{"id":4320,"date":"2014-01-23T06:25:53","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T06:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/221-Patterns-of-Force"},"modified":"2014-01-23T06:25:53","modified_gmt":"2014-01-23T06:25:53","slug":"221-patterns-of-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/23\/221-patterns-of-force\/","title":{"rendered":"2.21 — \u201cPatterns of Force\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

2.21 — \u201cPatterns of Force\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plot:<\/strong> The Enterprise<\/em> enters a system with two inhabited planets. It is looking for history professor John Gill, previously sent there on a cultural mission. Kirk and Spock find the inner planet overrun by soldiers wearing Nazi uniforms. Earth Nazis, how curious! A viewscreen indicates that John Gill is the F\u00fchrer of the state (planet?). After this, it is logical to steal some Nazi uniforms and try to infiltrate the mysterious F\u00fchrer\u2019s inner sanctum. It is also logical for Kirk and Spock to lose their shirts, and get whipped by a cat of nine tails. I have a headache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:<\/strong> It takes some brass balls (ovaries?) to do an episode in which your leads all dress up as Nazis. That doesn\u2019t, however, automatically make it a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The producers do like to play dress up with Leonard Nimoy. That is a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The episode doesn’t really hold together, and at times becomes borderline offensive. Hahaha, let\u2019s psychoanalyze the Nazis and show how the evil they caused could have easily been avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story tries to make points about the inherent dangers of power, even accumulated for a benign purpose, while having as much fun as it can raiding Paramount\u2019s costume closet. It\u2019s too simple though. Oh really–totalitarianism might be just fine, if only the leaders aren’t psychopathic jerks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is another non-interference directive episode. These are coming fast and furious in Season Two, after \u201cThe Apple,\u201d \u201cA Piece of the Action,\u201d and \u201cA Private Little War.\u201d In some ways “Patterns of Force” is very derivative of previous episodes. Gill is just another famous leader gone bad on an away mission, like Kurtz in Heart of Darkness<\/em>–or Adams and Korby in \u201cDagger of the MInd\u201d\u00a0and \u201cWhat Are Little Girls Made Of?\u201d I will grant that the producers have succeeded, once again, in creating a vibe that is completely different from the preceding 49 episodes (holy cow! this is episode 50!). The\u00a0episode with all the Nazis does tend to stand out in the memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found two interesting tidbits reading Memory Alpha (http:\/\/en.memory-alpha.org\/wiki\/Patterns_of_Force<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. This episode marks the only time, in any Star Trek series or film, that actor Leonard Nimoy is seen on camera not wearing a shirt; and\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The episode’s thesis that Germany, and especially Nazi Germany, was the “most efficient” state in history, was popular in 1960s America; it is, however, strongly denied by modern historians that point to the many bloated, competing bureaucracies with ill-defined areas of competence that existed in that period, mostly financed with stolen and expropriated funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A generous 2 of 5 rubindium crystals.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Patterns_of_Force_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)<\/a>