Elaan of Troyius

The Enterprise has a very rude guest, no values or manners or respect for the rest, though she captures the ear, of Kirk with a tear, now he's smitten, in love, all possessed.

A marriage of convenience is planned but looks to be on the rocks well before the bride has met the groom who you have immense sympathy for.

I honestly can't understand why people never cared for this episode. It's always been one of my favorites since I was a kid. It had everything: space battles, romance, Klingons, etc. Granted, it's not as good as The Doomsday Machine or Balance of Terror or Amok Time, but it's certainly not as bad an episode as The Way to Eden or Plato's Stepchildren. The acting seemed pretty solid, especially between Kirk and Elaan. Granted, the costumes looked pretty cheap (they said the guards were wearing "placemats"), and the rear wide-shots of Kirk and the navigator's position showed someone other than Chekov, but to me those were the only negative things about "Elaan of Troyius".

Over the course of the series run Captain James T. Kirk has had a few romantic entanglements. But nothing like France Nuyen as the Elaan who is going quite unwillingly to another planet in a state arranged marriage. It's an obligation of royalty, but not one that the hot blooded and quite spoiled princess wants to make.

Watching this episode I was wondering if Daphne Zuniga borrowed some of France Nuyen's character for playing Princess Vespa in Spaceballs. As a Druish princess she had enough of the character, but not the powers.

The women of Nuyen's planet do a little crying and if their tears touch the man they want, those men are hooked. To get what she wants Nuyen pouts and sobs on William Shatner's shoulder and that's it. He's got a bit of problem paying attention to duty.

But duty does call when the Klingons start interfering.

An interesting and one of the better episodes of the last season.

The Enterprise is directed to transport a princess (Elaan) from her world to their enemy's world in an effort to marry her off to the enemy and thus ensure peace. The problem is that Elaan is a barbaric "female dog" and has no intention of fulfilling her duties. And, once she comes aboard, she is a prima donna who need civilizing before she's ready to marry anyone. So, it's up to the Enterprise's version of Henry Higgens (Kirk) to civilize the beast. There's a subplot of an assassination attempt through sabotage that's thrown in for a little bit of tension.

Overall this is a sub-par episode--mostly because the character of Elaan was so gosh-darn annoying and unlikable. Now this isn't to say that it's so bad that you shouldn't watch it. No, but it's just a little tough to see when Kirk eventually falls for her--I was really hoping he'd just put her over his knee and spank her for her utter rudeness. Plus, although Kirk falls in love with Elaan due to a chemical process for which McCoy says there is no cure, Kirk being the incredibly macho guy he is, is able to overcome this by the end of the episode. Another galactic babe tamed by the Kirk-Meister!

Federation space politics and diplomacy are at the forefront of the plot, exemplified earlier by the well-known "Journey to Babel" episode. Kirk and his ship do not play courier to dozens of ambassadors as before; here there's only one. Oh, and a creature known as the Dohlman (translation: spoiled brat of a princess i.e.more trouble than a 100 ambassadors), whom the ambassador must train for her role as wife to the Troyiun prince. Some ground rules to observe when hosting a Dohlman: (1) kneel in her presence; (2) do not speak unless permitted; (3) do not leave without permission; (4) provide her with the best quarters on the ship; (4a) failing that, find other quarters; (5) provide breakable objects for her, but no pillows. These are for starters. Such a sophomoric attitude does provide more entertainment than the typical 3rd season episode and there are added elements of another touchy mission for Starfleet to bring peace to a region of space, as well as an unexpected attack by a Klingon warship. The likewise warlike Elasians make the Capellans of "Friday's Child" seem quite laid back by comparison. The story holds together well with all these plot turns in the first couple of acts and this episode is not boring - that's a given.

There's a switch to more silly-like plot contrivances in the 2nd half of the episode, when Kirk becomes infected by Elaan's tears. According to legend, and 23rd-century biochemistry, tears of such a female enslave all men. This provides another excuse for Kirk to, uh, fraternize inappropriately with an alien woman who is generally regarded as off-limits. It's similar to his tryst with the female invader in "Wink of an Eye" only a few episodes earlier (Kirk really got going in this area of interstellar relations during the 3rd season). As the beyond-arrogant royal bitch, actress Nuyen was well cast; helped by her accent, she brings a suitably exotic flavor to the role, flinging knives and enjoying a meal with equal aplomb. My favorite scene is probably her put-down of Scotty; oy, watch what you say to a proud Scotsman! To the episode's credit, the audience should feel at least a twinge of pity for her by the conclusion, despite her earlier antics. One is reminded that the episode's title is "Elaan of Troyius" not 'Elaan of Elas.' She seems doomed and forsaken at the end to spend the remainder of her life behaving in a certain fashion, contrary to her nature. I also liked the space battle in this one; the music, especially, called to mind the battles of a decade later in "Star Wars."