Seeing as only die-hard fans have written reviews to this episode, I feel it needs a more critical assessment. Kirk and his crew have come to protect the Organians before the Klingons invade but they are too late. Deep in enemy territory, Kirk and Spock fight their way to the seat of power and... everything is canceled by "superior beings". Talk about anti-climatic! What's the point of living and fighting for what you hold dear if in the end we are all helpless pawns of an infinitely superior alien race? What's the point of creating a television show centered on a hero like captain Kirk for the viewers to root for, if when the hero gets in trouble, he's not saved by his courage, or intelligence, or creativity, or muscle, but is instead saved by the sudden appearance of a magical character that snaps his fingers and instantly makes everything right? I find this insulting to the viewer's intelligence. Also, this episode pretends to be making some deep statements about existence, but it is really just a simplistic and naive glorification of pacifism. "What if there was an infinitely powerful race devoted to pacifism that simply physically restrained everyone from fighting without hurting them. Wouldn't that be great?" No, that would be awful. Then we would be mindless slaves with no free will and no incentive to learn self control of our own accord.
Review of Errand of Mercy
