“By Any Other Name”
Kirk and company answer a distress call, resulting in the Enterprise being hijacked by aliens for a trip to the Andromeda galaxy. (Kids, never pick up hitchhikers! )
This is a goofy episode, with a lot of comedy. When the landing party beams down in the opener it looks like they materialize in the middle of a miniature golf course – the planet set looks that phony. Remember, it’s par 3 at the windmill. (Though CBS Digital tries to expand and enliven things by using a new digital matte for the first few seconds of them rematerializing on the surface, but it’s lost when they cut to the astroturf set.)
Warren Stevens, the classic film Forbidden Planet’s Doc Ostrow, plays Rojan, leader of the alien Kelvans. His sexy, but extremely wooden number two is Kelinda, played by Barbara Bouchet.
This is a classic Gene Roddenberry story (written by Jerome Bixby and D.C. Fontana) where the aliens don’t understand human emotions and feelings, so the Enterprise crew helps them OD on them: Scotty gets one guy sloppy drunk, McCoy pumps another dude with stimulants, and Kirk bangs the hot blond Kelinda, making Rojan jealous, essentially killing two Kelvan birds with one stone.
The Kelvans are somehow able to reduce the Enterprise crew into foam dodecahedrons, saving on food and laundry bills. Why? Why not? Careful not to rub or scrap the dodecahedrons – Ensign Ricky or Yeoman Bubbles might lose an eyebrow, or worse.
Scotty gets a priceless line, as he’s trying to drink the Kelvan under the table by producing an unlabeled bottle of booze. In response to the Kelvan’s question as to what it is they’re about to drink, Scotty looks at it a moment and simply states, “It’s green!”
CBS Digital does a good job of revamping the scenes of the Enterprise breaking through the energy barrier at our galaxy’s edge (established in the second pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before”) on the way to Andromeda. Lots of light and color, flash and movement. Good stuff.
Disclaimer: Star Trek is Copyright 2009 and a Registered Trademark of CBS Studios, Inc. No infringement of those rights is implied. Thanks to Trekcore.com for the Star Trek screencaps.
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