Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series)

"Arena"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 18
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Teleplay by Gene L. Coon
Story by Fredric Brown
Featured music Alexander Courage
Cinematography by Jerry Finnerman
Production code 019
Original air date January 19, 1967 (1967-01-19)
Running time 50 minutes (runtime)
Guest actors

"Arena" is an episode of the original American science fiction television series Star Trek. It is a first season episode, #18, production #19, first broadcast January 19, 1967, and repeated on July 6, 1967. It was written by Gene L. Coon, based on a short story of the same name by Fredric Brown,[2] and directed by Joseph Pevney. The episode introduces the Gorn.

Set in the 23rd century, the series follows the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the Federation starship Enterprise. In this episode, while pursuing an unknown enemy for an apparently unprovoked attack, Captain Kirk is forced by powerful entities to battle the opposing captain unarmed.

Plot

The USS Enterprise arrives at the Cestus III Outpost by invitation of its commanding officer, but the crew find the outpost obliterated. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy (Deforest Kelley), and a security force beam down to find one survivor (Tom Troupe) who says the base came under heavy bombardment from an unknown enemy. The away team find themselves under fire from nearby, with two of the security team killed in the initial volley. The Enterprise is also under attack from an unknown vessel, preventing the crew from beaming up the away team. On the surface, Kirk finds a grenade launcher from the outpost's stores, and uses it to scatter the alien forces. The alien ship recovers its crew from the surface and begins to retreat. The away team is beamed back aboard the Enterprise before they give chase.

Both ships enter an unexplored sector space, and shortly thereafter, lose all propulsion power. The Enterprise is contacted by a species calling themselves the Metrons (voiced by Vic Perrin), who zealously guard their sector of space from intrusion. To assure their isolation, they will pit the respective captains against each other in "trial by combat", a one-to-one battle to the death, with the ship of the losing captain to be destroyed while the other ship will go free. Captain Kirk is suddenly transported to the surface of a rocky, barren planet along with the captain of the other ship, a member of the reptilian species the Gorn (voiced by Ted Cassidy). The Metrons speak to Kirk, explaining that while neither captain has communication with his ship, each has been given a vocal recording device that will translate their words to the opposing captain as well as transmit them to their ships. Kirk is told that the planet has numerous resources either captain can use to defeat the other. Aboard the Enterprise, the crew are allowed to watch Kirk's actions.

Kirk attempts to communicate to the Gorn, but gets no response back. The Gorn tracks down Kirk, and Kirk realizes he is outmatched physically and relies on his agility to outrun the Gorn. Kirk gets caught in a rope trap set by the Gorn that injures his leg and slows him down. The Gorn finally communicates with Kirk via the translation device and offers to put him out of his misery. Kirk accuses the Gorns of being butchers, but the alien defends their attack on Cestus III, stating the outpost had been built in what the Gorns considered to be their territory. They viewed the Federation's presence in this part of space as an intrusion and a possible prelude to full-scale invasion.

Trying to stay ahead of the Gorn, Kirk discovers numerous valuable minerals and resources on the planet, seemingly useless at this point. He is inspired upon finding stalks of bamboo and raw chemicals that can be mixed into a black powder formula. He constructs a makeshift weapon, using chucks of diamond as ammunition. Kirk lies in wait for the Gorn and fires on him, severely wounding the alien. Kirk prepares to strike the Gorn to kill him, but realizes the Gorn's attack on Cestus III was likely only in self-defense, and allows the Gorn to live. Suddenly, the Gorn disappears, and a Metron (Carole Shelyne) appears to Kirk, congratulating him on not only winning the battle but showing the advanced trait of mercy for one's enemies. Kirk refuses to have the Metrons destroy the Gorn ship, leading the Metron to comment that "you are still half savage, but there is hope", and that the Federation should seek out the Metrons again in one thousand years time. Suddenly Kirk finds himself aboard the Enterprise, his injuries healed, and the crew finds the ship back in orbit again around Cestus III, the Gorn ship nowhere in range.

Production

Vasquez Rocks

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A' rating, noting the episode's influence and noting the use of a theme of Star Trek, the "uncertainty of exploration".[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 ""Star Trek" Arena (1967) - Full cast and crew". IMDb. n.d. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Solow, Herbert; Justman, Robert (June 1997). Inside Star Trek The Real Story. Simon & Schuster. pp. 206–207. ISBN 0-671-00974-5.
  3. Anthony Pascale (November 24, 2007). "Famous Location To Appear in New Star Trek Movie". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  4. Cushman, Marc (2013). These are the Voyages TOS: Season One. With Susan Osborn. San Diego, California: Jacobs/Brown Press. pp. 402–404. ISBN 9780989238113. LCCN 2013940946.
  5. "William Shatner speaks about his tinnitus".
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCdx8aueK9I
  7. Handlen, Zack (March 13, 2009). ""The Squire Of Gothos" / "Arena"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 17, 2009.

External links

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