The Mark of Gideon 

Kirk beams down to the planet Gideon and appears to find himself trapped on a deserted Enterprise. Spock on the real Enterprise must use his diplomatic skills to deal with the uncooperative inhabitants of Gideon and find the Captain.

Director:

Jud Taylor

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), George F. Slavin

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
William Shatner	...	Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Sharon Acker	...	Odona
David Hurst	...	Hodin
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
Gene Dynarski	...	Krodak
Richard Derr	...	Admiral Fitzgerald

Storyline

While beaming down to the planet Gideon, Captain Kirk finds himself still in the transporter room. He can find no one on the ship, now apparently abandoned by the entire crew. He does find one other occupant on the Enterprise, a beautiful young woman, Odona, who does not know how she got there. Back on the real Enterprise, Spock tries to deal with Gideon's representatives who claim that Kirk never arrived and claim no knowledge of his whereabouts. Soon, Odona falls deathly ill, which is exactly what the leaders of Gideon were hoping for. Spock soon realizes that there is problem with the beam down coordinates they were provided.

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Plot Keywords:

23rd century | deception | deadly disease | missing time | father daughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

A sample of the reciting of the 875 020 079 coordinates was repeated multiple times at the end of the song 'Mathematics of Chaos' from Killing Joke's 1994 album 'Pandemonium'.

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Goofs

When Kirk materializes in the transporter room, he is standing on a pad near the front of the chamber (near the steps). A subsequent wide shot from within the transporter chamber, establishing there to be no one at the transporter controls, also has Kirk's transporter pad empty. Then we return to the angle on Kirk and he is standing on the same pad again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain James T. Kirk: [narrating] Captain's Log, stardate 5423.4: We are orbiting the planet Gideon, which is still not a member of the United Federation of Planets. The treaty negotiations have been difficult because Gideon has consistently refused the presence of a delegation from the Federation on its soil or any surveillance by the ship's sensors. They have finally agreed to a delegation of one. They insisted it be the captain of the Enterprise. I am, therefore, beaming down at once.

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Alternate Versions

Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song

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Connections

Edited into Star Trek: The Next Generation: Relics (1992)

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Soundtracks

Theme
Music credited to Alexander Courage, although it strongly resembles the main title music for 'Hollow Triumph (1948)' by Sol Kaplan
Sung by Loulie Jean Norman

User Reviews

Kirk On A Fake Enterprise With The Sick Odona

Season 3, episode 16. The Enterprise arrives at the planet Gideon to begin diplomatic relations and to have them join the Federation. Kirk beams down and finds himself on what appears to be an empty Enterprise. In the sky, is Spock in charge of the real Enterprise. Kirk finds no one on the fake Enterprise but does find the young girl Odona who does not know how she got there. Spock, in the real Enterprise, must now deal with representatives of Gideon that say that Kirk never arrived. Spock also realizes later that the coordinates given to him are wrong. Back on the false Enterprise, Odona tells Kirk that her planet is very much overpopulated and Kirk believes she's from Gideon but she insists she is not. Then Odona falls ill - her illness is exactly what the Gideon leaders want. Kirk takes her to sickbay where he meets Ambassador Hodin, Odona's father. Odona has a virus, Vegan choriomeningitis, and it is help control the overpopulation problem and that Kirk is part of a secret experiment. Spock must try to find Kirk from the real Enterprise, while Kirk must find a way to get back to the real Enterprise. They also must get to bottom of what is going on at Gideon.

Nothing unusual about Kirk (and crew) ending up in an odd place, disappearing or missing. Nor is it unusual for Kirk (and crew) to be used as a pawn is someone else's game. BUT the way it is put together and played out in this episode is done quite well. In spite of the lower rating, I like it.

8/10

Details

Official Sites:

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Country:

USA

Language:

Greek English

Release Date:

17 January 1969 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television, Norway Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Mono DTS (re-mastered version) Dolby Digital (re-mastered version)

Color:

Color Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3