This Side of Paradise
- Episode aired Mar 2, 1967
- TV-PG
- 50m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
4.1K
YOUR RATING
The Enterprise investigates a planet whose colonists should be dead, but are not.The Enterprise investigates a planet whose colonists should be dead, but are not.The Enterprise investigates a planet whose colonists should be dead, but are not.
Bobby Bass
- Lieutenant
- (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn
- Lieutenant Hadley
- (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci
- Brent
- (uncredited)
- …
Walker Edmiston
- Transporter Chief
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Carey Foster
- Enterprise crewmember
- (uncredited)
John Lindesmith
- Engineer
- (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone
- Yeoman
- (uncredited)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe spores in the early drafts were a communal intelligence; when someone was possessed by them, that individual was granted telepathic abilities to link up with other possessed minds. The abilities of the spores to restore health were complete enough to enable them to return the dead to life. The antidotes for the spores were either the possession of a certain blood type or the introduction of alcohol into the affected person. Originally, Kirk leaped onto Spock and forced liquor down his throat to restore him to normal. This was presumably deemed unrealistic for various reasons including Kirk would not be strong enough to force alcohol on Spock and even if he did, Spock could just spit it out because the alcohol would have to enter the bloodstream to have an effect. It is established in various stories that, while Vulcans will occasionally drink alcohol, it doesn't affect (intoxicate) them in the same way it does a human. (On the other hand, in the novelisation of 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home', Spock states that the sugar sucrose, in the candies that Kirk bought to get change for the bus, has the same effect on Vulcans as ethanol does on humans.) In a surprise ending, the spores were revealed to be benevolent, conscious entities who never intended to act against anyone's will.
- GoofsWhen Kirk goes to look for Spock, he tells McCoy, "Have the landing party work in teams of two, I don't want anyone left alone." After which he goes off to find Spock...leaving McCoy alone.
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
- ConnectionsEdited into Star Trek: The Next Generation: Relics (1992)
- SoundtracksTheme From Star Trek
Written by and credited to Alexander Courage
Featured review
"We weren't meant for paradise..."
Says Captain James T. Kirk. Truth be told I'm not sure that this is the episode in which he makes this statement, but even it it isn't the summation is apt.
A colony is bereft of want or desire, other than to frolic. While all the time their animals and works have decayed and died off. Partially because of the deadly environment, but partially because of an outside influence.
Which would you have, a paradise where all your carnal and emotional amusements were satisfied at the cost of everything you spent your previous life building, or a life where your work and struggles were rewarded? Does the heir of a fortunate fare better than the child born on the wrong side of the tracks who makes good through academic and/or physical effort?
The gist of the story is clear. But the truth of the parable is actually a more sophisticated one, the true depths of which are not addressed in this brief photoplay. But, what we do see is a commentary on the overindulgence of the 1960's new-youth oriented social movements, and the consequences of excess to the exclusion of all else in a social structure where achievement is discouraged. In this sense we're also seeing the segment of a rehabilitative asylum, satiating a patient's alleged unhealthy wants and desires to "get it out of their system", so to speak.
What truly is paradise? What is truly hell? This episode (and a couple others in the franchise) attempt to address facets of both sides of the coin through the presentation of dramatic scenarios for our pleasure.
Again, Star Fleet's finest meet the challenge, albeit in an unusual way.
In terms of production values ... well, the plants are what they are, and there's no two ways about it. But the acting, story and theme are first rate, particularly by Nimoy's stretching of Spock's boundaries. Great stuff. And Shatner's Kirk is of course the lynch pin to the entire thing. The Enterprise herself looks fantastic in her 1960 glory as she glides across the screen of Omicron Ceti III, even if somewhat dated.
The key "antagonist" may garnish a chuckle from younger viewers, and appropriately so. Heck, even when the show first aired people were in a "awe, come on" mode when the "spores hit-the-fan", so to speak :)
Regardless, watch this episode to see the crew of our favorite starship get pushed to their limits and beyond.
Enjoy :)
p.s. We're actually watching a man (Spock and the crew of the Entperise) recover from bi-polar disorder. A clever gimmicky use of abnormal psychology in a sci-fi vein. In the end Spock releases his temper and recovers.
p.s. in retrospect it is about recovering from depression and bi-polar. I only wish the plants had been tweaked or turned into something else.
A colony is bereft of want or desire, other than to frolic. While all the time their animals and works have decayed and died off. Partially because of the deadly environment, but partially because of an outside influence.
Which would you have, a paradise where all your carnal and emotional amusements were satisfied at the cost of everything you spent your previous life building, or a life where your work and struggles were rewarded? Does the heir of a fortunate fare better than the child born on the wrong side of the tracks who makes good through academic and/or physical effort?
The gist of the story is clear. But the truth of the parable is actually a more sophisticated one, the true depths of which are not addressed in this brief photoplay. But, what we do see is a commentary on the overindulgence of the 1960's new-youth oriented social movements, and the consequences of excess to the exclusion of all else in a social structure where achievement is discouraged. In this sense we're also seeing the segment of a rehabilitative asylum, satiating a patient's alleged unhealthy wants and desires to "get it out of their system", so to speak.
What truly is paradise? What is truly hell? This episode (and a couple others in the franchise) attempt to address facets of both sides of the coin through the presentation of dramatic scenarios for our pleasure.
Again, Star Fleet's finest meet the challenge, albeit in an unusual way.
In terms of production values ... well, the plants are what they are, and there's no two ways about it. But the acting, story and theme are first rate, particularly by Nimoy's stretching of Spock's boundaries. Great stuff. And Shatner's Kirk is of course the lynch pin to the entire thing. The Enterprise herself looks fantastic in her 1960 glory as she glides across the screen of Omicron Ceti III, even if somewhat dated.
The key "antagonist" may garnish a chuckle from younger viewers, and appropriately so. Heck, even when the show first aired people were in a "awe, come on" mode when the "spores hit-the-fan", so to speak :)
Regardless, watch this episode to see the crew of our favorite starship get pushed to their limits and beyond.
Enjoy :)
p.s. We're actually watching a man (Spock and the crew of the Entperise) recover from bi-polar disorder. A clever gimmicky use of abnormal psychology in a sci-fi vein. In the end Spock releases his temper and recovers.
p.s. in retrospect it is about recovering from depression and bi-polar. I only wish the plants had been tweaked or turned into something else.
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- Blueghost
- Mar 3, 2010
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