Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 2.21 Patterns of Force (02-16-68)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/20/43
Notable Guest Stars:
David Brian – John Gill. He was in the film Intruder in the Dust (1949)
Velora Noland – Daras. She appeared on several tv shows of the time
Chuck Courtney – Davod. He was known for his role on The Lone Ranger
Skip Homeier – Melakon He was a child actor, and will appear once again next season.
Review:
Today we have a trope: Space Nazis! And unlike the episode of Enterprise it is not Aliens assuming Nazi alias to take over the world. Nope, this is on a planet that the crew of the NCC-1701 run into. Apparently world development is really affected by books. Which is true, but these episodes seem to take one aspect of a book or history to the extreme.
I hate Space Nazis episodes. I think it is generally accepted that the Nazi regiem was horrible and not a good life plan for any country. But they aren’t the only travesity that has happened in the last fifty plus years. By this time the Federation had gone through a third world war and if TNG is to be believed a dark age afterwards. Surely there is another horrible event/era to capitalize upon?
I firmly believe that everyone should learn the history about Nazis (the old and the neo) and make sure this never happens again. I am however tired of television shows taking a take on how to show how bad it is, and how better we (usually the Americans) are. It’s been overly done.
Star Trek has at least 3 Space Nazi episodes, two of which are two partners. After discussing it with a few friends, we decided its easier to use Nazis because everyone generally agrees that they are not good.
Also, if you are going to use the efficiency do you need to use the symbols? They even have the eradication of a people as a focus.
Interesting Notes:
- Directed by Vincent McEveety
- Written by John Meredyth Lucas
- This episode was banned in Germany till 1995 due to the use of Nazi insignia and uniforms.
- Uses clips from actual film of rockets and from another film for Hitler.
Pros:
- Spock not getting idioms
- Costumes are much better in this episode.
Cons:
- Some make-up issues. In particular the blood.
- Why is it always the Nazis?
Sokorra Lewis 