Friday's Child

Those naughty Klingons are at it again: when Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to Capella IV to negotiate a mining agreement with the inhabitants they discover that Kras (Tige Andrews), a Klingon emissary, is attempting to beat them to the punch. The Capellan leader, Akaar (Ben Gage), is impressed by the Federation's offer, but rival Maab (Michael Dante) sides with the Klingon. When Maab seizes control and kills Akaar, Kirk, Spock and McCoy escape into the hills, taking Akaar's pregnant wife Eleen (Julie Newmar) with them.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise, commanded by Scotty, is lured out of orbit by a decoy distress signal and challenged by a Klingon warship.

I can't say that I was overly impressed by Friday's Child: it's a passable time-waster but doesn't do anything new or interesting. We've seen Kirk and his pals negotiating with primitive races before, we've seen them running around the Vasquez rocks before, and we've seen cat and mouse antics in space with enemy craft before. Admittedly, we've never seen McCoy say 'Oochy woochy coochy coo' to a newborn Capellan before, but that's probably a good thing: once is more than enough.

5.5/10, rounded down to 5 for the Capellan warriors' appearance, their blonde ponytails, open-faced hoods and coloured, faux-fur sashes more likely to have the enemy creased up in fits of laughter than trembling in fear.

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.

The barbarians on the planet Capella IV, have a penchant for fighting that they adore, throwing pointed razor stars, leaving more than just plain scars, for them killing's what they live for and applaud.

Kirk and the crew end up facing up to a belligerent tribe while encountering a Klingon who makes their life difficult, as does a pregnant local who's due any day soon.

Interesting primarily for its guest appearances, Friday's Child is one of Joe Pevney and D. C. Fontana's more mediocre efforts. Among the guests is great musical and stage actress Julie Newmar, who is mainly known to TV audiences for having played Catwoman in the classic Batman TV show. Casting called for a number of very tall and beefy people, so many of the guest stars are over 6' and recognizable by sight if not by name.

The trinity (Kirk, Spock, McCoy + a soon-to-die redshirt) have beamed down to a planet inhabited by a very hierarchal, male-dominated culture whose rank system revolves around violence. Upon arrival, they find that a Klingon (only one?) has arrived before them. The Klingon has been propagandizing against the federation since his arrival, and has jeopardized the Enterprise's mission to obtain mineral rights. The redshirt makes matters worse by threatening the Klingon at first sight.

Although McCoy once lived on this planet and briefs the crew on some ethnographic details ahead of time, these preparations were not nearly enough, as the away team creates one blunder after another. Fontana did a nice job of thinking out the alien culture's intricacies, but unfortunately, the episode devolves into a somewhat unoriginal action adventure about mid-way through.

Cinematography and effects are very average for TOS, writing is OK, directing is well below Pevney's usual mark, and acting is fairly good. Look for a lot of amusing but hokey banter with Spock in this one, and a solid and interesting performance by Ms. Newmar.

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