Stardate: 3497.2
Synopsis: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to Cappella 4 in order to negotiate a new mining treaty. The Cappellans are a violent race, and when a Klingon emerges from among them, an Enterprise crewman is immediately killed. Soon, a coup d'etat takes place where Ma'ob (who is pro-Klingon) takes over the 10 tribes from Ak'ahar (pro-Federation), putting Kirk et al on the run. As a chase ensues through the Los Angeles, I mean Cappellan, desert, Ak'ahar's wife gives birth to a child she doesn't want and names McCoy the new father, all while Kirk and Spock fend off the Cappellans with homemade bows and arrows until, finally, Scottie arrives to save the day.
Review: You can't make this stuff up. The Cappellans are not exactly the most complex alien race we've encountered, and their hyper-colorful wardrobe and super-choppy way of speaking ("I must consider the words I have heard") serve no purpose other than to distract.
That said, there are some positive elements here. The Klingon acts as the wild card protagonist to an otherwise nondescript plotline. He keeps it interesting. McCoy features prominently as he first slaps a pregnant woman and later quips, "I'm a doctor, not an escalator". Also, the Enterprise being diverted by a fictional Klingon-produced distress signal as well as the chase sequence through the desert, coupled with Ak'ahar's wife giving birth in a cave, all make for some decent fodder. Except using the communicators' sound waves to cause a rock slide still makes my scientific brain cringe (imagine that happening with cell phones; come on.) and to explain that, just before a space battle, the Klingon ship simply turned away because it "didn't have the stomach for a fight" is pretty weak.
Overall, not bad, but not great. Put it this way... through much of the episode I had to ask myself what was even happening in the story.
Review: 3 stars
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