The Trouble with Tribbles
The Trouble with Tribbles (Memory Alpha; SD Video) is a great concept with a whole lot of teh funnies, but a very poorly constructed episode.
We start with a very clunky exposition scene with Kirk, Spock, and Chekov talking in the conference room. Where are we going? Space Station K7! Why are we going there? To prove we’re better than the Klingons!
Wait! A Priority One Alert Call! Says Kirk, “we can only assume the Klingons have attacked.” You have an alert call that leaves you making assumptions about what has happened? Seriously? Maybe you should send actual words.
When the Enterprise reaches the station, they find that it’s just the panicky Undersecretary of Agricultural Affairs Nilz Baris, who wants a few more security guards, if anyone happens to have them.
Wait, wasn’t this episode supposed to have Tribbles in it?
Why, yes. Let’s have a poorly edited scene where Uhura and Chekov overhear a long bartering conversation about the price of Tribbles.
Oh, it is quite a long scene, isn’t it?
And quite pointless, too. Upshot: Uhura gets a Tribble.
Wait, Klingons! A Klingon ship appeared! And they have demands! They want… shore leave! [Cue dramatic chord]
Aside: the Klingon captain is the squire of Gothos.
Now there’s drinking! In this corner: Scotty has scotch, a man’s drink. In that corner, Chekov has vodka, a real drink! Are everyone’s cultural stereotypes firmly fastened? FIGHT!
Wait, you’re fighting the Klingons! That could start an international incident!
Wait, you’re still fighting the Klingons? This fight is a little long, here.
Meanwhile, on the Enterprise:
McCoy: Spock, I may not know much about these little Tribbles yet, but I have discovered one thing.
Spock: Oh?
McCoy: I like them. Better than I like you.
Spock: They do indeed have one redeeming characteristic.
McCoy: What’s that?
Spock: They do not talk too much.
Begin Spoilers
But McCoy and Spock do discover something: the Tribbles are everywhere! Like, in the grain that Baris is so eager to protect! (If you forgot who Baris is, he’s the one who issued to Priority One Alert looking for security guards way back in Act One. He’s interesting in that he and Kirk are just outright mean to each other, which is a relationship dynamic that this show doesn’t use very often, especially between high-ranking officials).
But back to the Tribbles! They’ve eaten all the grain! Without it, the Federation can’t prove that they’re better than the Klingons! Oh no! It looks bleak, but then we learn that the grain was poisoned in a nefarious Klingon plot, to which the Klingon ship is an extraneous and altogether uninterested side party. This, somehow, makes things better.
Speaking of better, the Enterprise is Tribble free! McCoy, Spock and Scotty just rounded up all the little buggers and transported them onto the Klingon ship! International incident that we narrowly avoided earlier in the episode: bring it on!
End Spoilers
Grade
B+; this episode is simply different than anything else. It’s whimsical and funny, and it goes to great lengths not to take itself too seriously. But given an even cursory glance it kind of falls apart. Still, it’s The Trouble with Tribbles; how can you grade that badly?
