who played shahna star trek

Angelique Pettyjohn

Series: TOS

Character(s): Shahna

Actress Angelique Pettyjohn, born Dorothy Lee Perrins portrayed Shahna in the Star Trek: The Original Series second season episode “The Gamesters of Triskelion”.

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The Gamesters of Triskelion (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Script and production
• 4.2 Performers
• 4.4 Costumes
• 4.5 Props and special effects
• 4.6 Continuity
• 4.7 Remastered information
• 4.8 Apocrypha
• 4.9 Production timeline
• 4.10 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest star
• 5.4 Co-starring
• 5.5 Featuring
• 5.6 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.7 Stunt double
• 5.8 References
• 5.9 External links

Summary [ ]

The three Starfleet officers leave the bridge with Captain Kirk leaving Commander Spock in command. They enter the transporter room and wait to be beamed down but just as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott begins the sequence, the three instantaneously vanish from the transporter pads. They find themselves lying on their backs on a strangely decorated floor. Kirk surmises it could be a transporter malfunction , and then realizes by looking up at the planet's sky that there are three suns and they are on an entirely different planet, judging from the color of the sky. Meanwhile, Scott reports to Spock the unusual disappearance of the landing party (no "flash of light," sparkle/shimmer, or dematerialization process), but they can find no reason.

The three trapped officers try to use their communicators to contact the Enterprise only to discover that none of them works. At this point, they are surrounded by four alien warriors, all carrying a weapon of some kind, and approaching menacingly. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov draw their phasers and wait for the right moment to fire. Kirk gives the command, but their phasers do not work either. The captain quickly orders hand-to-hand combat, but they are eventually outnumbered and overpowered. Kirk is knocked onto his back and finds a sharp blade aimed at his throat by an alien woman.

Act One [ ]

A mysterious bald figure appears, dressed in black robes. He commends the Starfleet officers for their fighting spirit and introduces himself as Galt , the master thrall of the planet Triskelion . They are taken to a dungeon and cuffed to the walls where they are fitted with metallic collars. Galt reveals that his masters, the Providers , were "expecting them and arranged their transportation". The three are to be trained as thralls and to fight in the games for the Providers for the remainder of their lives.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, Scott has checked the transporter from one end to the other and found absolutely no malfunction. Spock has scanned the planetoid twice and found no life. Doctor McCoy is becoming frustrated with Spock's inability to find any leads on their friends' whereabouts.

Back on Triskelion, the captain, Chekov, and Uhura are taken to "quarters" that have been prepared for them. These are prison cells, complete with barred doors with their names on them. The three attack the thralls guarding them and begin to make a run for it. Galt closes his eyes and they start to shine like two stars. The small, white triangle-like attachments on the collars they are wearing light up. They stop dead in their tracks, grabbing at their collars, and drop to the ground in total agony. When Galt opens his eyes, the collars shut off and they slowly get back to their feet. Galt tells them that escape is impossible while they wear what he terms their "collars of obedience". The three voluntarily return to their cells.

On the Enterprise , Spock has determined that their missing crewmates are not within the confines of the solar system they are in. Doctor McCoy's frustration is mounting while Spock is at a loss as to where else to look for them.

Back in their cells, the prisoners discuss the possibility of rescue by the Enterprise . Uhura is visited by Lars , her Drill Thrall, with a tray of food. He backs her into her cell and tells her, " There is little time. I have been selected for you. " The sounds of a struggle follow, with the struggling figures appearing as shadows on the cell's back wall; and Uhura cries out while Captain Kirk shouts, helplessly, from his cell. One of the female thralls approaches Kirk's cell. He reaches for her through the bars shouting, " What's happening to Lieutenant Uhura? "

Act Two [ ]

Kirk still looks on from the bars of his cell as Lars leaves Uhura's cell, telling her that it is not allowed to refuse "selection". Kirk's Drill Thrall enters with food, telling him it is the "nourishment interval" and sits to watch him eat it.

