STAR TREK" "THE PARADISE SYNDROME" (1968)

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *sociological*

"Paradise Syndrome" deserves all of those brickbats that are regularly doled out to "Spock's Brain."

 While not the first of the TREKs to recycle stock Hollywood costumes for extraterrestrials, "Syndrome" may be the least imaginative, outpacing even "Bread and Circuses." The episode also sports one of William Shatner's worst Kirk-performances, for all that the actor called it his favorite episode (probably because he was the center of attention). The story's so dull, even its politically incorrect themes (white man showing the heathen redskins the way) aren't any fun.

The TREK trio beam down to an Earth-like planet, marveling at its unsullied beauties, prompting McCoy to wonder if Kirk, suffering from the pressures of command, may be succumbing to the "Tahiti syndrome." (Thus the episode also recycles the basic concept that sorta-kinda began the TREK franchise, since this syndrome was the basis of the conflict in the first pilot, "The Cage.") The three explorers are aware that a giant asteroid is within days of crushing the planet, and they've descended to scope out the natives-- all clad in Native American garb, and compared by Spock to specific Earth-tribes-- before saving them. The three heroes also find a mysterious obelisk erected by some power far more advanced than any primitive tribe. Kirk accidentally falls through a trap door in the structure, losing his memory in consequence. Spock and McCoy must return to the ship to work on deflecting the asteroid, planning to return later and search further for Kirk.

While they're gone, trying and failing to impede the big rock, the amnesia-stricken Kirk wanders out of the obelisk. Soon almost all of the tribespeople believe Kirk has been sent to them by the gods, for they have a tradition about how the gods protect them in times of need. Kirk, though he doesn't remember who he is, impresses the faux-Indians with his knowledge of lamp-making and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. However, his personal charms work a special magic on the chief's daughter Miramanee, who feels it her bounden duty to wed the "god." However, one of the local swains resents having his potential mate stolen by an outsider, and by episode's end he challenges Kirk's godhood. Spock and McCoy return in time to rescue Kirk, but not Miramanee, and they figure out that the people who made the obelisk equipped it with an asteroid-deflection device.

"Syndrome"s" most interesting aspect is that it ignores the "law of parallel evolution" cited in "Bread and Circuses," and comes up with the idea of a mysterious group of beneficent aliens, "the Preservers," who have traveled about the galaxies seeding planets with human-like forms. The latter is a little better excuse than the former for the ubiquity of homo sapiens standing in for aliens, and for the recycling of Earth-style costumes-- but only a little.