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Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 16, Episodes 31 & 32: Metamorphosis/ Friday's Child

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 16, Episodes 31 & 32: Metamorphosis/ Friday's Child

List Price: $19.99
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What a rip-off!
Review: "Metamorphosis" is one of Star Trek's finest episodes, hands down. A superbly written story--which touches upon non-corporeal life, love, and immortality--coupled with strong performances from the regular cast and guest star Glenn Corbett (Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of Warp Drive), adds up to an episode with real emotional impact. Watching this second season installment for the first time in many years, I was stuck by the way the writers of Star Trek First Contact had trashed the character of Zephram Cochrane in that movie. Perhaps they were trying to inject a message by re-writing Zephram Cochrane as a selfish drunk who is only interested in cashing in on warp technology. But, in the end, it only reflects on themselves and the cynical times in which we live. No disrespect is intended for James Cromwell, but for this viewer, Mr. Corbett will forever be Cochrane. It has become a popular pastime these days to poke fun at William Shatner's "dramatic pause" acting style, but the pivotal moment of this story belongs to him, during Kirk's dialogue with the Companion, and he more then lives up to the moment. (And, by the way, without those pauses, the whole scene would have fallen flat.)

"Friday's Child" is a standard issue action-adventure story, dealing with a struggle with the Klingon's for a tactically important world. Reasonably well written and acted, it will provide 50 minutes of entertainment, but after watching "Metamorphosis" it serves as something of an anticlimax.

Paramount has done their usual fine job restoring the visual and sonic elements. The print quality on the second season episodes seems, so far, to be marginally superior than those from the first season. This is particularly true of optical shots of the Enterprise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Glenn Corbett = The REAL Zephram Cochrane
Review: "Metamorphosis" is one of Star Trek's finest episodes, hands down. A superbly written story--which touches upon non-corporeal life, love, and immortality--coupled with strong performances from the regular cast and guest star Glenn Corbett (Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of Warp Drive), adds up to an episode with real emotional impact. Watching this second season installment for the first time in many years, I was stuck by the way the writers of Star Trek First Contact had trashed the character of Zephram Cochrane in that movie. Perhaps they were trying to inject a message by re-writing Zephram Cochrane as a selfish drunk who is only interested in cashing in on warp technology. But, in the end, it only reflects on themselves and the cynical times in which we live. No disrespect is intended for James Cromwell, but for this viewer, Mr. Corbett will forever be Cochrane. It has become a popular pastime these days to poke fun at William Shatner's "dramatic pause" acting style, but the pivotal moment of this story belongs to him, during Kirk's dialogue with the Companion, and he more then lives up to the moment. (And, by the way, without those pauses, the whole scene would have fallen flat.)

"Friday's Child" is a standard issue action-adventure story, dealing with a struggle with the Klingon's for a tactically important world. Reasonably well written and acted, it will provide 50 minutes of entertainment, but after watching "Metamorphosis" it serves as something of an anticlimax.

Paramount has done their usual fine job restoring the visual and sonic elements. The print quality on the second season episodes seems, so far, to be marginally superior than those from the first season. This is particularly true of optical shots of the Enterprise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: TOS Metamorphosis / Friday's Child
Review: "Metamorphosis" is the best "love story" in the 2nd season of TOS. Fred Steiner's music is absolutely beautiful and enchanting. BEST SCENE: Companion/Hedford looking at Cochrane thru the upraised scarf. It's a tear-jerker. "Friday's Child" A fairly good episode even though some people disliked it. GOOF: Watch Tige Andrews when he descends the rocks,he falls down on his rear end!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kirk meets Zefram Cochrane and McCoy delivers a baby
Review: Kirk, Spock and McCoy have to deal with a couple of problematic situations in the two episodes collected On Volume 16 of the Star Trek DVD series. The trio are on the shuttle Galileo, which is transporting Assistant Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford back to the Enterprise. Hedford suffers from a rare and fatal disease, so when an energy cloud forces the shuttle to land on a strange planet, this is not good. But on the planet they discover Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive, who has been living there for 150 years, kept there by the "Companion," which is what he calls the energy cloud. Obviously the Companion cares for Cochrane, which is why when he insisted he was going to die from loneliness it brought the shuttle. Actually, "Metamporphosis" turns out to be one of the better love Star Trek love stories, benefiting from the sort of happy ending that is denied any of the regular characters. There might be some sort ethical problems with hijacking Hedford's body, but, hey, she was dying anyhow. Do not try to reconcile this Cochrane with the one who pops up in the "First Contact" Star Trek movie, just enjoy this one. However, this is one of those episodes where you have to wonder why the Enterprise's three senior officers are out tooling around the galaxy in a shuttle.