Ensign Jana Haines at the science station on the bridge reports a fluctuating energy reading on a hydrogen cloud . Spock takes over at the science station and identifies it as an ionization trail . The ship's computers can offer nothing that would account for it. Spock orders a course change to follow the ionization trail. Dr. McCoy accuses Spock on taking them on a wild goose chase. Spock informs him that it is the only lead they have. They leave the system on 310 mark 241 at warp 2.

Chekov gets a visit from his big, female drill thrall and is worried that she has been "selected" for him. She has not. She introduces herself as Tamoon and promises to train him well. If her provider chooses him, they may yet be selected for each other. Chekov looks away, grimacing.

In Kirk's cell, Shahna tells him that the color on the collars are the sign of the provider that owns them. " The Provider that offers the most quatloos puts his color on us. " While eating his "nourishment", Kirk begins telling her of the concepts of slavery . He starts asking about who operates the collars and how, but Shahna tell him that it is not permitted to speak of that. Kirk then starts flirting with her, telling her she is very beautiful, but she has never before heard the word. He shows Shahna her reflection on one of the shiny food covers as a definition, saying "That is beautiful." When Kirk asks about where Shahna was born and who her parents were, she tells him her mother was killed in a "freestyle match." A light and gong signals the beginning of the "exercise interval." Shahna gives Kirk a training harness to wear.

On the Enterprise , McCoy and Scott express doubt as to their course of action. Spock has them heading for the nearest solar system along the path of the ionization trail, M24 Alpha , 11.630 light years ahead.

Back in the arena area where they first landed, Kirk, Chekov, and Uhura are practicing with weapons with their drill thralls. Galt brings out a thrall – an older black man who Galt says was slow in obeying a command – for them to use as practice target. Uhura hotly refuses the training exercise, as do Kirk and Chekov, which earns them a taste of their collars of obedience. Galt orders Uhura bound, but Kirk claims responsibility for the actions of his crew and takes her place as practice target. Galt regrets losing Kirk in this way, but says that it is worth it as an example to the others. Kirk is bound and placed in the center of the arena.

Act Three [ ]

Kirk is already bleeding from a wound to his back from the whip of Kloog , the towering alien thrall that has been selected to administer his punishment. During a rest interval, Shahna gives Kirk an energy drink and advises him that Kloog's left eye is weak and to attack him from that side. When the combat resumes, Kirk works at his bonds and manages to partially untie them. Getting his hands in front of him, he eventually gets Kloog in a strangle hold and is about to defeat him when a voice from above says " Hold! " It is Provider 1 who has spoken, and he, Provider 2 , and Provider 3 begin bidding for the newcomers . They eventually are sold to Provider 1 for the price of 2,000 quatloos (the Providers' own monetary units ). Kirk asserts that they are free people and belong to no one . Providers 2 and 3 then place a series of wagers: fifteen quatloos that Captain Kirk is untrainable, twenty quatloos that all three are untrainable, five thousand quatloos that they will all have to be destroyed, all of which Provider 1 accepts. Galt's eyes light up and the three Starfleet officers' collar attachments change from white to red. Galt tells them that they now bear the mark of a fine herd and that any disobedience is now punishable by death making escape unlikely.

On the Enterprise , Scott is arguing that it does not make sense that their missing friends could have been transported this far and that they should continue to search the area where they were lost. Spock reminds him that they did and found no sign of them. McCoy is beginning to fear that they might not still be alive after all the time that has passed.

Somewhere outside the thralls' compound, Shahna and a shirtless and whip-scarred Kirk take a break near some old ruins after a two-mile run. Kirk asks why the Providers like watching people suffer and if they are computers, but Shahna does not seem to know. She gets nervous when he starts asking if this was a city for the Providers, and he starts talking about how the area they are in reminds him of his home planet, Earth . She is unfamiliar with the concept of planets and suns which Kirk says make up the lights in the night sky. He comes closer to Shahna and starts speaking about the concepts of freedom and love, and how, on Earth, no one selects a mate for you, you get to choose your own. Shahna does not think his words are permitted and starts to walk away. Kirk goes back to asking about the Providers. She begins to tell him that she has never seen them but that they are said to be "not like us". Before she can tell him any more, her collar lights up and she drops to the ground in agony. Kirk looks to the sky shouting that it was his fault, that he made her talk and begging them not to kill her.

