HOW SHARPER THAN A SERPENT'S TOOTH was yet another "variation on a theme" regarding aliens who were either obsessed with Earth in the past or had visited there and had an impact on Earth's history: THE SQUIRE OF GOTHOS, WHO MOURNS FOR ADONAIS?, THE MAGICKS OF MEGAS-TU, or, in DOCTOR WHO terms, THE DAEMONS. Here's it's the winged serpent Kulkulkan, who influenced the Mayan civilization (and apparently also influenced The Toltecs and The Chinese). The closest parallel here would be "Apollo", and this almost feels like a remake of his story, only with more "sci-fi" elements, and about a hundred times the budget (if it had been live-action instead of a cartoon).
Once more "predicting" much-later developments (despite incessant protests, it seems painfully clear the people who worked on the various STAR TREK spin-offs were influenced by THESE CARTOONS) is helmsman "Ensign Walking Bear", a member of the Cherokee tribe who says he's studied the history of many Native American cultures. ("Chakotay" on VOYAGER is rather similar-- a Native American turns up, and his whole personality seems to be summed up by being the "expert" when it comes to "Native American" things. George Takei objected to that sort of thing-- it's why in THE NAKED TIME he used a rapier and was obsessed with D'Artagnon, instead of using a samurai sword as originally suggested.)
Once again we have an alien being who "helped" mankind in the distant past, is bugged that they have "forgotten" him, and still insists on thinking of them as his "chidren". It takes quite a bit of effort of Kirk's part, but, EVENTUALLY, he convinces Kulkulkan that mankind has "grown up", that while still a violent species they use their minds and put every effort into living in peace, and that "any intelligent species cannot be simply led by the hand".
Some of the design work in here is impressive, including Kulkulkan's spaceship, the Mayan city (presumably some sort of holographic creation), and the "zoo" which collects various animals in such a way they they each believe they're in their natural environments, and are unaware they're really in tiny glass enclosures).
Perhaps the most annoying thing in this episode (apart fro Kulkulkan's general attitude for most of it) is the way William Shatner MIS-PROPNOUNCES Kulkulkan's name every single time he says it (as "Ku-KLU-Kan"-- did he think the serpent was wearing a white robe or something?).
I got a laugh when Kirk injects the savage "power cat" with a tranquilizer and is knocked aside, then McCoy asks him, "Did you inject the cat, or yourself?"
The ending of the story manages to find an excuse to squeeze in yet another Shakespeare reference, which is where the story gets its name-- "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have an ungrateful child."
Writer David Wise has had a long career, mostly writing cartoons, while his collaborator, Russell Bates, only ever did this and an episode of ISIS. In both cases, this was their first TV work.
Not one of my favorites, but I still wish this series had continued on a lot longer than it did. It's just disgraceful that Filmnation only did 6 episodes the 2nd season, and then that was it.
Once more "predicting" much-later developments (despite incessant protests, it seems painfully clear the people who worked on the various STAR TREK spin-offs were influenced by THESE CARTOONS) is helmsman "Ensign Walking Bear", a member of the Cherokee tribe who says he's studied the history of many Native American cultures. ("Chakotay" on VOYAGER is rather similar-- a Native American turns up, and his whole personality seems to be summed up by being the "expert" when it comes to "Native American" things. George Takei objected to that sort of thing-- it's why in THE NAKED TIME he used a rapier and was obsessed with D'Artagnon, instead of using a samurai sword as originally suggested.)
Once again we have an alien being who "helped" mankind in the distant past, is bugged that they have "forgotten" him, and still insists on thinking of them as his "chidren". It takes quite a bit of effort of Kirk's part, but, EVENTUALLY, he convinces Kulkulkan that mankind has "grown up", that while still a violent species they use their minds and put every effort into living in peace, and that "any intelligent species cannot be simply led by the hand".
Some of the design work in here is impressive, including Kulkulkan's spaceship, the Mayan city (presumably some sort of holographic creation), and the "zoo" which collects various animals in such a way they they each believe they're in their natural environments, and are unaware they're really in tiny glass enclosures).
Perhaps the most annoying thing in this episode (apart fro Kulkulkan's general attitude for most of it) is the way William Shatner MIS-PROPNOUNCES Kulkulkan's name every single time he says it (as "Ku-KLU-Kan"-- did he think the serpent was wearing a white robe or something?).
I got a laugh when Kirk injects the savage "power cat" with a tranquilizer and is knocked aside, then McCoy asks him, "Did you inject the cat, or yourself?"
The ending of the story manages to find an excuse to squeeze in yet another Shakespeare reference, which is where the story gets its name-- "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have an ungrateful child."
Writer David Wise has had a long career, mostly writing cartoons, while his collaborator, Russell Bates, only ever did this and an episode of ISIS. In both cases, this was their first TV work.
Not one of my favorites, but I still wish this series had continued on a lot longer than it did. It's just disgraceful that Filmnation only did 6 episodes the 2nd season, and then that was it.
