3.5 — “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”
Plot: The Enterprise is assigned the task of transporting the Medusan ambassador, and MIranda, his future human consort, to the Medusan homeworld. The Medusans have the most sublime thoughts in the galaxy, but an appearance so hideous that one look at one will drive a human insane. The men on the ship can’t understand why the beautiful Miranda would want to spend her life in the presence of such ugliness. The thought makes one of them homicidal. Can our space travelers set aside their various jealousy and madness and come together for the good of the ship?
Thoughts: I keep hearing watch out, third season of Star Trek is terrible! Well, what a surprise. I love this episode. Few sentiments have been expressed in Star Trek grander than this:
MIRANDA: The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity.
SPOCK: And [in] the ways our differences combine to create meaning and beauty.
Besides the killer good writing, there is excellent direction, camerawork, editing, and visual effects. I felt like this was a story which could support a movie, not just a regular episode.
There are some less inspiring lines. “You’re a psychologist. Why don’t you try being a woman for a change?” Oh, snap. I didn’t mind the heavy-handed sexism of the crew, however, or even Kirk’s rather aggressive overfriendliness with Miranda, because it was all in service of the theme of the episode. For her part, Miranda was always portrayed as being better, smarter, and tougher than the feminine stereotype the men strove to impose on her. She strikes me as one of the strongest and most complex guest characters to appear on the show.
This episode is written by a woman, Jean Lisette Aroeste–a new writer who contributed two third-season scripts to the Star Trek, and never sold a script to another series. According to Wikipedia, she later became head of references and collection development at the Princeton University Library.
The character of Larry Marvick was repellent, but the actor who played him was amazing. Leonard Nimoy also gives another amazing performance. In the mind meld scene, when he merges with the alien creature, Nimoy does so much more than just create a contrast by allowing extra emotion to show through. You feel the full depth of the Medusan’s wisdom and intelligence. I was struck by how different this alien character was than Henoch, the last alien to inhabit Spock’s body, in episode 2.20, “Return to Tomorrow.”
Diana Muldaur, who played Miranda, coincidentally also appeared in “Return to Tomorrow” as Lt. Cmdr. Ann Mulhall. She later returned to Star Trek as Dr. Anne Pulaski in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Her hairstyle in this episode shouted “Cleopatra” to me, which was very appropriate.
I feared the really good, psychologically complex Star Trek episodes might be behind us. Here is a teleplay with a fresh, new voice which deepens again for us the character of Spock. It makes me glad the show got a third season.
5 out of 5 forgotten visors.
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