The Paradise Syndrome (TOS episode)
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| Star Trek: TOS episode | |
| "The Paradise Syndrome" | |
 The landing party encounters a strange obelisk, The Paradise Syndrome. |
|
| Episode no. | 58 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 058 |
| Airdate | October 4, 1968 |
| Writer(s) | Margaret Armen |
| Director | Jud Taylor |
| Guest star(s) | Sabrina Scharf Rudy Solari Richard Hale Naomi Pollack John Lindesmith Peter Virgo, Jr. Lamont Laird William Blackburn Roger Holloway |
| Year | 2268 |
| Stardate | 4842.6 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "The Enterprise Incident" |
| Next | "And the Children Shall Lead" |
- See also: Paradise Syndrome
"The Paradise Syndrome" is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast October 4, 1968. It is episode #58, production #58, written by Margaret Armen and directed by Jud Taylor.
Overview: An alien device on a primitive planet erases Captain Kirk's memory, and he begins a life as one of the natives.
[edit] Plot
On stardate 4842.6, the starship USS Enterprise arrives at an Earthlike planet on the verge of a collision with an asteroid that will surely destroy it. Captain Kirk beams to the surface along with his first officer Mr. Spock and chief medical officer Dr. McCoy, for a 30-minute investigation. They find the planet's terrain breathtaking, with snow-capped mountains, thick pine forests and a sparkling blue lake.
The team then comes across an ancient obelisk of unknown origin. The structure is comprised of a mysterious metal that resists sensor scans and is covered with strange alien writing. They also discover a group of primitive humanoids living nearby whose customs and appearances closely resemble North American Indians; more specifically, a mix of Mohican, Navaho and Delaware tribes. Spock believes they may have been transplanted from Earth by the ancient Preservers who are believed to have seeded the galaxy with humans, (particularly races that seemed to be in danger of dying out), thousands of years ago.
The team returns to the obelisk and Kirk goes to relay their findings to the ship. He flips open his communicator and something about the action trips a trap door at the base of the structure. Kirk falls inside. The strange machinery housed within zaps him with a bolt of energy that knocks him unconscious and renders him amnesic. The trap door quickly seals shut leaving Spock and McCoy unable to find their Captain. With too little time to conduct a search, the remaining party returns to the ship which quickly leaves orbit in an attempt to intercept the asteroid and deflect it off its deadly course.
Meanwhile, Kirk recovers but has no idea who he is or what his equipment does. He finds a way out and emerges from the obelisk, but is discovered by a group of natives, young women who are leaving an offering at the "temple". Among them is Miramanee, the chief's daughter and tribal priestess. They immediately mistake him for a god and bring him to their village, but the tribal elders are doubtful of Kirk's "divinity" and demand that he prove himself.
At that moment, an unconscious boy is rushed to the village. The child, who has fallen into the lake, is not breathing. Although Salish, the village medicine chief, pronounces the child dead, Kirk rushes over to help. Recalling his first aid skill of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he revives the child. The tribe elders look on in awe and believe Kirk has performed a resurrection, proving that he is indeed a god. The elders force Salish to give up his position as a healer. He angrily throws down his emblems. The elders ask Kirk his name; he tries to remember, but it comes out "Kirok". They accept this as his name and make him the new medicine chief, as Salish jealously walks away.
Back in space, the Enterprise arrives at the asteroid and attempts to push the huge rock off course with blasts from the ship's phasers. The beams only manage to blast chunks of it off, so Spock orders a drastic increase in power routed to them, but the weapons burn out from the overload. Mr. Scott announces that he cannot repair the phasers without putting into a starbase. Having failed to stop the asteroid, Spock begins to blame himself. He orders the Enterprise to return to the planet; it will take them several months to get back, and they're pursued by the asteroid all the way.
Meanwhile, Salish's anger for Kirk grows. Tradition holds that the medicine chief and the tribal priestess must always be husband and wife. Now that Kirk is medicine chief, Miramanee must marry him instead. She is clearly attracted to Kirk over and above traditional duty, and Salish is disgruntled over this and argues violently with her. Kirk accepts Miramanee's offer to "settle" with him, and she asks him to pick the day of "joining" where they will be married.
Not remembering the imminent doom of the asteroid, Kirk picks the following day for the ceremony. On his way to the joining he is attacked by Salish, who cuts his hand. Salish notices that Kirk can bleed, and therefore he cannot be a god ("Behold a god who bleeds!"). He denounces Kirk's godhood before the rest of the tribe, but the villagers still believe Kirk to be a deity.
Following the joining ceremony Miramanee quickly becomes pregnant. Kirk tells her he'd like to stay, but that he is unable to shake off his strange dreams of a "ship that flies among the stars" and that he feels that is where he truly belongs.
Meanwhile, Spock is working on the translation of the obelisk's symbols. He eventually determines the symbols aren't "words" but musical notes; a possible activation code of some kind. He determines the obelisk is an "asteroid deflector" built by the Preservers to protect the planet from the frequent asteroid activity of the system. The device however, doesn't seem to be working properly, and their only hope of saving the planet is to be able to make some sort of repair.
As the asteroid approaches, the planet's sky begins to darken and the weather begins to pick up force that blasts the terrain with fierce winds. The elders tell Kirk he must go to the "temple" and stop the storm before the "Earth begins to tremble". Kirk makes his way to the obelisk, but doesn't remember how to get inside and simply stands there not sure of what to do.
The tribe becomes angry at Kirk, and with Salish's encouragement, the crowd begins to throw stones at him. Keeping her faith in Kirk, Miramanee throws herself in the line of fire to stop the attack, but she is mortally injured in the process. Just then, Spock, McCoy and Nurse Chapel beam in, which frightens the villagers away. McCoy rushes over to Kirk to treat his injuries and discover he has no recollection of who they are. Spock uses a Vulcan mind meld to restore his mind while McCoy checks on Miramanee. He announces there little he can do for her; she was pregnant and suffered severe internal injuries.
Kirk becomes himself again and flicks his communicator open to contact the ship. As soon as it makes a noise, the door to the obelisk is opened. Spock goes inside and repairs the deflector beam. The device quickly targets the asteroid and successfully diverts it away from the planet just minutes before it would have impacted. The storm quickly subsides, but the wrath of the tribe has taken its toll, as Miramanee, and her unborn baby, die in Kirk's arms.
[edit] Trivia
- This is another episode in which the prevalence of humanoid races through the galaxy is explained in terms of aliens which "seeded" (or in this case transplanted) them. This was first brought up in "Return to Tomorrow" where the alien Sargon thought Earth humans might be his descendants. The idea has been discussed at length by Star Trek fans and critics. The TNG episode, "The Chase", confirmed that humanoids were seeded, perhaps by a race like Sargon's, but didn't mention Sargon's people, nor did it confirm whether the seeding race were the same as the Preservers from this episode.
- The elders' shouts of "Kee-rok!" became a running gag in comments during films shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- This episode was filmed in part on location near the Los Angeles Reservoir.
- This episode, along with "Bread and Circuses" and "Wink of an Eye" clearly insinuates that Captain Kirk has had sex off-screen, as Miramanee claims she carries his child.
[edit] External links
- Official site episode entry
- The Paradise Syndrome article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Last produced: "Elaan of Troyius" |
Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 3 |
Next produced: "The Enterprise Incident" |
| Last transmitted: "The Enterprise Incident" |
Next transmitted: "And the Children Shall Lead" |