Act Four [ ]

Kirk continues to plead for Shahna's life, asking that they punish him instead. Provider 1's voice asks if that is what Humans call compassion. It is interesting but of no use here; he must learn obedience, if he is to be an excellent thrall. Shahna's collar shuts off and she asks him why he would risk his own punishment on her behalf. He tells her that it is the custom of his people to help each other when they are in trouble and kisses her on the lips. She asks if this, too, is "helping," and he says you could call it that. Looking into his eyes she asks, " Please… help me once again. " After some more kissing she begins to understand that a man and a woman can be together of their own choice. Galt appears out of nowhere but because they have amused the Providers, there is no punishment. Kirk protectively puts his arm around Shahna and they walk off together.

On the bridge of the Enterprise , Spock asks Scott if they can sustain a speed greater than warp 6. Scott and Dr. McCoy think they have gone too far already on a hopeless errand. Both of them want to go back to Gamma II for another search. Spock takes them aside and reminds them that he is in command and that they will remain on course unless they are planning to announce a mutiny . McCoy is upset with Spock's statement, but calms down and then asks that if they do not find them in the trinary system they are approaching, can they then go back for another search of Gamma II. Spock agrees and asks if Scott can give him warp 7. Scott happily says yes, " and maybe a wee bit more ." Spock orders warp 7.

Shahna brings Kirk his dinner and tells him that he makes her feel "strangely". He begins kissing her again and as she looks at him with bewildered eyes, he knocks her out. Taking her key, he frees Chekov and Uhura, who have also disabled their drill thralls. They plan to find their phasers and try to short out their collars. As they move across the arena, Galt appears and activates their collars, but does not kill them. The voice of Provider 1 tell them that this was just a warning.

The Enterprise assumes standard orbit around Triskelion. Sensors show only one concentration of lifeforms on the planet, in the lower hemisphere, and humanoid. Not wanting to endanger the captain and the others if they are alive by beaming down a large force, Spock plans to beam down with Dr. McCoy hoping to rescue the captain and the others. Before they can even leave the bridge, the ship's systems are frozen by the Providers. Kirk and Provider 1 explain the situation on Triskelion. Kirk accuses the Providers of being too afraid to show themselves. Since the Providers feel Kirk presents no danger while he wears the collar, Provider 1 transports him to a chamber 1,000 meters below the planet's surface. The Providers are revealed to be three glowing, disembodied brains — colored red (Provider 1), green (Provider 2) and yellow (Provider 3) — in a dome-shaped case made of some transparent glass-like material, where they are positioned at each corner of an equilateral-triangle-shaped dais . An enormous power plant looms in the background. The Providers explain to Kirk that their race once had humanoid form, but they evolved beyond that form. The games have become their only purpose. They had hoped that the Humans would bring new blood to the thralls, but regret that they will now have to be destroyed. Kirk threatens that to do so would mean their own destruction at the hands of the Federation and Starfleet, but the Providers plan to make it look like they were destroyed by a magnetic storm so that no one will ever know they were responsible. Enraged, Kirk accuses them of being murderers without the spirit to really wager for the lives they take. As soon as he says it, he realizes that gambling is the key to these creatures. He tells the Providers that his people are the most successful gamblers in the galaxy and it is in their nature to win. He wagers that his crew can defeat an equal number of thralls set against them. The Providers immediately start placing bets on the outcome in quatloos, but Kirk tells them that quatloos are trivial and that the stakes must be higher. If they win, the Enterprise goes free and the thralls are freed and started on a course to self-governance. If they lose, the entire crew of the Enterprise will become thralls and give them generations of the most exciting wagering they've ever had. The Providers agree, but on the condition that Kirk fight three other thralls on his own. Kirk protests that the odds are not fair, but he is told by the Providers that they are extremely fair since the alternative is death. Kirk is returned to the arena and, because he is fighting for the lives of his crew, the Providers allow them to watch the combat on the ship's viewscreen . Provider 1 explains the combat rules : Kirk must stay on the yellow sections of the arena; while his three opponents, Kloog, Lars, and an Andorian man, must remain on those colored blue. Touching another's color deprives a competitor of a weapon. An opponent must be killed to be removed from the game. If only wounded, the opponent is replaced by a fresh thrall.

