WB 4

The episode of the original Star Trek that I watched was “The Savage Curtain” (Season 3, Episode 22). This episode was very interesting and immediately grabbed my attention. The episode begins when the Enterprise is flying in space and is approaching an unknown planet. Rather suddenly, Abraham Lincoln appears before the ship and tells them to hover over the planet, pick him up, and take him aboard. This is strange enough because, as we all know, Abraham Lincoln was killed a long time ago. The crew beams him onboard where they examine him and determine that he is in fact a human. He invites Captain Kirk and Spock down for a visit on his home planet. They agree and beam themselves to the surface. When they arrive, none of their electronics work. A rock then forms into a life form and talks to them. He tells Kirk and Spock that they can alter minerals to create whatever life forms they want and can make them take any form (hence the Abraham Lincoln). Anyways, the rock that came to life tells Kirk that he is curious about which force is stronger; good or evil. He brings back notorious evil figures, such as Genghis Khan, to fight against the good forces. Initially, Kirk and Spock refuse to fight because they have no reason to, however, when the rock that came to life tells them that if they refuse to fight, their ship will blow up and all the crew members will die, they decide to take action. In the end, Captain Kirk and Spock defeat the villains and good triumphs over evil.
This original episode of Star Trek was surprisingly interesting. I could draw many similarities between the episode and modern science fiction television shows, like the setting being in outer space, the use of aliens or strange creatures, and epic fight scenes. However, I also was able to notice some major differences between the two. First of all, this episode goes back to the past and brings back historical figures (both heroes and villains) to grab the audience’s attention. It seems as though modern science fiction moves away from this technique of incorporating figures from the past and focuses only on the future.
Another major difference between this episode and modern science fiction television shows has to do with the development of the timeless theme of “Good v Evil”. This theme can be seen in both “The Savage Curtain” as well as in almost every science fiction television show that is on the air now. However, the episode of Star Trek that I watched was different from most current sci fi shows because it did not use robots. Yes it still had the heartless enemies, however, they were real people with hearts rather than cylons or other robots that do not have hearts or a conscience. Another major development was how different the fight scenes were. In Star Trek, the fate of mankind did not rest on the shoulders of Captain Kirk. The enemies’ goal was not to completely destroy humanity or exterminate entire civilizations. The goal of what the enemy was doing was to learn (to learn whether good or evil was stronger). The fight scene that took place was on a smaller scale and would only affect those who were immediately involved in it. This is very different from modern science fiction. Nowadays, the goal of the enemies always seems to be to wipe of civilization and completely take over a planet. Usually, the enemies are robots or some other sort of heartless alien, not well-known people from the past. I feel as though the use of the historical figures grabbed my attention more so than the use of robots.
All in all, I would say that the original episode of Star Trek was more effective in grabbing my attention and keeping it throughout than modern science fiction television shows. Maybe it is because all modern sci fi seems the same to me because they all use the concept of destroying humanity and heartless robots, which gets old after awhile.