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Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 34, Episodes 67 & 68: Plato's Stepchildren/ Wink Of An Eye

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 34, Episodes 67 & 68: Plato's Stepchildren/ Wink Of An Eye

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kiss me too,Uhura
Review: "Plato's Stepchildren" features TWO interracial kisses...Kirk & Uhura and Spock and Chapel. Kinda unfair, I never got to kiss Uhura!

"Wink of an Eye" A great story about hyperaccelerated aliens that try and steal the ship. The censors musta been napping in the scene in which Deela is looking in the mirror while Kirk was putting on his boots

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Did Shatner Finally go Too Far...?
Review: Arguably the most laughable - but not necessarily the stupidest TOS episode. Kirk & crew are physically manipulated by telekinetic jerks to perform the most embarrassing acts. Only one act surpasses Spock's depressing ode (singing) "Bitter Dregs" - and that is the sight/sounds of Kirk "winnieing" and rearing like a horse with a midget on his back. I laughed so hard - I cried. Wink of an eye was marginally good - especially the alien blonde hottie in the skimpy outfit. Aliens move so fast in time, it's like Kirk & crew are standing still. Typical 3rd season mediocrity. But again, a must have for TOS purists!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Interracial Space Sex!
Review: Both of these episodes share one thing in common: they boldly went where no network program had gone before, in terms of ... bypassing the censors. "Wink of an Eye" is the one in which comely Kathie Brown (the real-life Mrs. Darren McGavin) is seen brushing her hair beside William Shatner while Shatner sits on the edge of his bed pulling on his boot, and "Plato's Stepchildren" had T.V.'s first interracial kiss (William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols). Neither of these things may seem like that big of a deal today, but in 1968, let me tell you...!

"Wink" is an episode that makes little sense, but is thoroughly enjoyable. The entire race of the planet Scalos seems to have disappeared, without explanation. All that remains there is an occasional odd insect buzzing - which follows the landing party back to the Enterprise, after which Captain Kirk suddenly disappears from the bridge, in full view of the crew. What's really happened to him is the same thing that happened to the Scalosians, several of whom are now on board - he's speeded-up a thousand times, now moving too fast to be detected by anyone not accelerated at the same rate. Alien leader Kathie Brown, like all alien women, has taken a fancy to the charismatic Kirk, and intends to keep him with her after freezing the entire Enterprise crew and stealing his starship to move on to greener pastures. Forgetting the built-in logic problem of how matter accelerated to such an impossible speed keeps from falling apart by intense friction, this is still a pretty good little story, fascinating to watch, and Kathie Brown is a knockout, in addition to being a decent actress.

"Plato's Stepchildren" is a great episode, written by one of Outer Limits' best contributors, Meyer Dolinsky. The Enterprise finds itself summoned to a previously believed to be uninhabited planet, populated by beautiful people affecting ancient Greek costume and architecture. They call themselves Plato's Stepchildren, supposedly devoted to nothing but lofty philosophy - but in reality, they are telekinetic demigods, whose seeming immortality and incredible power has dragged them down into sadistic decadence. Their power and immortality does have one terrible price - it makes them hemophiliacs, and their medical knowledge is dreadfully inadequate, so Dr. McCoy is commanded to remain behind with them. When he refuses, Plato's Stepchildren force several of the Enterprise crew into cruelly degrading situations, and unleash the full force of their fury.

The story is great, and so are the scenery and the guest stars. Liam Sullivan is the Caligula-like Parmin, head of the planet, with the always sexy Barbara Babcock as his aristocratically sadistic mate. Best of all is famous dwarf actor Michael Dunn as the planet's whipping-boy, who helps the Enterprise defeat the evil Platonians. Dunn - best known as Dr. Loveless in The Wild, Wild West - had a phenomenal singing voice, and usually got to use it in his numerous 1960s guest appearances, as he does here in fine style.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Interracial Space Sex!
Review: Both of these episodes share one thing in common: they boldly went where no network program had gone before, in terms of ... bypassing the censors. "Wink of an Eye" is the one in which comely Kathie Brown (the real-life Mrs. Darren McGavin) is seen brushing her hair beside William Shatner while Shatner sits on the edge of his bed pulling on his boot, and "Plato's Stepchildren" had T.V.'s first interracial kiss (William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols). Neither of these things may seem like that big of a deal today, but in 1968, let me tell you...!

"Wink" is an episode that makes little sense, but is thoroughly enjoyable. The entire race of the planet Scalos seems to have disappeared, without explanation. All that remains there is an occasional odd insect buzzing - which follows the landing party back to the Enterprise, after which Captain Kirk suddenly disappears from the bridge, in full view of the crew. What's really happened to him is the same thing that happened to the Scalosians, several of whom are now on board - he's speeded-up a thousand times, now moving too fast to be detected by anyone not accelerated at the same rate. Alien leader Kathie Brown, like all alien women, has taken a fancy to the charismatic Kirk, and intends to keep him with her after freezing the entire Enterprise crew and stealing his starship to move on to greener pastures. Forgetting the built-in logic problem of how matter accelerated to such an impossible speed keeps from falling apart by intense friction, this is still a pretty good little story, fascinating to watch, and Kathie Brown is a knockout, in addition to being a decent actress.

