"History tends to exaggerate," says, Col. Green, one of history's most evil people. He makes an interesting point. Perhaps history does exaggerate. And perhaps history does much, much worse.: perhaps history even lies. Humans have a difficult time extricating themselves from their many webs of lies. Surely it has invaded our history. Who knows what really happened? Who indeed.
But that's not really the main point of this episode. It's good vs evil. Pure and simple. It's so simple it's almost like a Saturday morning kid's show. But that's part of its charm. This episode has a folksy charm to it, like an old western TV show where good guys both sing and defeat evil all in a day's work. But it does have depth of ideas even if they are presented as simple as possible. Simplicity is not always a weakness. It can also bear strength, like a rock, if you'll pardon the pun.
My main complaint is the cheesy looking alien/rock thing with flashing lights. Not good. It's just a big blob of rubber. The best part is the performance by Lee Bergere as President Lincoln. And his lines are very well written also. I also like the scene early in the episode when Dr. McCoy and Scotty are trying to talk Kirk out of going down to the planet. They think it's going to be suicide. Kirk reminds them of the basic mission to seek out new life. It is indeed their #1 mission. It's a good scene. Familiar, but good.
I think this is an underrated episode. Not great, but underrated. Look past the childlike simplicity. Don't hate it. It's not something you hate. Eat your popcorn and enjoy it. It's Star Trek.
But that's not really the main point of this episode. It's good vs evil. Pure and simple. It's so simple it's almost like a Saturday morning kid's show. But that's part of its charm. This episode has a folksy charm to it, like an old western TV show where good guys both sing and defeat evil all in a day's work. But it does have depth of ideas even if they are presented as simple as possible. Simplicity is not always a weakness. It can also bear strength, like a rock, if you'll pardon the pun.
My main complaint is the cheesy looking alien/rock thing with flashing lights. Not good. It's just a big blob of rubber. The best part is the performance by Lee Bergere as President Lincoln. And his lines are very well written also. I also like the scene early in the episode when Dr. McCoy and Scotty are trying to talk Kirk out of going down to the planet. They think it's going to be suicide. Kirk reminds them of the basic mission to seek out new life. It is indeed their #1 mission. It's a good scene. Familiar, but good.
I think this is an underrated episode. Not great, but underrated. Look past the childlike simplicity. Don't hate it. It's not something you hate. Eat your popcorn and enjoy it. It's Star Trek.