Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 2.02 Who Mourns for Adonais (9-22-67)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/0/23
Notable Guest Stars:
Michael Forrest – Apollo. He is more known for his voice work then his physical acting.
Leslie Parrish – Lt. Carolyn Palamas. She is known for many roles, including that of Daisy Mae in Lil Abner.
Review:
My father and I rarely agree on much, but neither of us particularly liked this episode. For him it was the element of alien gods, for me it was the sexism that seemed to filter through the episode.
In this episode, the Enterprise encounters an alien known as Apollo. He is from an ancient group of beings that once inhabited earth and were worshipped as Gods by the ancient Greeks. He wishes for Kirk & the crew to worship him. He promises to love them like a father does their children and allow them to dismantle their ship to provide for their needs on the planet.
He takes an instant liking to Lt. Carolyn Palamas, the resident anthropologist and archeologist on Enterprise. He transforms her uniform into a dress that I must admit I’m not sure how the top stays on. Lots of fashion tape I imagine. He impresses her, and eventually she falls in love with him. For awhile at least she even allows herself to think of a life in paradise by his side. Kirk has a stern talk with her, reminding her of her duty to Starfleet. In the end she lies to Apollo, rejecting his attentions and causing him to cause a tantrum and reducing his power on the Enterprise. This allows them to destroy Apollo’s energy banks on the planet.
Some of the dialogue seemed repetitive as well.
Interesting Notes:
- Directed by Marc Daniels
- Written by Gilbert Talston, Gene L. Coon
Pros:
- Lt. Palamas doesn’t end up being the type who let’s love get in the way of their better sense. The actress Leslie Parrish did an amazing job in this episode.
Cons:
- This is the first episode where I felt a real sense of sexism. Usually its light, and I can mark if off as era issues, but this episode seemed to make a bit more overt. For example, it is implied that if Carolyn Palamas decides to date Scotty and they get married, she would leave Starfleet. There does seem to be a strong lack of married officers, and women with rank higher than Lieutenant. I guess this probably reflected the idea at the time that once married a woman was expected to not have a career.
- Once again, like with Space Seed, they have a single woman on the away team and she almost ruins their chances by falling for the villain. Or they fall in love with the Captain and end up being more of an issue then a help. Its an annoying trend on this show.
Sokorra Lewis 