The Rewatch 31: The Apple

Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 2.05 The Apple (10-13-67)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 4/13/36

Notable Guest Stars:
Celeste Yarnall – Yeoman Martha Landon.  She had a minor role in an Eliviz Prestley movie.  She later became a Real Estate mogul and nutritionist.
Keith Andes- Akuta  He was a popular radio star.
David Soul – Makora.  He’s known for his starring role in Starsky and Hutch.

Review:

I was a little disappointed in this episode.  It starts off well, with the Enterprise finding a planet that seems to have many resources they could use with a paradise like appearance that would be good for shore leave. An away team is investigating it when it becomes deadly.  There is a computer on the planet, called Vaal, that keeps the planet in temperate climate, and keeps the people (known as the people of Vaal) on the planet in food, health and whatever else they need in exchange for feeding him to keep his power reserves.

The episode overall wasn’t their best, but it had some moments.  It had some typical McCoy/Spock bickering.  Kirk & McCoy trying to tease Spock by asking him to explain how they would explain reproduction to the people a Vaal.  Chekov gets a first name (and a love interest).  Yeoman Landon is a capable away team officer, even if it does use her to point out peril/fear.

The negative of this episode is really the Enterprise saving a somewhat more primitive society from an evil overlord computer has been done already.

(Prime Directive, what Prime Directive)

Interesting Notes:

• Directed by Joseph Pevney
• Written by Max Ehrlich
• Gamma Trianguli is an actual place with its own Wikipedia page.
• Scotty in Command
• First time it is mentioned that the ship can be separated into parts.  I thought that was unique to the TNG era but apparently not.  I must have missed that the first time I watched this series.

Pros:

•  Chekov’s first “Its Russian” joke.
• Its hilarious as they try and reference sex without actually saying it. Also, the idea of Spock as a sex-ed teacher is hilarious as well.
• Yeoman Martha Landon gets to kick ass, and in general seems quite competent at her job when not being used as the damsel in distress to point out the peril.

Cons:

•  Ok, five episodes in I am going to say this is not a transmission problem.  Kirk’s narration is super low in comparison to the music. And the ahhhahhhh part is annoying.  Not quite as bad as Farscape (although I like it there somewhat).