2.25 — “Bread and Circuses”
Plot: The Captain of a destroyed ship is found by Kirk on a nearby planet, which is oddly evolving as a parallel Earth, where he quickly falls under suspicion of violating the Prime Directive. Is this episode 2.23, “The Omega Glory?” Absolutely not. On this planet, Rome has never fallen, and parallel Earth technology remains in a pre-atomic, mid-20th century state. Reminding each other that it’s imperative that no one finds out that they come from outer space, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to make contact with the natives wearing their Starfleet uniforms, openly carrying all their outer space gear, walking with an undisguised Vulcan in their midst.
All they want is to find out what happened to Captain Merik, but of course they quickly get captured and are forced into combat on a gladiatorial stage in a television studio, for the greater glory of the Neilsen Ratings of the Republic. Can the landing party escape and bring Captain Merik to justice?
Thoughts: A telling fact about “Bread and Circuses” is that while it was the 25th episode of second season to air, it was the 14th episode of the season to be produced. In season one, “The Alternative Factor” also had its airdate held back as long as possible–presumably until after the network would have had to make a decision about whether to renew the show for an additional season.
Incidentally, the early production date of “Bread and Circuses” means that it was the first produced episode to mention the Prime Directive by name. ”The Omega Glory,” which aired 23rd, was actually the 25th second season episode to be produced.
It’s funny that Spock makes a point of commenting how strange it is that the planetary natives speak English (unlike everywhere else in the galaxy where the natives also seem to speak English), yet in this continuity Rome has never fallen, so they should be speaking Latin. Perhaps this dialogue exists because sun and son aren’t homophones in Latin? Not to be a spoilsport, but I don’t believe it follows that because the political regime is stable, that there would automatically be no evolution in the realms of fashion, custom, or standards of public morality.
This episode is hamstrung by the lack of a central conflict to motivate the plot. K, S, and M have no reason to beam down to the planet other than to investigate what happened to Merik, which could obviously have been done more efficiently from orbit. They laughably have no plan of what to do once they are on the planet’s surface. When they are inevitably captured, there is no challenge for them to solve except how to escape back to the ship, which hardly seems difficult in a society which has not advanced appreciably farther than the gangsters they met in “A Piece of the Action.”
Perhaps Kirk could had selected a better code phrase to tell Scotty over the communicator. Why have a code phrase that means “We’re in deep trouble–please do nothing” anyway?
The directionless aspect of the script may account for the scene where, as a fun interlude, Kirk beds a female slave for no reason that advances the plot in any way. I guess it’s not rape, because she seemed to enjoy being a slave? Or because the slaves get health care and social security? I can’t believe they kept that scene in, but apparently cut the scene that explains how Merik falls suddenly out of favor with Procounsel Claudius and decides to betray the Empire. Wait, is it an Empire or a Republic? I can’t remember.
The rocks they beam down to at the beginning are sure starting to look familiar. Isn’t the dungeon set the same one used in “Patterns of Force?” Which was also a story about a parallel Earth led by a rogue Earthman.
Rather than continue shooting ducks in a barrel, let me point out that the writing of the dialogue between Spock and McCoy is very sharp, and the scene between the two of them in the dungeon (while Kirk is callously taking advantage of the slave) is extraordinary. And the use of the television studio was a clever means to compensate for the low-budget impossibility of filming in a real coliseum. How many anachronisms can you count in that scene? So, I guess the episode isn’t all bad.
It’s always interesting to see McCoy fighting, since that doesn’t happen often, although it isn’t staged terribly well here.
1.5 of 5 short swords slicing the Prime Directive to tatters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_Circuses_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)
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