The combat begins. Kirk takes out Kloog and then Lars, but only wounds the Andorian. Shahna is brought in to replace the wounded. Kirk does not want to fight her, but she accuses him of having tricked her with lies and attacks. Kirk gets her on the ground with his knife to her throat, and she surrenders. The Providers keep their word and tell everyone to remove their collars. Kirk tells Shahna that he did not lie, and she asks if she can go with him back to the lights in the sky he had told her about earlier. He tells her that she has much to learn on Triskelion first before reaching for the stars. Kirk kisses Shahna goodbye and gently strokes her cheek. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov return back to the Enterprise , this time via the ship's transporter as they shimmer and vanish. Shahna has a tear running down her cheek as, along with Tamoon, and Galt, she looks to the sky to which Kirk has returned. Through her tears, Shahna says, " Goodbye, Jim Kirk. I will learn and watch the lights in the sky… and remember. "

The Enterprise departs Triskelion and flies off through space, heading for new adventures.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2268

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Hope? I always thought that was a Human failing, Mr. Spock. " " True, Doctor. Constant exposure does result in a certain degree of contamination. "

" I would welcome a suggestion, Doctor, even an emotional one, as to where to look. " " First time you've ever asked me for anything, and it has to be an occasion like this. "

" It is not allowed to refuse selection. "

" Doctor, I am chasing Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Uhura, and Ensign Chekov, not some wild aquatic fowl. "

" How can one live on a flicker of light? "

" Tie her! "

" Please, help me once again. "

" This is going to kill our romance. "

" What in the name of heaven is this? " " Heaven's got very little to do with this. "

" All your people must learn before you can reach for the stars. "

" Goodbye, Jim Kirk. I will learn. And watch the lights in the sky. And remember. "

Background information [ ]

Script and production [ ].

• The original title was "The Gamesters of Pentathlon" on the first-draft script from 1 May 1967 .
• The original version of the script featured Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura being taken captive while traveling in a shuttlecraft. However, the production staff thought it was too similar to the teaser of " Metamorphosis ", and changed it to feature them being detained while transporting down instead. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two , p. 433)
• Eventually, Sulu's part was replaced with Chekov, to accommodate George Takei's work schedule. (see below)
• Uhura's drill thrall was originally written as a large muscular black man, but Robert H. Justman complained that it would reinforce the "different but equal" policies presented in some network programs, and opted to cast a white actor in the role instead. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two , p. 434)
• Margaret Armen 's original script featured a "slithering vine", named a "Delka Vine" grabbing Shahna and tossing her into a pond, and Kirk having to rescue her by wrestling the tentacle vine. Robert Justman found this idea much beyond the scope of the series budget, and the scene was scrapped. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two , p. 437)
• Gene Nelson was the first new director to be hired for the second season (all previous episodes of the season were directed by either Joseph Pevney , Marc Daniels or Ralph Senensky ). Despite finishing on schedule and leaving a good impression on the producers, he was never asked to direct more episodes. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two , p. 448)
• Bart La Rue , Walker Edmiston and Robert C. Johnson were the voices of Provider 1 , Provider 2 and Provider 3 respectively. They were uncredited on-screen, despite having dialogue.

