Friday's Child

Kirk, Spock and McCoy visit a planet that both the Federation and Klingon Empire want to mine for important minerals.

This is an enjoyable episode for the character moments, world building, and interplanetary politics.

The story is quite strong as it shows the regular characters in contact with an alien society and the sensitive nature of interactions between different cultures. I appreciate the exploitative nature of this type of situation being reflective of real life Earth history. Although the Federation is not depicted as conquering like the Klingons, they are looking to exploit the resources of the planet for a strategic advantage. This is a far cry from what the Star Trek ideals became during 'The Next Generation'. All of this I found to be very interesting.

From a character perspective it really shines, with Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and especially Bones having some very memorable moments.

Kirk is written well as an explorer, diplomat, and soldier in this episode. William Shatner gives both a physical and verbal performance of strength, intelligence and sensitivity.

Spock is as cold and logical as ever, delivering a number of excellent lines. Leonard Nimoy provides great dry humour in another depiction of his classic outsider looking in on humanity.

While the two senior officers are away we are treated to more great scenes of Scotty in command of Enterprise. James Doohan brings a great balance of excitement and confidence to the commander's chair.

Dr 'Bones' McCoy has one of his quintessential episodes as a humanitarian caught in the middle of a conflict situation, who has the responsibility of caring for a pregnant female. In several excellently written scenes we see him contend with an aggressively reluctant mother and these for me are the highlights. DeForest Kelley is on top form and has solid chemistry with Julie Newmar as Eleen.

The visuals are mostly great. I love the fight scenes, particularly some of the early fist fights that are entertaining and quite well done. One part where Shatner throws a pillow at another performer cracks me up every time. This episode uses Vasquez Rocks park to great effect much like other episodes. The downside is the costuming which is relatively funny, but some of those outfits have zero aesthetic quality.

Season 2, episode 11. The Enterprise heads to Capella IV.The Capellans are a warrior tribe and McCoy has spent a few months with them at one time. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a crew member beam down and the crew member ends up dead. The trio are met not only by the Capellans but also Klingons. Both the Federation and Klingons are wanting mining rights on Capella IV. The Capellans have taken the trio's weapons and communicators so they cannot contact the ship. The Capellans are split are who should get the mining rights: Federation or Klingons? A battle happens and the trio ends up running off with a dead leader's pregnant wife, that does not want her child. The Enterprise is under the command of Scotty and they end up with a Federation ship distress call - they are under attack by a Klingon ship.

Suspense is built between Capellans, Klingons and The Federation pretty well here. We all know that Kirk and crew will smooth things over and get out safely but there is still plenty of suspense.

7/10

The title refers to the original hard luck kid, a child of misery. In this case, it's the unborn child of a ruler who has just been killed in a coup; hence, the child's life is forfeit, before it even begins. This is the alien culture to which Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down as guests and end up as fugitives. Overall, this is a good example of Roddenberry's vision, that of meeting and dealing with other planetary cultures. Writer Fontana managed to create a warrior-race here with truly alien morals, customs and sensibilities (in our eyes), a culture which seems very cruel and so high on testosterone that even Kirk looks somewhat fragile in many scenes. There's even a cool new weapon invented for this episode, the kligat (oops, sounds like Klingon). Of course, except for their average height of 6 and a half feet, the natives here are probably just a throwback to ancient Earth cultures, such as the Vikings or those barbaric hordes which threatened Rome on occasion. Although, this culture of '10 Great Tribes' also reminds one of Earth's past royalty, where-in royal heirs were sometimes assassinated at early age - notably in Rome itself. This may make them obvious allies of the Klingons, one of whom shows up here to bedevil Kirk (following "Errand of Mercy"). But, as is usual for Trek episodes, the story doesn't follow the obvious path.

It turns out, these Capellans are much more honorable than the average Klingon of the original series and this all gets spelled out by the conclusion. Interestingly, McCoy is the resident expert on these people, due to spending time on the planet in the past. His retort to the Klingon during a key meeting scene is a near-classic Trek moment. The story is hampered by a limited, plodding plot line and a female queen/spoiled brat (Newmar) who is definitely an acquired taste - some viewers may find her amusing, a la the later "Elaan of Troyius" - and most will be annoyed. Most of the 2nd half consists of our heroes scrambling among rocks and hills to stay out of reach of the trailing alien posse. The story is also filled with silly moments and contrivances. Kirk fights one of the lethal male Capellans during the takeover coup as both McCoy & Spock stand a couple of feet away looking quite bored. The Klingon (actor Andrews of "Mod Squad" fame) has the new ruler in his pocket and then throws it all away near the end for no real reason except a bad temper and no patience. And why did the Klingons send only one agent, anyway? Seems like they were too sneaky for their own good. Then there's the whole 'kootchy-koo' scene I always try to forget. I did like Scotty's latest turn commanding the Enterprise; his 'fool me once, fool me twice' line is a good moment for the actor, Doohan.

Once again this episode have the misfortune to be a season 2 episode and people love to hate later Season in TV show's.

" Friday's child" is one of the best Star trek, a very Solid plot fuel with suspence , ennemy emotion good interactions between the 3 heros.

Great to see Scotty on command.

Put this episode in Season 1 and people would rate it 8/10 my vote 8 5/10.

"Friday's Child" (Dec. 1, 1967) Old TV Guide synopsis: 'Kirk jeopardizes the lives of his own men when he intervenes in a society where life is valued below combat and personal integrity.' Outdoor episodes were more expensive than 'bottle' entries confined to the Enterprise, but this is a McCoy storyline where his previous experiences on Capella IV bode well for a Federation treaty for mineral rights. Unfortunately, the 'peaceful' natives have aligned themselves with Kras (Tige Andrews), a Klingon representative, while the presence of a very pregnant Eleen (Julie Newmar) means an heir to elderly leader Akaar (Ben Gage). Kirk and Spock attempt to defend the narrow entrance to their canyon as the doctor tends to his newborn patient, which the mother initially rejects. Aboard the Enterprise, Scott answers a distress call from a freighter that turns out to be a Klingon decoy, though no on screen battle takes place. Julie Newmar takes time off from her slinky Catwoman outfit for a very different role, her exchanges with McCoy over 'his child' (Leonard James Akkar) leading to some amusement from both Kirk and Spock.