"Friday's Child" is one of those diplomatic disasters that the Enterprise stumbles across from time to time. On Capella IV, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are negotiating for Federation mining rights. The Klingons also have a representative negotiating as well. When there is a coup and a Capellan named Maab takes over as leader, their culture demands that the old leader's wife must die. Kirk, refusing to let the pregnant woman be slaughter, stops the execution and has to escape with her to the hills so she can have her baby. Then the politics gets really confusing, which is pretty much where this episode loses me. Besides, the Capellan's have such funny looking outfits and it is just strange to see the Enterprise crew scrambling around rocks avoiding guards throwing killer frisbees. Actually, Peter David does a nice take off on this episode as the backstory behind Quintin Stone's bizarre behavior in the STNG novel "A Rock and a Hard Place." But "Friday's Child" is a below average Star Trek episode.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Kirk meets Zefram Cochrane and McCoy delivers a baby
Review: Kirk, Spock and McCoy have to deal with a couple of problematic situations in the two episodes collected On Volume 16 of the Star Trek DVD series. The trio are on the shuttle Galileo, which is transporting Assistant Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford back to the Enterprise. Hedford suffers from a rare and fatal disease, so when an energy cloud forces the shuttle to land on a strange planet, this is not good. But on the planet they discover Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive, who has been living there for 150 years, kept there by the "Companion," which is what he calls the energy cloud. Obviously the Companion cares for Cochrane, which is why when he insisted he was going to die from loneliness it brought the shuttle. Actually, "Metamporphosis" turns out to be one of the better love Star Trek love stories, benefiting from the sort of happy ending that is denied any of the regular characters. There might be some sort ethical problems with hijacking Hedford's body, but, hey, she was dying anyhow. Do not try to reconcile this Cochrane with the one who pops up in the "First Contact" Star Trek movie, just enjoy this one. However, this is one of those episodes where you have to wonder why the Enterprise's three senior officers are out tooling around the galaxy in a shuttle.

"Friday's Child" is one of those diplomatic disasters that the Enterprise stumbles across from time to time. On Capella IV, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are negotiating for Federation mining rights. The Klingons also have a representative negotiating as well. When there is a coup and a Capellan named Maab takes over as leader, their culture demands that the old leader's wife must die. Kirk, refusing to let the pregnant woman be slaughter, stops the execution and has to escape with her to the hills so she can have her baby. Then the politics gets really confusing, which is pretty much where this episode loses me. Besides, the Capellan's have such funny looking outfits and it is just strange to see the Enterprise crew scrambling around rocks avoiding guards throwing killer frisbees. Actually, Peter David does a nice take off on this episode as the backstory behind Quintin Stone's bizarre behavior in the STNG novel "A Rock and a Hard Place." But "Friday's Child" is a below average Star Trek episode.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kirk, Spock and McCOY encounter Zefram Cochrane !
Review: METAMORPHOSIS - Original Airdate Nov, 10, 1967. Ep. 31. - Directed by Ralph Senensky and Written by Gene L Coon. On the planet Gamma Canaris, Kirk, Spock and McCoy encounter the discoverer of the space warp, Zefram Cochrane, who became one of Star Trek's Universe most renowned characters, as you can see in STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT. In this classic episode Cochrane played by Glenn Corbett was discovered by Kirk to be living on an planetoid with the cloud creature known as The Companion, who loved him and recovery their youth age in order to maintain Cochrane eternal. Traveling along with Kirk was Dr. Nancy Hedford dying of Sakuros disease. Nancy merged with The Companion choosing to remain with Cochrane, where they would both live together. FRIDAY'S CHILD - Original Airdate, Dec, 1, 1967. Ep. 32.- Directed by Joseph Pevney and Written by D.C. Fontana. Enterprise and Klingon crews clash when they try to establish relations with the people of planet Capella IV at the same time.

