[7.7/10] Now that’s more like it! This one felt like a classic TOS episode, with Kirk, Spock, and Bones getting stranded in a weird situation and having to figure out an unorthodox solution. I really enjoyed the notion of the Lactranians, who, rather than just being the usual humanoid forehead aliens, were elephantine slug creatures who were, neverheless, far more advanced both as a species and civilization than our heroes. It’s the sort of outside-the-box presentation of alternative life forms that I really appreciate from this franchise.
And god help me, I’m a sucker for these “humans get treated like zoo animals” stories. (It may help explain why I liked “The Menagerie” so much.) There’s something about our heroes getting confined not because their captors are bad guys, but just because there’s a communications failure between them. The story choice to make it a child Lactranian who accidentally is beamed aboard the Enterprise, but realizes Kirk & Co. aren’t mindless animals, is a good one. The same goes for the aliens’ realization that the crewmembers shouldn’t be kept in a zoo and are intelligent, even if not quite as intelligent as them.
It’s a nice example of the “seeking new life and new civilizations” ethos of the show brought to bear. The episode can get a bit overexpositional at times (particularly when the main trio beam down to the planet and are trying to figure out what’s wrong and why), and there’s some filler like a fight scene with a water dragon, but on the whole, the episode moves at a good clip, has a neat concept with interesting alien foils, and comes up with a nice way to resolve everything as well. One of the most enjoyable episodes of the show in a while.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-07-27T04:48:26Z
[7.7/10] Now that’s more like it! This one felt like a classic TOS episode, with Kirk, Spock, and Bones getting stranded in a weird situation and having to figure out an unorthodox solution. I really enjoyed the notion of the Lactranians, who, rather than just being the usual humanoid forehead aliens, were elephantine slug creatures who were, neverheless, far more advanced both as a species and civilization than our heroes. It’s the sort of outside-the-box presentation of alternative life forms that I really appreciate from this franchise.
And god help me, I’m a sucker for these “humans get treated like zoo animals” stories. (It may help explain why I liked “The Menagerie” so much.) There’s something about our heroes getting confined not because their captors are bad guys, but just because there’s a communications failure between them. The story choice to make it a child Lactranian who accidentally is beamed aboard the Enterprise, but realizes Kirk & Co. aren’t mindless animals, is a good one. The same goes for the aliens’ realization that the crewmembers shouldn’t be kept in a zoo and are intelligent, even if not quite as intelligent as them.
It’s a nice example of the “seeking new life and new civilizations” ethos of the show brought to bear. The episode can get a bit overexpositional at times (particularly when the main trio beam down to the planet and are trying to figure out what’s wrong and why), and there’s some filler like a fight scene with a water dragon, but on the whole, the episode moves at a good clip, has a neat concept with interesting alien foils, and comes up with a nice way to resolve everything as well. One of the most enjoyable episodes of the show in a while.