A Piece of the Action

This was a good comedy in season 2. While not fully on par with 'The Trouble with Tribbles', it is a close second. It was hilarious to see Kirk talking like a gangster, then setting up a mob syndicate--to stop a spate of out of control gangland shootings--and negotiating the Federation's 40% 'cut' or share from the syndicate. Kirk later unconvincingly justifies to Spock that the money will be directed towards an ethical fund to guide the Iotians to a more normal existence...that is until he learns that Dr McCoy lost his tricked back on Sigma Iotia II which means the Iotians might demand a piece of the Federation's action in the future!

Great comedy and hilarious acting throughout. Of course, Kirk is only sorting out the mess that the last Federation starship, the USS Horizon, created 100 years ago before the prime directive came into effect. The Horizon's crew left behind several publications including a book on Chicago Mobs in the 1920's which the intelligent Iotians quickly imitated. This was really Star Trek's last comedy episode since season three started with Fred Freiberger who was a 'serious' science fiction producer. Virtually all season 3 Trek episodes are devoid of comedy.

The Enterprise crew arrives at a planet a hundred years after another ship arrived there. The Iotians are an imitative race and have patterned their culture after the 1920's gangster culture of the U. S. This happened because someone left a book on he planet outlining the gangland characters. This has become their Bible. There is a battle going on for territory as the factions put hits on each other. The joy of the episode is watching Kirk and Spock try to adapt to the society without encroaching on he prime directive. There are great scenes as Kirk, and even more ridiculously, Spock try to mimic the dialect and nomenclature of the time. There is the priceless scene the two attempting to drive a flivver. Kirk jerks along, not quite getting the hang of the clutch, and Spock tells him he is a great captain but a horrible, dangerous driver. The guys need to meet the gang bosses on their own level, but what is this. Anyway, it is great fun and one of the most memorable in the series. One other thing, Kirk and Spock look great in those zoot suits.

Those of us who grew up in the 50s when the "Roaring Twenties" were not so distant, who remember the gangster movies of the 1950s, "The Untouchables", the TV series "The Roaring Twenties" can appreciate this episode a little more. It is a good example of how good writers can take a situation that could be rather grim-think of "Patterns of Force", where there has been a major violation of The Prime Directive -OK, it wasn't in force at the time, but it was situations like this that led to its adoption-and make it funny and effective. Gangsters wearing fancy clothing but can't shake their "dese and dem and doze" accents, people behaving in a certain way, exaggerated mannerisms because they think that's what they're supposed to. And how many people reading this today could drive a manual transmission ?

Accent is on comedy in this Star Trek classic where the USS Enterprise finds itself visiting a planet a hundred years after the first contact was made by Star Fleet. What they find is not quite what they were expecting. William Shatner and the rest seem to be under the impression these were a peaceful, but highly intelligent people just getting into industrialization.

Someone however left a book from earth history about the gang wars in Chicago presumably between Al Capone and Bugs Moran and all the other players back in those wild days. Being intelligent the people of Iotia adapt their entire culture around those days.

So Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and the rest have to deal as best they can and in the end have to start talking their language. It's a great sight gag to see the Enterprise away team have to adapt those gaudy threads from a bygone era to make themselves understood.

A very funny episode with a very funny coda at the end among Shatner, Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley.

This second season episode of "Star Trek," lays on the goofy qualities a bit thick at times! William Shatner hams it up shamelessly in his attempts to imitate a gangster after he and his party land on a planet that resembles 1920s Chicago. I can't recall seeing Kirk and Spock dressed in 1920s suits very often. This is harmless fun, to be fair. The cast look as though they are having a good time and that's one way of encouraging the viewers to do the same. It's best to switch off the brain when seeing this.