Bread and Circuses
Bread and Circuses (Memory Alpha; HD Video) is one of the rare original series episodes I’ve already seen, and knowing the twist ending didn’t ruin anything.
This episode is yet another Hodgkin’s Parallel, where the crew visits an Earth where the Roman empire survived into the twentieth century. This alternate Earth is also suspected of housing the survivors of a ruined ship, whose captain (you guessed it!) Kirk knew at the Academy.
Now, I’ve been down on most of the alternate Earth plotlines, but this one is pretty good. A simple counterfactual and a smart integration of contemporary culture help, but the plot and the baddie in this episode are leaps and bounds better than a lot of episodes.
The Proconsul is devious, smart, willing to be evil, and well played. That he’s also well written makes him one for the ages.
And the entire episode is well-written. There’s a minor run-in with some runaway slave characters that seems inconsequential– and is– that turns out to be incredibly interesting while still being inconsequential. There’s some great banter between the major characters:
Spock: Then the Prime Directive is in full force, Captain.
Kirk: No identification of self or mission, no interference with the social development of said planet.
McCoy: No references to space or recognition that there are other worlds or more advanced civilizations.
Kirk: That’s right.
McCoy: Once– just once– I’d like to be able to land somewhere and proclaim, “Behold: I am the archangel Gabriel!”
Spock: I fail to see the humor in that situation, Doctor.
And there is what might be the best scene in the entire show so far, between McCoy and Spock as they sit in a jail cell awaiting death, unsure of Kirk’s whereabouts, or even if he’s still alive. Spock has just saved McCoy’s life, which leads to one of the best exchanges between these two characters that have most of the best exchanges in the show:
McCoy: I’m trying to thank you, you pointy-eared hobgoblin!
Spock: Oh yes, you humans have an emotional need to express gratitude. “You’re welcome” is, I believe, the correct response.
It’s not all rainbows and lollipops, of course. They fall back to the old pointy-ears giveaway. The baddies don’t have a reason for demanding what they demand. The stranded Captain’s backstory has a huge gap between “landed” and “got into my present circumstances.” But all in all it’s a very strong episode that I liked a lot.
Grade
A+