As the wife of Capella's leader, Eleen, we can watch the former Catwoman Julie Newmar, another curiosity:this is the only episode in which Dr. McCoy uses his skills to deliver a baby.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kirk, Spock and McCOY encounter Zefram Cochrane !
Review: METAMORPHOSIS - Original Airdate Nov, 10, 1967. Ep. 31. - Directed by Ralph Senensky and Written by Gene L Coon. On the planet Gamma Canaris, Kirk, Spock and McCoy encounter the discoverer of the space warp, Zefram Cochrane, who became one of Star Trek's Universe most renowned characters, as you can see in STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT. In this classic episode Cochrane played by Glenn Corbett was discovered by Kirk to be living on an planetoid with the cloud creature known as The Companion, who loved him and recovery their youth age in order to maintain Cochrane eternal. Traveling along with Kirk was Dr. Nancy Hedford dying of Sakuros disease. Nancy merged with The Companion choosing to remain with Cochrane, where they would both live together. FRIDAY'S CHILD - Original Airdate, Dec, 1, 1967. Ep. 32.- Directed by Joseph Pevney and Written by D.C. Fontana. Enterprise and Klingon crews clash when they try to establish relations with the people of planet Capella IV at the same time.

As the wife of Capella's leader, Eleen, we can watch the former Catwoman Julie Newmar, another curiosity:this is the only episode in which Dr. McCoy uses his skills to deliver a baby.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Two pretty strong shows, for very different reasons
Review: Metamorphosis, a romance involving a castaway and his non-corporeal companion, brought a new feel to Star Trek. The episode is unusual in the attention it devotes to the love story, the secondary role played by the regular cast members, and the general bright and positive tone (thanks in large part to Steiner's musical score). There is no denying that this episode suffers for being so short on action; if the dialogue were a bit cheesier, and the overall tone colder and more pessimistic, it would belong entirely in season 3. As it is, however, it stands nicely on it's own as a unique, albeit slow, episode. (3.5 stars)

Friday's Child-Here, by contrast with have a classic action episode about a war-like people caught between the Klingons and the Federation. This is one of the more nuanced cultures we encounter on Star Trek, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that they are not `highly advanced'. The thoughtful, conscientious scripts of the first season often made the most of more advanced civilizations, but as the show became less introspective and more action-oriented, it made more sense to include less advanced cultures. The second season episodes often did so with success (see also Bread and Circuses, A Private Little War, and a Piece of the Action). By the third season, they were relying almost exclusively on more advanced aliens since it was easy to introduce the `danger' theme, but without the complex motives we might expect of advanced people (contrast the subtlety of A Taste of Armageddon and Errand of Mercy with the sadism and nihilism of, say, Plato's Stepchildren and The Savage Curtain). The latter episodes lack both suspense and plausibility.
But back to Friday's Child. Julie Newmar gives a strong performance, and we begin to see one of the signatures of the 2nd season-real humor-first in the play between Newmar and McCoy. It just seems like the cast had fun making the second season shows. But this episode isn't all fun; it's one of the more violent episodes. This is captured in the show's heavy music and dark lighting. (3.5 stars)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Two pretty strong shows, for very different reasons
Review: Metamorphosis, a romance involving a castaway and his non-corporeal companion, brought a new feel to Star Trek. The episode is unusual in the attention it devotes to the love story, the secondary role played by the regular cast members, and the general bright and positive tone (thanks in large part to Steiner's musical score). There is no denying that this episode suffers for being so short on action; if the dialogue were a bit cheesier, and the overall tone colder and more pessimistic, it would belong entirely in season 3. As it is, however, it stands nicely on it's own as a unique, albeit slow, episode. (3.5 stars)

Friday's Child-Here, by contrast with have a classic action episode about a war-like people caught between the Klingons and the Federation. This is one of the more nuanced cultures we encounter on Star Trek, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that they are not 'highly advanced'. The thoughtful, conscientious scripts of the first season often made the most of more advanced civilizations, but as the show became less introspective and more action-oriented, it made more sense to include less advanced cultures. The second season episodes often did so with success (see also Bread and Circuses, A Private Little War, and a Piece of the Action). By the third season, they were relying almost exclusively on more advanced aliens since it was easy to introduce the 'danger' theme, but without the complex motives we might expect of advanced people (contrast the subtlety of A Taste of Armageddon and Errand of Mercy with the sadism and nihilism of, say, Plato's Stepchildren and The Savage Curtain). The latter episodes lack both suspense and plausibility.
But back to Friday's Child. Julie Newmar gives a strong performance, and we begin to see one of the signatures of the 2nd season-real humor-first in the play between Newmar and McCoy. It just seems like the cast had fun making the second season shows. But this episode isn't all fun; it's one of the more violent episodes. This is captured in the show's heavy music and dark lighting. (3.5 stars)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What a rip-off!
Review: Only two episodes per DVD? Paramount has released videos overseas with THREE episodes per video,with new filmed introduction by actors like Walter Koenig and George Takei.Paramount really is determined to squeeze every last drop of profit from the fans.Don't buy them.Better to write to Paramount protesting about this exploitation of fans.


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