Arena

This is the one with Kirk battling a captain of an enemy ship; this other captain happens to resemble a man-like lizard. He or it hisses at Kirk and even speaks, promising a quick, merciful death - it certainly feels cold-blooded. It's based on a fairly famous short story by sf author Fredric Brown, though Gene Coon conceived the piece thinking it was original. That's because it's such a primal, simple plot which almost any writer could come up with: the essence of warfare is distilled down to the most basics of just two individuals, who go at it mano-a-mano (see also the TV Movie from 1970, "The Challenge"). Though this episode is one of Trek's best action stories, it's also a commentary on the needlessly huge casualties which occur during a war: why sacrifice thousands of individuals when an issue could be solved by the death of just one? This story kind of points out that maybe our nations, instead of engaging in traditional war, should just send our best soldiers or leaders; let them fight it out, thereby saving many other lives. It sounds pragmatic, or maybe too clinical; either way, when it becomes as personal as it does here, the results may not be as expected.

The episode begins at a shattered Federation outpost. The Enterprise was called over to the planet by a bogus call. There's some impressive set design here for a TV show; the outpost, though wrecked, still looks neat, with vaguely Roman-like architecture (catch those two globules at the entrance, representing symbols of the Federation). This episode also touches on a concept not addressed much in all the Trek shows: the possible intrusion by the expanding Federation into another civilization's space. Suppose we find a planet with no intelligent life; we begin colonization; then, several months later, we find out another society has laid claim to this region of space a year earlier. What happens now? The answer suggested here by Spock is - bring on the diplomats. In the 3rd act, everything shifts to an asteroid, where Kirk meets his deadly-looking opponent - the sudden shot introducing the Gorn still sends shivers down my spine, even if it is a man in a suit. The Gorn was revamped much later on the "Enterprise" show with computer FX, but I still prefer this slow-moving version. Kirk can outrun the Gorn, but the lizard-man is much stronger; it's an interesting contest. Kirk's solution in finding a method of killing the stronger enemy is a bit too pat, but nonetheless exciting.

I won't spoil it by saying what the ending is in this episode, but for me the ending is what made it all worthwhile. This episode is a little slow, a little clunky, but the Gorn (Kirk's enemy in this episode) has so much natural charm to him that it keeps you watching.

A deep space outpost of the Federation gets slaughtered and Kirk and his crew are out for revenge. The episodes starts out quite well, it focuses on action and mystery. Who attacked the outpost and why? It's all very mysterious and alarming. Is this the start of an intergalactic war? Perhaps.

The Enterprise ends up chasing the attacking ship through space and things don't go as planned for either ship. That's where I'll leave it. As I said the Gorn is the star of this episode. It's not often the someone outshines Kirk, but the Gorn certainly did.

A convention used frequently is that of setting two opponents against each other, giving them no choice but to fight. The frequent accusations by the more advanced aliens that earth creatures are too violent is often counteracted by their own blood lust. In this episode, Kirk is pitted against the Gorn, a species of lizard man. Perhaps they could have done just a bit of work to animate his jaw, rather than making it look like a Halloween mask. This episode forces Kirk to draw on his knowledge of chemistry and warfare to face the Gorn. As the crew watches the fight continues. They parry and thrust their way. The strength of the episode has to do with lessons learned. McCoy gets in his usual shot at Spock for inaction. He seems to blame him whenever his logic doesn't solve the problem.

Yeah, yeah... the futility of war, the awkward issue of territorial disputes, the arrogance of so-called superior beings -- all classic Star Trek themes, but let's be honest, what makes this a great episode is the fact that Kirk gets to fight the Gorn, a reptilian alien with great strength but the speed and agility of an arthritic sloth, the action taking place at the iconic Vasquez Rocks.

The Arena begins with a landing party beaming down to the Cestus III Outpost only to find the place obliterated. After fending off an attack by an unseen enemy, Kirk and his crew beam back to The Enterprise, which is also under attack from an unknown vessel. A chase ensues, during which both spaceships are halted mid-flight by a powerful species called The Metrons, who decree that the battle be decided by a fight to the death between the captains of both ships.

The trial by combat that follows is hilarious, the Gorn (a man in a dreadful rubber costume) hurling rocks with ease but throwing punches in slow motion, and Kirk constructing a handy-dandy home-made cannon from objects and minerals that he finds scattered about the area. In the end, Kirk and his cannon win the day, the Enterprise's captain impressing the Metrons by sparing the Gorn's life.

7/10. It's all very daft, especially how Kirk builds his weapon with such ease, but it's also very entertaining.

'Arena' has always been one of my favorite TOS episodes, both for legitimate reasons and ironic. It is a good episode, examining the idea of casualties of war and man's heavy-handed expansion to other planets. An outpost is destroyed, the Enterprise pursues the Gorn ship responsible, and Kirk finds himself facing off against their captain at the will of the Metrons ("We will resolve your conflict in the way most suited to your limited mentalities").

This is where the fun begins. Gaze upon Shatner's grappling with a giant rubber lizard man at Vasquez rocks (there's a reason Trekkies make the pilgrimage to those rocks, and this is it). Lumbering moves, telegraphed punches and really fake boulders; that is what this episode is really about. One drawn-out and ham-fisted fight scene.

This is just the right mix of thought-provoking and hilarious, and the Gorn has lived on as somewhat iconic for a reason. Maybe just a tiny step down in status from the Tribbles.

9/10