Rating: 
Summary: A Mixed Bag
Review: Volume 26 of Paramount's complete reissue of Classic Trek contains one of the series' finest stories, coupled with an episode which never should have been made. Star Trek has touched upon the concept of non-corporeal life before, but in Return to Tomorrow the issue is more fully explored. Sargon's race is a cross between the Talosians and the Organians. Kirk's pep talk in the briefing room has been lampooned in the movie Free Enterprise--but it is actually well acted, well written, and encapsulates everything Star Trek is about. Diana Muldaur, who would later appear during the second season of The Next Generation, makes her first appearance here. The voice of Sargon was supplied by James Doohan, Trek's best all-around vocal talent. Patterns of Force is a standard action-adventure story which never should have made it past the first script-reading. Setting the story in an alien version of Nazi Germany offered no historical lesson, and only served to rub salt into what was then a rather fresh wound. By using Nazi Germany as the historical example for this story, the writer has managed to trivialize both the Nazi regime and the Holocaust almost as badly as Hogan's Heroes did. In addition, the handing of the historical parallels is fatuous, substituting the phrase "final decision" for "final solution" and "Zeon" for "Zion." (This remains the only Trek episode to be banned in Germany.) One wonders how William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, both of whom are Jewish, felt about the dubious proposition of donning Nazi uniforms and participating in such fluff. Kirk's "lesson" at the end of the episode, to the effect that the problem with the Nazi's was not that they were evil, but rather that "power corrupts," is dead wrong. History has been filled with leaders, from Augustus Caesar to Franklin Roosevelt, who could wield great power, without needing to "play God." The problem with the Nazi's was, indeed, that they WERE evil, motivated by racial hatred, led by a lunatic, and had no redeeming value. The picture has been restored and looks fine. The sound is mostly fine, except for some deleted foley near the end of Patterns of Force, where a slap across the face and pounding on a door are curiously silent. But, as I have indicated, it's best to skip this episode anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: TWO MORE EXCELLENT SECOND SEASON EPISODES!!!
Review: Volume 26 of the Star Trek DVD collection contains two more excellent episodes from the second season. Both the episodes here are very well written and are classics! RETURN TO TOMORROW has some wonderful acting performances by the cast which tends to overshadow the story. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Dr.Ann Mulhall (played by Diana Muldaur) discover a lost race of beings on a distant planet. The only surivivors left of this race are Sargon, his wife and Henoch (an old enemy of Sargon's). The aliens ask for the use of Kirk, Spock, and Mulhall's bodies to construct robot structures for themsleves to live in. In return the beings will give the Enterprise crew all the advanced knowledge they possess. Things work at first but Henoch decides he likes Spock's body and turns against Sargon in order to keep the vulcan's body. Now it's up to Kirk and Sargon to try and get Spock back into his own body! RETURN TO TOMORROW has some memorable performances particularily by Diana Muldaur whose character was excellent and I thought she should have been a regular on the show. With all do respect to Nichelle Nichols and Majel Baret but I don't know if they could have pulled this performance off. This episode really brought out the fact that Star Trek lacked a strong female role indeed, and perhaps Dr. Ann Mulhall was the character the series needed. Unfortunetly her character was never used again and Muldaur only returned in the third season as a different character. RETURN TO TOMORROW is a very good Star Trek episode and it's priceless to see Kirk's bonding with Sargon because we get to see Wiliam Shatner overreacting at his best. PATTERNS OF FORCE is one of my favourite Star Trek episodes and I am amazed at how many reviewers have lamb-basted this episode. I always thought this episode was one of Star Trek's finest. It dealt with a real life Nazis and the fear of a Holocaust. It was well written and well acted and in my opinion it may be on of the best Star Trek episodes ever. The Enterprise crew arrives at Ekos where Federation cultural observer John Gill was working to find a planet run by a Nazi government and John Gill being The Furor. The Zeon people, from a neigbouring planet of the same name, are considered to be a plague to the Ekosians and the Nazi government will stop at nothing to wiped this race of people off the galaxy. Kirk and Spock beam down to find themselves sneaking around in Nazi uniforms trying to figure out what caused this madness and how to correct it. PATTERNS OF FORCE tackles the holocaust issue head on and that may be the reason why some reviewers were offended by this episode. However PATTERNS OF FORCE is an excellent episode of Star Trek. The hatred that Ekosians have for Zeons is simliar to that of the hatred the Nazis had for Jewish peope. Keep in mind that this was the 1960's and it's amazing that PATTERNS OF FORCE was even excepted passed first script reading, being as offensive as it was (especially to Shatner and Nimoy who are both Jewish and being asked to run around in Gestapo outifits). To this day it remains the only Trek episode banned in Germany but PATTERNS OF FORCE is still one of Star Trek's gutsiest scripts written. This episode's message comes on strong and clear and the story is quite compelling. This makes PATTERNS OF FORCE one of the finest Star Trek episodes ever in my opinion. Overall Volume 26 is wonderful. Both episodes are some of the best and PATTERNS OF FORCE must definetly be seen. I found that episode fascinating and it brought out the sad truth of how absolute power corrupts even with the best intentions. A few sounds problems in the episode apparently but other than that this one is a keeper! Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: TWO MORE EXCELLENT SECOND SEASON EPISODES!!!