Performers [ ]

• Dick Crockett , who appeared in the episode as an Andorian , was stunt coordinator for this episode. ( The Star Trek Compendium )
• Robert C. Johnson , who was the voice of Provider 3, was one of America's most famous voices for a few years: he was the tape-recorded voice that gave the Impossible Missions Force its assignments at the beginning of most episodes of Mission: Impossible . This show was filmed next door to the Star Trek set, and actors from the series would often wander over to see what was happening on the Enterprise . Johnson previously did voice work on the first Star Trek pilot, " The Cage ".
• When asked why his character was never developed more, George Takei stated that " one episode of Star Trek would have helped to develop Sulu very much and that was "The Gamesters of Triskelion". " The first draft of this episode did feature Sulu, however, Takei was away on location in Georgia for the filming of The Green Berets and despite his intentions to appear in the episode, he was unable to return to Los Angeles to make the appearance due to complications on the film set. Much to Takei's disappointment, he did not appear in this episode, yet despite this, Takei said " things turned out well anyway, I got to do The Green Berets and they rewrote all of Sulu's lines for Chekov , so Walter (Koenig) got a good break. " ( Starlog issue #3, p. 31; The Star Trek Compendium )
• The ruins that Kirk and Shahna encounter while on their training run were recycled from the surface of M-113 in " The Man Trap ". Some rock formations and branches are recycled from the previous episode filmed, " Obsession ".

Costumes [ ]

• An ultimately unused take of Paul Baxley stunt doubling for Kirk during the fight scene resulted in the stuntman splitting his pants. ( Star Trek: Lost Scenes )

Props and special effects [ ]

The three Providers and a familiar backdrop

• The Janus VI mining station backdrop painting from " The Devil in the Dark " is reused in the scene set in the Providers' chamber below the surface of Triskelion.
• The top of Lazarus ' ship from " The Alternative Factor " was recycled as the bubble of glass-like material that encases the Providers. ( The Star Trek Compendium )
• The daggers used by the Terran Empire crew in " Mirror, Mirror " were used by the drill thralls.
• The "collars of obedience" are very similar to the control device placed around Dr. Zachary Smith's neck in the Lost in Space episode "Invaders From the Fifth Dimension", aired 3 November 1965.
• The spear used on Lars was made up of two pieces, front and back, to give the illusion of impalement. An unused take of this scene was not used due to the two pieces of the spear not lining up. ( Star Trek: Lost Scenes )

Continuity [ ]

• McCoy's exchange with Spock regarding survival in a transporter beam (" It's been nearly an hour. Can people live that long as disassembled atoms in a transporter beam? " " I have never heard of a study being done, but it would be a fascinating project. ") is ultimately realized by fellow Enterprise crewmember Montgomery Scott in TNG : " Relics ". Scott successfully survives after being suspended in transport for 75 years ( 2294 to 2369 ), following the USS Jenolan 's crashing into a Dyson sphere , however his partner, Franklin, does not.
• Kirk raises the question of whether he, Chekov and Uhura are in the same dimension. The episode aired a few months after the first broadcast of " Mirror, Mirror " in which Kirk and Uhura were among those transported to another dimension.
• McCoy expresses disbelief that the landing party were possibly transported light years away from the Enterprise. In the alternate reality , before the start of James T. Kirk 's five-year-mission, the concept of such long-distance beaming was already known to that timeline's Montgomery Scott ( Star Trek ), and the alternate Khan Noonien Singh would use similar (or possibly the same) technology to beam from Earth to Qo'noS ( Star Trek Into Darkness ).
• This is the first episode ending with a "Paramount Television" logo instead of the "Desilu" logo, after Desilu was sold to Paramount Pictures .

Remastered information [ ]

Triskelion, now visually belonging to a trinary star system

"The Gamesters of Triskelion" was the forty-sixth episode of the remastered version of The Original Series to air, premiering in syndication on the weekend of 20 October 2007 .

Aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise , this episode most notably featured new effects shots of the planets Gamma II and Triskelion .

One piece of new footage was added to this episode, the establishing shot of the planet Triskelion, shown during the opening credits, now included the system's trinary suns.

A short part of the end credit roll was also visually altered; at the start of the original end credit roll, the Enterprise was seen from the aft when departing Triskelion. For the remastered version, the new CGI Enterprise was seen approaching headlong when departing.

Apocrypha [ ]

• A cat version of "The Gamesters of Triskelion" was featured in Jenny Parks ' 2017 book Star Trek Cats .

Production timeline [ ]

• Story outline "The Gamesters of Pentathlon" by Margaret Armen : 10 April 1967
• Revised story outline: 5 May 1967
• Second revised story outline: 8 May 1967
• Revised story outline by Gene L. Coon : 12 May 1967
• First draft teleplay by Armen: 20 June 1967
• Second draft telepay: 28 June 1967
• Revised second draft teleplay: 1 August 1967
• Final draft teleplay: 16 August 1967
• Revised final draft by John Meredyth Lucas : 28 September 1967
• Second revised final draft: early- October 1967
• Third revised final draft "The Gamesters of Triskelion": early- October 1967
• Day 1 – 17 October 1967 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge , Transporter room
• Day 2 – 18 October 1967 , Wednesday – Paramount Test Stage : Int. Providers' chamber , Cell corridors
• Day 3 – 19 October 1967 , Thursday – Paramount Test Stage : Int. Kirk's cell , Uhura's cell , Chekov's cell
• Day 4 – 20 October 1967 , Friday – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. Combat arena
• Day 5 – 23 October 1967 , Monday – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. Combat arena
• Day 6 – 24 October 1967 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. Combat arena , Providers' ancient city
• Original airdate: 5 January 1968
• Rerun airdate: 3 May 1968
• First UK airdate (on BBC1 ): 18 November 1970
• First UK airdate (on ITV ): 19 December 1982
• Remastered airdate: 20 October 2007

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original US Betamax release: 1986
• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 24 , catalog number VHR 2359, 2 April 1990
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.6, 2 June 1997
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 23, 5 June 2001
• As part of the TOS Season 2 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Also starring [ ]

• Leonard Nimoy as "Mr. Spock "
• DeForest Kelley as "Dr. McCoy "

Guest star [ ]

• Joseph Ruskin as Galt

Co-starring [ ]

• Angelique Pettyjohn as Shahna

Featuring [ ]

• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• James Doohan as Scott
• Steve Sandor as Lars
• Walter Koenig as Chekov
• Jane Ross as Tamoon
• Victoria George as Ensign Jana Haines
• Dick Crockett as Andorian Thrall
• Mickey Morton as Kloog

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Frank da Vinci as Brent
• Walker Edmiston as Provider 2 's voice
• Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli
• Robert C. Johnson as Provider 3 's voice
• Bart LaRue as Provider 1 's voice
• Jeannie Malone as Enterprise yeoman
• Eddie Paskey as Leslie
• Frieda Rentie as Enterprise lieutenant
• Unknown actor as Humanoid Thrall

Stunt double [ ]

• Paul Baxley as stunt double for James T. Kirk

References [ ]

