In "The Mark of Gideon", the Enterprise heads for the planet of Gideon, a potential new entrant to the Federation of Planets. Its government has specifically asked for the Enterprise to come visit and for Captain Kirk to beam down for diplomatic relations reasons. Kirk heads down to the surface but something has gone wrong. He appears to be back on the Enterprise but now it is totally empty of personnel; he is alone. That is until a strange woman with no idea of her identity shows up to join him. The two try to figure out what has happened and why they have been brought here.
Meanwhile Spock deals with bureaucracy as he attempts to locate the captain. The government of Gideon refuses to allow him to beam down to search for the missing captain; the Federation doesn't want Spock offending a potential new partner, forcing Spock to do nothing.
It soon becomes apparent that Kirk and the mystery lady are aboard a replica of the Enterprise and have been brought there for some type of experiment. Gideon is dealing with a massive overpopulation issue and don't know how to solve it. They oppose the idea of contraception and now live virtually forever so the government has come up with an idea to thin the herd: a plague. Kirk has been selected because of his past with some deadly disease. He has introduced it to his lady companion, the daughter of Gideon's leader; she is now dying. The government plans to use Kirk's blood to introduce the disease en masse to the population.
Finally, fed up with the diplomatic situation, Spock disobeys orders and beams down to where Kirk did. He wanders around the Enterprise before finding Kirk. Spock takes the captain and the sick woman back to the Enterprise. Bones cures her. She plans to head back to Gideon to use her blood to introduce the plague into the population. Everyone seems okay with this...
What a weird episode and concept! The people of Gideon have a screw or two loose it seems. I can understand a culture not wanting to use contraception I suppose, but when overpopulation becomes as bad as it has, why not explore other options besides killing off your population? Gideon is about to become a member of the Federation so I'm assuming they have the ability for inter-planet space travel. Why not send some people abroad? There are plenty of other planets out there!
I thought the beginning of this episode absolutely ruled. I just wish the rest of the episode lived up to it. Kirk wandering around the empty Enterprise in a state of befuddlement was awesome, the eerie sense of quiet and emptiness within its walls. I love Spock's use of diplomatic channels, his cool Vulcan head tossing out banter back and forth with the ambassador. I loved it!
But then the people of Gideon begin to explain the plot of this one and it starts to make little sense very quickly. Odana and her dad are odd characters that I never really got a full grasp on. The people's character designs are lazy, especially the cattle walking around out back behind the scenes. It all felt very cheap and lazy. This episode had some real potential but sadly, it caves in under its own weight.
Meanwhile Spock deals with bureaucracy as he attempts to locate the captain. The government of Gideon refuses to allow him to beam down to search for the missing captain; the Federation doesn't want Spock offending a potential new partner, forcing Spock to do nothing.
It soon becomes apparent that Kirk and the mystery lady are aboard a replica of the Enterprise and have been brought there for some type of experiment. Gideon is dealing with a massive overpopulation issue and don't know how to solve it. They oppose the idea of contraception and now live virtually forever so the government has come up with an idea to thin the herd: a plague. Kirk has been selected because of his past with some deadly disease. He has introduced it to his lady companion, the daughter of Gideon's leader; she is now dying. The government plans to use Kirk's blood to introduce the disease en masse to the population.
Finally, fed up with the diplomatic situation, Spock disobeys orders and beams down to where Kirk did. He wanders around the Enterprise before finding Kirk. Spock takes the captain and the sick woman back to the Enterprise. Bones cures her. She plans to head back to Gideon to use her blood to introduce the plague into the population. Everyone seems okay with this...
What a weird episode and concept! The people of Gideon have a screw or two loose it seems. I can understand a culture not wanting to use contraception I suppose, but when overpopulation becomes as bad as it has, why not explore other options besides killing off your population? Gideon is about to become a member of the Federation so I'm assuming they have the ability for inter-planet space travel. Why not send some people abroad? There are plenty of other planets out there!
I thought the beginning of this episode absolutely ruled. I just wish the rest of the episode lived up to it. Kirk wandering around the empty Enterprise in a state of befuddlement was awesome, the eerie sense of quiet and emptiness within its walls. I love Spock's use of diplomatic channels, his cool Vulcan head tossing out banter back and forth with the ambassador. I loved it!
But then the people of Gideon begin to explain the plot of this one and it starts to make little sense very quickly. Odana and her dad are odd characters that I never really got a full grasp on. The people's character designs are lazy, especially the cattle walking around out back behind the scenes. It all felt very cheap and lazy. This episode had some real potential but sadly, it caves in under its own weight.