The Rewatch 13: The Galileo Seven

Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 1.16 The Galileo Seven (1-5-67)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 3/20

Notable Guest Stars:
Don Marshall- Lt. Boma.  Best known for his role in Land of the Giants.
John Crawford –Commissioner Farris.  He has appeared in several disaster movies, such as The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure.
Phyllis Douglas- Yeoman Mears.  She played Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone with the Wind)

Review:

 This episode has Spock crash landing a shuttle on a planet after trying to investigate a Quasar.  Which apparently Starfleet is really interested in, though the reason behind it is unclear.  Meanwhile Kirk has to deal with a commissioner who wants drugs brought to a planet right away. Which given currently circumstances I get his point.  However, I also understand Kirk’s need to stay and find the missing crewman.

This episode focuses in on the human response to Spock’s lack of emotional response.  While stuck on the planet, he is overfocused on getting rescued and not sympathetic towards the rest of the crew’s emotional responses.  McCoy tries to point it out to Spock, but Spock is not hearing it.

Except, he learns, emotion is needed when dealing with those who have emotion or at least an understanding of it.

I did like that Scotty and McCoy stood up for him against the rest of the team.   

Interesting Notes:

• Directed by Robert Sparr
• Written by Theodore Sturgeon (Revised by Roddenberry)
•  Introduction of the shuttlecraft.

Pros:

•  A fun episode
• Interactions of the senior crew.

Cons:

•  This episode implies that Spock, a first officer, has never been commander of an away mission. Which seems odd to me.  He has been in command several times on this show, He has had command of the Bridge. 
• Why is everyone shocked by Spock’s behavior.  These people have been working with him for months, if not years. 
• Did no one on the bridge notice that 9 went down, 7 came up.
• Why are there 3 senior officers on the away mission?  In the chain of command, Spock is 2, and Scotty is 3.  I’m not sure how McCoy fits into that, since he is medical, but he’s still the chief Medical officer.  Somehow this seems like a bad idea.