alternative ; amusement ; anarchy ; anger ; answer ; aquatic ; astrogation ; athletic competition ; atom ; attitude ; automatic communications and astrogation station ; base ; blood ; blue ; body ; captivity ; chamber ; chance ; choice ; circuit ; city ; collar of obedience ; color ; compassion ; competitor (aka contestant ); computer ; computer probability projection ; communications ; competitive ability ; contamination ; contest ; control system ; Cossack ; courage ; course ; creature ; crying ; culture ; curiosity ; custom ; danger ; Daniel ; data ; death penalty ; den ; demonstration ; development area ; devil ; dial ; dimension ; disobedience ; distance ; door ; dozen ; drill thrall ; Earth ; education ; evolution ; exercise interval ; explanation ; exploration ; eye ; facility ; failure ; faith ; fate ; Federation ; follow course ; fowl ; freedom ; freestyle match ; friend ; gag ; gambler (gamester); gambling ( gambler ); Gamma II ; Gamma system ; generation ; gesture ; green ; hand-to-hand combat ; heaven ; hemisphere ; herd ; here and now ; home planet ; hope ; hour ; Human (aka Earth people); humanoid ; hunch ; hundred ; hydrogen cloud ; information ; ingenuity ; intellect ; intention ; inferior being ; ionic interference ; ionization trail ; landing force ; leader ; lesson ; life (aka lifeform ); light (artificial); light (natural); light year ; lion ; location ; logic ; love ; M24 Alpha system ; M24 Alpha sector ; magnetic storm ; master thrall ; mental ability ; meter ; mile ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind ; " mind the store "; mistake ; murderer ; mutiny ; name ; nature ; need ; newcomer ; night sky ; nourishment ; nourishment interval ; obedience ; odds ; opinion ; phenomenon ; place ; planet ; planetoid ; power source ; power surge ; practice target ; primary mental evolution ; proof ; Providers ; punishment (aka correction); quarters ; quatloo ; question ; race (aka species ); range ; rebellion ; red ; rest interval ; result ; risk ; rock ; romance ; Scots language ; search ; self-governing culture ; sensor ; sensor scan ; Shahna's mother ; sky ; slavery ; specimen ; speculation ; stakes ; standard orbit ; star ; starvation ; stock ; stubborn ; suggestion ; superior development ; surface ; surrender ; thing ; thousand ; thrall ; title ; top sergeant ; training ; training enclosure ; training exercise ; training harness ; transporter ; transporter beam ; transporter circuit ; transporter malfunction ; transporter mechanism ; transporter platform ; transporter power ; transporter range ; transporter sequence ; Triad ; trinary sun (aka trinary star system , trinary system ); trisec ; Triskelion ; Triskelion ruins ; universe ; value ; viewscreen ; voice ; Vulcan ; weapon ; " wee "; whip ; " wild goose chase " ( goose ); word ; yellow

External links [ ]

• " The Gamesters of Triskelion " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion " at Wikipedia
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion " at the Internet Movie Database

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Published Feb 13, 2012

One Trek Mind #15: Kirk's (Many) Lady Loves

James T. Kirk – he's not just the Captain of the Enterprise, he's a thief of hearts - charming, witty and handsome. Sure, put him in a one-on-one scenario with a giant lizard monster and he'll attack with a cannon made of rocks and dirt, but one-on-one with a lady? Let's just say the codes of 1960s television demand we “fade out.”

Since today is Valentine's Day and we can always use a little extra game, let's take a moment to salute our Captain. Here, then, are Captain Kirk's 10 best girlfriends.

10 – Dr. Gillian Taylor

A marine biologist during the peak of the late 20th century's “Save the Whales” movement, Dr. Taylor never expected that she and two humpbacks named George and Gracie would be the ones to save the humans.

Captain Kirk used his interplanetary charm to get the info he needed out Gillian, but her inquisitive spirit won her a ticket to the 23rd century. In addition to bringing her firsthand knowledge of probe-responding whales, she also brought an advanced palette for elaborate pizza.

A “Drill Thrall” who wore a “collar of obedience.” Yeah, this was definitely one of the feistier ones.

The leading lady from “ The Gamesters of Triskelion ” is best remembered for her shocking green hair and an outfit one would consider revealing no matter what side of the galaxy you're from. While Shahna may have been athletic enough to train space gladiators, she wasn't exactly the sharpest crystal in the dilithium matrix. After Kirk shows her “what beauty is,” she helps liberate him, Chekov and Uhura from the grip of the Providers . When she hopes Kirk will take her with him to the “lights in the sky,” he uses some excuse about her needing to stay behind and advance the society of her emerging people. