"Errand of Mercy" (season one, episode twenty-six; production code: 027; 23 March 1967): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: "Errand of Mercy" introduces the Klingon Empire, explicitly called such in the episode. The Klingons were more frequently recurring adversaries than the Romulans because the Klingon make-up was cheaper than all those pointed ears. These Klingons are relatively straightforward militarists, without the honor culture that would be added in the Next Generation-era (though, in practice, the vast majority of Klingons are dishonorable sadists who act as straightforward militarists).
The episode primarily takes place on the planet Organia, strategically important as the only M-class planet in the region disputed by the Federation & the Klingons. The Organians are not the technologically primitive agrarians they appears to be, but as noncorporeal beings with godlike powers, much like Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos" (season one, episode seventeen), but less juvenile. The Organians impose a peace treaty between the Federation & the Klingons, which will be referenced in "The Trouble with Tribbles" (season two, episode fifteen) & ignorned in "A Private Little War" (season two, episode nineteen). The Organians believe they have the right to impose a peace because they have the power to impose a peace; the same "might makes right" attitude is expounded in the feature film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
No comments:
Post a Comment