{"id":4468,"date":"2014-05-15T06:04:32","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T06:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/321-The-Cloud-Minders"},"modified":"2014-05-15T06:04:32","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T06:04:32","slug":"321-the-cloud-minders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/15\/321-the-cloud-minders\/","title":{"rendered":"3.21 — \u201cThe Cloud Minders\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

3.21 — \u201cThe Cloud Minders\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Stratos, floating city in the clouds, is the star of this episode.[1] Kirk and Spock visit there to obtain Xenite, a rare mineral needed to stop a botanical plague on another world. They learn that the availability of Xenite has been cut off by Disruptors–terrorists from the mining class that dwells suffering on the planet’s surface, while the ruling class enjoys the fruits of their labor above. Soon Kirk and Spock are drawn inside this civil conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> My note page is almost blank on this one. “The Cloud MInders” is a tidy melodrama, with a strong science fiction lineage. You can\u2019t look at Stratos without thinking of Flash Gordon<\/em>\u2019s Cloud City. The setup with pristine city masters living up above while oppressed workers toil below echoes Fritz Lang\u2019s Metropolis<\/em> (1924).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stratos looks really good–they built a model! You can tell from the lighting. It seems that they significantly enhanced the model in the remastering, however–it’s largely left to the imagination in the original episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My hindbrain got a kick out of this: Spock says, \u201cRemarkable. The finest example of sustained antigravity elevation I’ve ever seen.\u201d In walks Droxine, in her extremely bosom-emphasizing outfit. For a second, I thought I was watching a Mel Brooks movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spock trying to seduce Droxine later is all wrong, of course. I appreciate the callback to \u201cAmok Time\u201d with the seven-year mating cycle, but as someone on Memory Alpha pointed out, in that episode Spock tells Kirk that Vulcan mating ceremonies are not fit for discussion with outworlders. This discrepancy may be the result of carelessness, but I will choose to interpret it as a sign of the end of a long arc for Spock, as his long experience with humans, and the food for thought gained from last week’s \u201cThe Way to Eden,\u201d have finally taught him to loosen up a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I should congratulate Star Trek for taking on the complicated and always timely issues of class differences and unequal wealth distribution. But then it goes for the easy out, by inventing magic breathing masks that will solve all of the society\u2019s problems by making everyone equal again. As if mind-enfeebling gas is a necessary ingredient for slavery and social stratification! David Gerrold\u2019s original story was meant to be more hard-hitting, which you can read about on the IMDB trivia page: http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0708456\/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Instead of digging deep into class politics, we stay on the surface with a simple heroes and villains story. It could have been a script for Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/em>. But, it was pleasant enough to watch. I like the intensity of Jeff Corey, the actor who plays Plaxus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u201dm not sure why it is necessary to mine Xenite with your hands. Your slaves aren’t going to be very productive that way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2.5 out of 5 boudoir assassination attempts. That scene reminded me of Octopussy<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]\u00a0I like the name Stratos. The gray-skinned Hawkman figure with the jetpack from Masters of the Universe is named Stratos.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Cloud_Minders<\/a>