Pros: Good script, shot on location, believable romance, good McCoy-Spock by-play, ending well done.
Cons: Hollywood "Indian" speak, mediocre supporting actors, somewhat predictable.
Paradise Syndrome is a well done Star Trek drama. Not an action-adventure. A drama. The action is limited. The Enterprise isn't going to blow up, Spock and McCoy aren't going to die, and phaser blasts and fist-fights are kept to a minimum.
Instead, we focus on Kirk (forgetting he's Captain Kirk) living in an Indian village whose decendents were brought to the planet thousands of years ago by the "Providers". Taken for a God, he ends up romancing an Indian princess. Meanwhile, onboard the USS Enterprise, Spock and McCoy try to keep an asteroid from smashing into the planet.
A Believable Romance
A Believable Romance
Kirk is at the village for over 2 months, and as a result, his romance with Miramanee is believable, as is his love for her. When she dies, Kirk is quite rightly upset. What a change from Requiem for Methusala - where Kirk falls in love in 3 hours!
Pushed by Roddenberry. Fred Freiberg wanted action adventure
While Roddenberry mostly was hands-off during 3rd season, he is responisble for this episode and many key changes to the story. Fred Freiberg didn't like the original script, thinking it was too talky and didn't have enough action. To Freiberg Star Trek was "Tits in space". Roddenberry, however, liked the story (and the writer Margaret Armen) and forced Freiberg to produce it.
So what's Wrong?
MCCOY: Well, your Vulcan metabolism is so low it can hardly be measured, and as for the pressure, that green ice water you call blood
SPOCK: My physical condition is not important, Doctor. That obelisk is.
MCCOY: Well, my diagnosis is exhaustion brought on from overwork and guilt. You're blaming yourself for crippling this ship, just as we blamed you. Well, we were wrong. So were you. You made a command decision. Jim would have done the same. My prescription is rest, now. Do I have to call the security guards to enforce it?
Pushed by Roddenberry. Fred Freiberg wanted action adventure
While Roddenberry mostly was hands-off during 3rd season, he is responisble for this episode and many key changes to the story. Fred Freiberg didn't like the original script, thinking it was too talky and didn't have enough action. To Freiberg Star Trek was "Tits in space". Roddenberry, however, liked the story (and the writer Margaret Armen) and forced Freiberg to produce it.
So what's Wrong?
- The supporting actors playing the Indians are mediocre. Not bad, they just aren't memorable.
- The Indian dialogue is mediocre. Its difficult to write great dialogue for "primitive" people. They have to sound different, yet uneducated. So, you get a lot of short, declarative sentences.
- Kirk's "Story" is rather predictable. His advanced knowlegdge makes him the Medicine man. He falls in love with a beautiful Indian maiden, tragedy strikes and she dies. After all, we can't have Captain Kirk running around the Galaxy with his wife and Indian son.
- We needed more excitement. Not a lot - but some. At one point, things get so laid back, Kirk and his wife talk about the Lamp he invented and his irrigation project. Yawn. Character development? Yes. Putting me to sleep? No.
MCCOY: Well, your Vulcan metabolism is so low it can hardly be measured, and as for the pressure, that green ice water you call blood
SPOCK: My physical condition is not important, Doctor. That obelisk is.
MCCOY: Well, my diagnosis is exhaustion brought on from overwork and guilt. You're blaming yourself for crippling this ship, just as we blamed you. Well, we were wrong. So were you. You made a command decision. Jim would have done the same. My prescription is rest, now. Do I have to call the security guards to enforce it?
Summary: A good solid episode. Gets better on rewatch.
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