Who Mourns for Adonais?

This is all in all a pretty good episode. All members of the original cast appear in this episode and a couple have pretty good roles. I always enjoy when Checkov has some lines as he is a solid contributor and he is intergral in this episode. Scotty is prominent as well but is a bit on the annoying side as he not using good judgement.

The Greek god Apollo is the foil in this gem and Kirk and company eventually break him down and defeat him. Nice build up on what made the Greek gods tick and how they eventually died off with only Apollo holding up hope that his minions would eventually return.

In the end, the combined efforts of Kirk and landing party on the planet and Spock back on the Enterprise working independently to sort out the challenge and prevail.

Even though humankind is no longer wearing animal skins, tending sheep and have arrived at his home in space in the Starship Enterprise, the Greek God Apollo demands worship as if it was back in the days of Socrates and Plato. That is something that Captain James T. Kirk is not willing to do nor are any of the rest of his crew.

Michael Forest who did a few peplum pictures back in the day guest stars as a really great physical specimen who claims he's Apollo. And he's certainly performing some feats that would make one think he's got some powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man. It's the job of the Enterprise away team to find his Kryptonite.

William Shatner theorizes that back in the day a race of super beings did land on earth, maybe gathered at Mount Olympus and certainly would have appeared to have been Gods to the shepherds. And these Gods had all the human vices as well. For that Shatner is depending on archaeologist Leslie Parrish with the away team to help out. And there certainly is a mutual attraction though Jimmy Doohan who kind of likes Parrish himself ain't ready to worship and ain't ready to give her up.

Just as humankind advanced I would have thought that those beings that were labeled Gods also would have advanced a bit and taken account the evolution of humans. It's the main weakness of this episode which makes it impossible for me to give it top rank in the Star Trek tradition.

Alright, where to start. We have on the surface a pretty standard sci- fi theme of old-historic power meets modern man. The two meet and things happen.

We've got this highly self centered and egotistical (and I should add abusive) "god" from Earth's past wanting adoration just like the olden days. But the days of mans' "oohing" and "ahhing" over things like fire, storms and earthquakes are over. Man is the master of his domain (the odd Klingon not withstanding), and needs little for super natural beings to interfere in his life.

But Apollo has other plans.

What strikes me as being interesting about this episode is a notion that the author brought up. The notion that we, mankind, have this primitive nature within us, but that we grow beyond it as we mature. Apollo, as another reviewer stated, is in this essence an immature teenage boy. He's an adolescent with lots of power. So much power that he can stop one of starfleet's finest vessels cold in space.

The story comments on man's primitive instincts and base desires. They're a foundation for a lot of what human's have achieved, but in the end they're only the foundation, and not the higher modes of thought we use in everyday life. Apollo uses his classical Greek god status and powers to try to win over the higher social circle that is the personnel of Starfleet command. He has temporary success, but must ultimately be brought down lest the rest of the Federation see/hear/read about the Enterprise not returning from a mission.

In this way you could use this episode as an allegory for a lot of man's ills, and a lot of history we as humans have created for ourselves because of our inner Apollo. Though the truth is that even though we recognize all those negative or over-energetic and unregulated aspects within ourselves, we still have Apollo-like moments. The key is to not let our inner Apollo over come our inner Kirk :-)

The times being what they were we have a Russian in the episode in the form of Chekov. Scotty, for whatever reason, has beamed down completing the usual "Let's send the ship's senior staff to the planet" motif that seems to be in nearly all Trek episodes. But hey, we wouldn't have a show or story if that didn't happen.

If I had a gripe with this installment of Trek it's that the thing wasn't shot outdoors. It's got that ever oh-so Trek artificiality when it comes to alien planetscapes shot on a stage. Which is too bad because this would have been perfect if Desilu could have found an old Steve Reeves' gladiator set, and had it double for an ancient Greek god oracle. Then again who knows? Anyway, that's how I would've shot it :- )

In any event, give it a whirl. It should entertain.

*EDIT* Hmm, interesting; apparently some of this applies to myself: An egotistical self-centered "god", prone to mood sways and high opinions of his worth than he actually is, has caused some mischief and problems for the traffic ways in the UFP. However, the difference is that for Trek's Apollo, his treatment was forced. Mine was voluntary, and now I've got some sort of plot to get me to "fairer pastures"; note; not greener, but something more suitable? Sorry. It's not going to happen. No matter who is sent to plead the case.

These reviews are done.

The theory that the gods worshipped by ancient civilisations on Earth were in fact space travellers with advanced powers was popularised in Erich Von Daniken's 1968 bestseller 'Chariots of the Gods?', but this episode of Star Trek addressed the issue first. In 'Who Mourns for Adonais?', the crew of The Enterprise encounter one such being, Apollo, who has spent the last few thousand years residing on a planet waiting for the human race to advance into space so that he can once again be revered and adored. Of course, Kirk isn't about to kowtow to an alien, not even one that can shoot lightning bolts from his fingertips.

The story starts with The Enterprise halted in its path by a field of energy in the form of a giant green hand - a bizarre image that sets the quirky tone for this memorable adventure for Kirk and company. Beaming down to the planet below, a landing party discovers an ancient Greek temple where they encounter Apollo (Michael Forest), who renders their equipment useless and declares that they must stay on the planet and worship him. The deity also takes a shine to Lieutenant Palamas (Leslie Parrish) and seduces the woman, much to the annoyance of Scotty. In order to defeat Apollo, Kirk and his crewmates attempt to locate the source of his power and destroy it.

There's a fair amount of fun to be had with this one, Apollo growing to giant size to tower over the landing party, transforming Palamas' uniform into a more revealing outfit befitting the queen of a god, and hurling impetuous Scotty backwards with bolts of energy. The one big problem I have with the episode is the notion that Apollo requires a 'source' for his energy, the temple apparently acting like a powerful battery: it begs the question, 'Did he lug that temple all the way to Earth and back all those years ago?'.

While telling the landing party about himself, Apollo states that his father is Zeus and his mother was Lito, a mortal or human. In that case Apollo would actually be a demigod or a Titan.

Lito was actually a Titan princess, which did make Apollo a God in all sense and manner. I would consider this only a blooper by the writers of the show and did not take away much of the enjoyment.

My all time favorite was shown the other night. City on the Edge of Forever. Now that was the all-time best Star Trek episode of any of the Star Trek series. It's too bad that few of the original cast are still around.