Review: Volume 26 of the Star Trek DVD collection contains two more excellent episodes from the second season. Both the episodes here are very well written and are classics! RETURN TO TOMORROW has some wonderful acting performances by the cast which tends to overshadow the story. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Dr.Ann Mulhall (played by Diana Muldaur) discover a lost race of beings on a distant planet. The only surivivors left of this race are Sargon, his wife and Henoch (an old enemy of Sargon's). The aliens ask for the use of Kirk, Spock, and Mulhall's bodies to construct robot structures for themsleves to live in. In return the beings will give the Enterprise crew all the advanced knowledge they possess. Things work at first but Henoch decides he likes Spock's body and turns against Sargon in order to keep the vulcan's body. Now it's up to Kirk and Sargon to try and get Spock back into his own body! RETURN TO TOMORROW has some memorable performances particularily by Diana Muldaur whose character was excellent and I thought she should have been a regular on the show. With all do respect to Nichelle Nichols and Majel Baret but I don't know if they could have pulled this performance off. This episode really brought out the fact that Star Trek lacked a strong female role indeed, and perhaps Dr. Ann Mulhall was the character the series needed. Unfortunetly her character was never used again and Muldaur only returned in the third season as a different character. RETURN TO TOMORROW is a very good Star Trek episode and it's priceless to see Kirk's bonding with Sargon because we get to see Wiliam Shatner overreacting at his best. PATTERNS OF FORCE is one of my favourite Star Trek episodes and I am amazed at how many reviewers have lamb-basted this episode. I always thought this episode was one of Star Trek's finest. It dealt with a real life Nazis and the fear of a Holocaust. It was well written and well acted and in my opinion it may be on of the best Star Trek episodes ever. The Enterprise crew arrives at Ekos where Federation cultural observer John Gill was working to find a planet run by a Nazi government and John Gill being The Furor. The Zeon people, from a neigbouring planet of the same name, are considered to be a plague to the Ekosians and the Nazi government will stop at nothing to wiped this race of people off the galaxy. Kirk and Spock beam down to find themselves sneaking around in Nazi uniforms trying to figure out what caused this madness and how to correct it. PATTERNS OF FORCE tackles the holocaust issue head on and that may be the reason why some reviewers were offended by this episode. However PATTERNS OF FORCE is an excellent episode of Star Trek. The hatred that Ekosians have for Zeons is simliar to that of the hatred the Nazis had for Jewish peope. Keep in mind that this was the 1960's and it's amazing that PATTERNS OF FORCE was even excepted passed first script reading, being as offensive as it was (especially to Shatner and Nimoy who are both Jewish and being asked to run around in Gestapo outifits). To this day it remains the only Trek episode banned in Germany but PATTERNS OF FORCE is still one of Star Trek's gutsiest scripts written. This episode's message comes on strong and clear and the story is quite compelling. This makes PATTERNS OF FORCE one of the finest Star Trek episodes ever in my opinion. Overall Volume 26 is wonderful. Both episodes are some of the best and PATTERNS OF FORCE must definetly be seen. I found that episode fascinating and it brought out the sad truth of how absolute power corrupts even with the best intentions. A few sounds problems in the episode apparently but other than that this one is a keeper! Highly recommended!
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