The Omega Glory

It was inevitable, sooner or later I was gonna get up to John Meredith Lucas's final episode of STAR TREK. Written by Gene Roddenberry shortly after "The Cage", "The Omega Glory" was actually the 1st of the (so-called) "parallel Earth" episodes, a concept apparently hatched as a con to make the networks think they could cut costs by re-using existing sets (kinda like THE TIME TUNNEL-- heh). It was offered as one of the 3 possibles for the 2nd pilot, but, thankfully, not chosen, in fact, unlike "Mudd's Women", downright shelved! (Since learning it was written so early, it hit me that it probably inspired the somewhat-similar "Miri", which I always felt was the WORST episode of the entire 1st season-- by a mile!)

I've long felt this was a very stupid episode, and I've found online that a lot of fans feel the same way, often ranking it as "one of the worst" in the entire series.

My original impressions remained intact watching it UNCUT again tonight. The opening sequence is the most intriguing part, where they discover the crystalline remains of the Exeter crew. (I did, after all these years, suddenly find myself wondering WHY Kirk didn't have the Exeter scanned for life before beaming over; instead, he gets on the ship's intercom and asks, "Is anyone on board?")

I've since learned that Morgan Woodward had a long career in westerns, but man, to me, he will always be Captain Ron Tracy-- a starship commander who due to circumstances went COMPLETELY INSANE!! Matt Decker (from "The Doomsday Machine") has nothing on this guy. One scene I hadn't seen in ages (clearly it's usually cut in syndication) was when Tracy decides to talk with a bound Kirk and, after quoting regulations at length, give him his reasons for violating "The Prime Directive". (Did Roddenberry really come up with this idea so early? In the order of filming, it didn't turn up until halfway thru the 1st season.) All that aside, if there's any reason Kirk should NOT have played ball with the guy, it's when Tracy, for NO apparent reason, VAPORIZED the already-injured Lt. Galloway! (Was he trying to make a point?)

Between Kirk & Cloud William in the cell, Kirk & Tracy in the street (with a battle-axe!!), and Kirk & Tracy in front of the assembled tribe, this episode has no less than 3 of the most BRUTAL fight scenes in STAR TREK history! Just the kind of thing to grab the attention of the average viewers (and no doubt keep the network happy).

Of course, the extreme annoyance of focusing on The Prime Directive aside, I didn't mind the "parallel development" concept here so much... that is, until the FINALE. When they pulled out the flag of the United States of America, followed by the US Constitution-- "WE-- THE PEOPLE...", that just went too far over the line for me. Always did, always will.

And yet... and yet... in spite of this, tonight I found this episode remains one GRIPPING watch. You just can't take your eyes off it-- no matter how stupid Tracy's actions got, no matter how outrageous Gene Roddenberry's ideas about sci-fi got, no matter how preachy Jim Kirk got. In fact, when Kirk speaks to Cloud William and the tribe, in spite of, if not because of how outrageous it is, I felt myself welling up with emotion. It's GOOD to be an American, and REMEMBER what BEING an American is supposed to be about.

Whatta ya know? I ENJOYED this tonight. And I remember that, yes, there ARE several ST's that are MUCH worse, and far more unwatchable than this one. (Including "Miri", "The Paradise Syndrome", "And The Children Shall Lead")

Funny enough, the plot about a Federation officer violating the Prime Directive and trying to wipe out an indigenous population so he can profit from something on a planet that could benefit the rest of the galaxy wound up being reused in the movie STAR TREK: INSURRECTION. (That film also borrowed the "back to nature" theme of another oft-maligned ST episode, "The Way To Eden".)

Yeah, this episode's got some problems. No, strike that, it's got some serious plot holes, and Shatner's speechifying at the end is a double edged sword; it both helps salvage an iffy episode and at the same time drive another nail into a story that was half baked.

But, for all that, I happen to think it an okay installment. The starship captain gone rogue is something that would have reared its head sooner or later in the series, so why not here?

Yes, the whole Com (Kohm?) and Yang thing was trite. It feel very deus machina, but only in retrospect. By the time the planet's environment and history are fully surmised you're too invested to take any notice. Oh sure, you'll have the "what now?" moment, and maybe even a touch of "oh-come-on" if you're an unforgiving sci-fi fan, but, imagine you don't know the back-story for a moment. If the story had been set in a purely alien environment it would've have worked just as well, if not better by the mere fact that Trek wasn't recycling the parallel-Earth thing.

And that's kind of the heart of matter. Morgan Woodward is an excellent actor, and gives us a black shirted starfleet officer with gold braid. He's the heavy, and does a superb job. The fact that the production values had to fit within a certain budget isn't his fault, nor the fault of any of the cast. The story of an officer falling for temptation is not a unique one. Here the execution is a little wobbly, but otherwise it grabs and keeps your attention. Me, I don't find this episode to be too much of a mess. If the two warring factions in this episode had been Polka-dot aliens versus the striped aliens, would that have made this episode any better? I'm not sure it would have. It may have led some credibility to the science and fiction in this work of science-fiction, but, to me at least, it's a secondary consideration. We're here to see Kirk, Spock and McCoy bring Ron Tracy to justice. They're met with some obstacles, but it all works out. How does the setting alter this? Personally, I don't think it does (or at least not by much).

If I had a real complaint, it would be the fact that Woodward's character seemed to really fly off the handle. And I mean in a big way. He wasn't sinister so much as obsessed with riches and long life. I guess a starship pension wasn't good enough for him. Oh well.

Look, bash it if you like, because this episode deserves some of the criticisms leveled at it, but it is sci-fi show made in the 60s. I mean, Desilu studios HAD it's limitations.

Take it for what it's worth.

Enjoy.

The #1 oath for a captain is to give their lives before directly interfering with the development of a civilization. Kirk and a landing party board an empty starship and find the whole crew contracted a deadly disease that wiped them all out. Now that they too contracted the sickness, they dare not return to the Enterprise, but to the planet below to find a cure. On reaching the planet, they find Capt. Tracey alive and well. They will later find out Tracey has been using his weapons to influence power in the primitive culture which is forbidden by StarFleet regulations. Some great fight sequences with Kirk, including a great one-on-one showdown with Tracey at the end.

The trajectory of today, is to copy, repeat, replay, with a variation on a theme, no imagination or so it seems. Running out of innovation, inspiration and creation, with the stories wearing thin, makes you think what could have been.

The captain of the USS Exeter becomes deluded, a bit like this episode.

For those of you that didn't see this episode when it first aired, it's understandable why it doesn't make sense to you. For those of us that saw it when it first aired, it makes perfect sense. It was 1968, we were fighting the communists in Vietnam. It was only 13 years after the cease fire in Korea in which we fought against the communist north koreans. Communism was spreading across the globe, and people were dying, or being imprisoned for opposing communism. Star Trek was as much a treatise on current events as it was a science fiction show. And it also offered hope. Think Bread, and Circuses in which Uhura, learns that Jesus Christ appeared to 20th century man.

Before Lucille Ball chose to pick up Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry was turned down by every studio. They thought the show was too cerebral. Sadly, it only lasted three seasons. But, for whatever reason, it survived in syndication, and gave a whole lot more.