot more than anybody anticipated. And the riddle of what the Organians are all about, and why they seem so aloof to what's happening around them, drives the episode nicely. And as always, the interplay between Kirk and Spock is familiar, comforting, and entertaining; note the scene where Spock provides a guesstimate of their chances of surviving a particular ordeal, and Kirk is as always respectfully amused at his best bud's brilliant yet socially oblivious personality.
And the final scene, where we learn why and who the Organians are, is a perfect wrap up of character and plot. It's great to see Kirk and Kor both devolve into helpless outrage when they realize their war is being preempted by beings they had previously looked down upon as weaklings. And it's even better to see Kirk grow embarrassed when the Organians bring it home to him that he is behaving as much like a bore as the Klingons are. It's a triumph of realistic, sympathetic character development.
Overall, "Errand of Mercy" nails it. It's too bad every episode could not be this good.