Plato’s Stepchildren
Plato’s Stepchildren (Video; Memory Alpha) are immortal humanoids who have built Plato’s Republic after visiting Earth millennia ago and settling on a rogue planet that escaped the nova of its star. They need a doctor and McCoy fits the bill.
This episode has a whole lot of good in it, and a sizable dosage of silliness. On balance it works, but only just.
Thirty-one of the Platonians possess powerful telekinetic powers, with varying levels of ability. The dwarf Alexander is the only one who lacks the power, and he is treated as a slave by the others. This leads quite naturally into the standard Star Trek get-the-outsider-on-your-side story line where the crew beats the odds by using the disaffected society member’s access to break the hold of the overlords. And surprisingly, they don’t do it. Alexander (played brilliantly by Michael Dunn) wants none of the power, for he has tasted its downside for hundreds of years and refuses to be like his oppressors.
Begin Spoilers
Instead, after lots of Kirk and Spock doing ridiculous dances and movements, the crew figures out the source of the power and attains it themselves. Alexander is apparently fine with his friends using the power– they even use it on him– which is dissonant but not impossible to believe.
End Spoilers
The Kiss
This is also the episode where Kirk and Uhura share the first televised interracial kiss (which Shatner stole from Nimoy because he’s a blowhard). But what struck me was that the scene features two kisses– Uhura gets kissed, but so does Nurse Chapel. Uhura and Nurse Chapel are both played by actresses who got their roles in the show because they were sleeping with Gene Roddenberry. That they both get kissed on the planet whose inhabitants can move them about like puppets had a few too many undertones for me.
Grade
A-. This is a solid episode with a strong plot and some great acting.
