TOS Season 3 Episode 21
Air Date: February 28th, 1969
Plot
The Enterprise travels to the planet Ardana in order to get a substance called zenite that is needed to stop a plague on all plant life on the planet Marek II. When they arrive on the planet to get the zenite they are attacked by the miners that work the zenite mines. The people from the city arrive to save them from the ones they Troglytes who are have form a resistance against the city called the Distruptors. The city is a technological marvel, using anti-gravity to float the city in the clouds.
Once in the city, they learn more about the two societies, the Troglytes who perform manual labour and the people in the city who are the intellectual ones that use the Troglytes. McCoy discovers that the fumes in the mines cause the Troglytes to temporarily lose mental capacity which made it impossible for them to compete intellectually with the city people.
Kirk brings a mask to the Troglytes against the city people's wishes since they don't want the Troglytes to become smarter. But Kirk is deceived and taken hostage by the Troglytes and forced to work the mines. Kirk traps the Troglyte leader in a mine by fighting for his phaser and sealing the entrance. Kirk orders Spock to transport the city leader into the mine so the effects of the gas would give him perspective.
After an hour of breathing it in, Kirk and city leader get into a fight and is only saved by the Troglyte leader who calls the Enterprise for help. After the incident the Troglytes get masks which will let them improve their society.
"He knows nothing except how to destroy our power and our society. I forbid you ever to speak of Captain Kirk, or even to think of him." - Plasus
"Father, are we so sure of our methods that we never question what we do?" - Droxine
Once in the city, they learn more about the two societies, the Troglytes who perform manual labour and the people in the city who are the intellectual ones that use the Troglytes. McCoy discovers that the fumes in the mines cause the Troglytes to temporarily lose mental capacity which made it impossible for them to compete intellectually with the city people.
Kirk brings a mask to the Troglytes against the city people's wishes since they don't want the Troglytes to become smarter. But Kirk is deceived and taken hostage by the Troglytes and forced to work the mines. Kirk traps the Troglyte leader in a mine by fighting for his phaser and sealing the entrance. Kirk orders Spock to transport the city leader into the mine so the effects of the gas would give him perspective.
After an hour of breathing it in, Kirk and city leader get into a fight and is only saved by the Troglyte leader who calls the Enterprise for help. After the incident the Troglytes get masks which will let them improve their society.
Commentary
The episode shows a planet where the wealth disparity between the working class and the ruling class is represented by a city that floats above the clouds, in the warmth and light while the workers live in the mines on the planet where it is cold and dark.
Quotes
"The surface of the planet is almost unendurable. To restrict a segment of the population to such hardship is unthinkable in an evolved culture." - Spock"He knows nothing except how to destroy our power and our society. I forbid you ever to speak of Captain Kirk, or even to think of him." - Plasus
"Father, are we so sure of our methods that we never question what we do?" - Droxine
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