"Plato's Stepchildren" is a great episode, written by one of Outer Limits' best contributors, Meyer Dolinsky. The Enterprise finds itself summoned to a previously believed to be uninhabited planet, populated by beautiful people affecting ancient Greek costume and architecture. They call themselves Plato's Stepchildren, supposedly devoted to nothing but lofty philosophy - but in reality, they are telekinetic demigods, whose seeming immortality and incredible power has dragged them down into sadistic decadence. Their power and immortality does have one terrible price - it makes them hemophiliacs, and their medical knowledge is dreadfully inadequate, so Dr. McCoy is commanded to remain behind with them. When he refuses, Plato's Stepchildren force several of the Enterprise crew into cruelly degrading situations, and unleash the full force of their fury.

The story is great, and so are the scenery and the guest stars. Liam Sullivan is the Caligula-like Parmin, head of the planet, with the always sexy Barbara Babcock as his aristocratically sadistic mate. Best of all is famous dwarf actor Michael Dunn as the planet's whipping-boy, who helps the Enterprise defeat the evil Platonians. Dunn - best known as Dr. Loveless in The Wild, Wild West - had a phenomenal singing voice, and usually got to use it in his numerous 1960s guest appearances, as he does here in fine style.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Enterprise encounters races with strange powers
Review: Having always enjoyed Michael Dunn's performance as the evil genius Dr. Loveless on "The Wild Wild West" it is his appearance as Alexander that makes "Plato's Stepchildren" a memorable Star Trek episode for me, and not the infamous first interracial kiss on television between Kirk and Uhura (I think he missed her lips). The Enterprise responds to a distress call from Platonius and discovers the people have telekinetic powers. Finding McCoy's medical knowledge useful, the Platonians refuse to let him or the crew leave. After being forced to perform like fools, Kirk and Spock figure out that the source of the Platonians' power is a substance called kironide and figure out a way of turning the tables. I have read Plato and these people sure seem more like decadent Romans that heirs to the political philosophy outlined in "The Republic." Then again, you do get to see Spock trying to control his anger after being humiliated by the Platonians. But in the end this is Dunn's episode, achieving great pathos as the court jester of the Platonians because he is the only one with the power. Dunn and Shatner have a couple of very strong scenes together.

Another race of people with strange powers is encountered after a fake distress call in "Wink Of An Eye." Five Scalosians, who move at super speed, slip aboard the Enterprise and take over. It seems a terrible war destroyed most of their planet and not only caused them to speed up but rendered all their males sterile. Consequently they need to trap spaceships from time to time so their women can mate. However, after drinking the Scalosian water the men who are selected also speed up, but so quickly that they die. Most of the Enterprise crew will be put into suspended animation so they can be thawed as necessary. Having been chosen by Deela, the queen of the Scalosians, as her first mate, Kirk finds a way of letting Spock know what is going on and it is not long before the First Officer speeds up to rescue the captain and save the ship. "Wink Of An Eye" actually ends up being an above average episode of "Star Trek," although I would not want to work out the math to find out whether Spock really had enough time in "normal" speed to hatch his plan before the hyperfast Scalosians have finished with their own nefarious designs. There is also Kirk's discomfort with the prospect of being just a sex object, a rather nice little bit of irony, which I always tend to appreciate.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best Star Treks!
Review: I absolutely love this episode! Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that I'm a huge Spock fan, and love to see him act more human, which is rare. But there are also a lot of other great things about this episode. It's really fun, although you should probably watch it twice if you want to experience the fun in the silliness as much as possible, since you're worrying too much the first time about whether they'll ever get out! And, of course, the show itself took great strides with the showing of the first inter-racial kiss, between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols, not to mention the one shared by Leonard Nimoy and Majel Barrett! But that's really what Star Trek is all about, isn't it? "To go where no one has gone before' and in this episode, they did that with a lot of fun involved.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 2 more good TOS episodes
Review: Plato's Stepchildren Aliens with ESP powers control the TOS crew. It is somewhat unfair...I never got to kiss Uhura.
Wink of an Eye...We know Kirk likes fast women. This time he gets one in hyperacceleration.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not prime "Star Trek."
Review: Plato's Stepchildren has an intriguing set-up, but the episode simply goes way too far in silliness when Kirk and Spock are being forced to perform. Apparently this was necessary in order to fill up time, but it's an insult to the viewers and an example of how the creator's abused the endless possibilities idea of the future. It has interesting moments, though, but forget the infamous interracial kiss--it was forced and completely unemotional. In this episode, Nichelle Nichols is absolutely gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous in that classic gown, but she is outdone by the more stunning Barbara Babcock, who gives a wonderful performance here.

Wink of An Eye is also very intriguing, and superior to Plato's Stepchildren, but it bites off more than it can chew. The situation with hyperaccelerated existence and normal existence is very interesting and fun, but it is carelessly done, and the episode becomes more confusing than anything else. An average, but passable episode.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A classic that's one of my favorites!
Review: Plato's Stepchildren is one of my top four favorite episodes, along with Space Seed, the City on the Edge of Forever, and Mirror Mirror. I've been waiting a long time for it to be released on DVD and am very happy that it will be soon. It also has historic value in the fact that the first inter-racial kiss on national television took place in that episode. Don't let overly sarcastic commentary spoil your fun!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Telekenetic beings & fast women
Review: Plato's Stepchildren---A race of telekenetic beings force the crew to do their bidding. Including making Kirk & Uhura kiss. (Or was it "forced"? I think otherwise.) Hey! No fair! I never got to kiss Uhura!

Wink...Kirk likes fast women....this time he gets a REAL fast woman...so fast, she can move in a wink of an eye. The censors must have been napping in this episode because we see Deela looking in Kirk's mirror while Kirk is putting his boots back on!


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