The Galileo Seven

... I sense an unemotional Vulcan man, be he alive or be he dead, I'll take his logic to make my bread.

The shuttle of the Enterprise becomes cast adrift and comes to rest in a land of giant cavemen, where Mr. Spock's logical approach to leadership is questioned by those unfortunate enough to be along for the ride.

For the most part, all the episodes up until this one kept Spock in the background--allowing him no room to grow as a character or have all that much screen time. However, this is definitely his episode--as he is in command of a group aboard the shuttle craft (the Galileo). And I liked how the Vulcan logic, for once, was quite inadequate to handle a situation where logic was NOT the best approach to their dilemma. He tried using reason to predict the actions of a group of savage humanoids who were like giant cavemen--or so we think, as the folks at Paramount Studios/Desilu were too cheap to show them!! Instead, you saw bits and pieces and heard about them or saw shadows, but that was all!

The problem is that this episode, despite its emphasis on Spock, was incredibly confusing. It's supposed to be in a more enlightened future but the crew members on the shuttle sure don't behave that way. In particular, the crew members seemed awfully disloyal and were like a bunch of "armchair quarterbacks"--always second-guessing Spock. This tension seemed out of place and it just did nothing to help improve the overall image of the series.

I have mixed feelings about this episode. While its plot is a little absurd and thin, it doesn't defy scientific credibility as much as many episodes of the later series in the franchise do.

Spock's relationship with the crew and his command abilities are challenged and nicely established as he commands a shuttlecraft on what should have been a routine exploratory mission (why bring along the chief engineer and chief medical officer, we will never know). The shuttle crash-lands on a class m planet in a quasar system with all communication and sensor use completely inhibited. Giant prehistoric people in a band-level society inhabit this planet and they are not pleased by the arrival of the Galileo 7. And Kirk has an annoyed bureaucrat who is late for an appointment on board the Enterprise. There is some interesting an surprisingly well-informed anthropological discourse in this episode but unfortunately the most interesting character introduced, Crewman Boma(Don Marshall) - apparently a social scientist- is inconsistently characterized.

The plot is really a vehicle for character development in this case. It's about Spock, Spock's relationship with the crew, Spock's relationship with Kirk, and with McCoy. In some ways, a defining moment for the series. And the entire cast is up to the challenge. For me, this is the main appeal of the episode.

Star Trek was hitting its stride by the time of the "Galileo Seven". The title might actually be a variation of "Twelve Angry Men" another story of several interesting characters forced into a situation where important choices need to be made. The characters of Spock, McCoy and Scott in particular are advanced here as we learn more about each of them. Spock's strictly logical thinking proves to be both an advantage and a detriment as he is the ranking officer and responsible for the ultimate choices being made here. McCoy on the other hand acts as Spock's "human" conscience, figuratively sitting on his shoulder and pushing him not to rely so much on his non-emotive Vulcan side. Scott merely does what he does best by tirelessly testing theories using the resources he's provided to do his part in solving the problem at hand. In this case, the shuttlecraft "Galileo" is stranded on a hostile planet with large alien creatures determined to prevent their escape. The conclusion will surprise you and ultimately gives some great insight into the character of Spock.

When I was 8 years old on a family road trip, we popped in at a museum in Clovis, New Mexico. I remember nothing of the museum aside from their two giant spear props from this episode near an exhibit emphasizing the importance of the Folsom Point, which was an important discovery placing the earlier population of North America. It added a lot of weight to the viewing experience of this particularly creepy episode while home sick from school one day.

Years later at a restaurant I remember accidentally making eye contact with an elderly gentleman across the room. We nodded at each other and that was that. Then the next day at a nearby Chiller Theater convention I saw the man again sitting at a table with displays of all the movies he was in. Lo and behold, he was Don Marshall, who here was the largest thorn in Spock's side. We had a 15 minute conversation about the episode and he was as friendly as could be, saying that he had a blast working on Star Trek with nothing but good things to say about it, despite the rushed 6 day shooting schedule.

The first season of Star Trek served up a wonderfully uneven mishmash of tonal shifts and crazy ideas. A lot of these early episodes (along with THE MAN TRAP, THE CORBOMITE MANEUVER, NAKED TIME, etc.) felt more like a horror-show than a sci fi show, and the bombastic music certainly added to the chill factor. With this episode, a few crewmembers of the Enterprise get marooned in their most hostile planet yet, populated by mist and spear-wielding giant furry primates as one of Star Trek's most well-realized one-time threats. The atmosphere serves this episode well and I really wish they'd made more like it seasons 2-3.

The downside of this episode for me has to be the tiresome infighting between Spock and the others. Some of his decisions, like leaving the lone crewman to guard a valley, make little sense. The other crew's actions don't either, such as their need to bury dead comrades when under direct threat, or Kirk's decision at the start to send his chief engineer and ship's doctor to chart some random nebula. All in all this episode stands as a classic and for anyone interested in seeing the props from it, be sure to pop in the museum in Clovis.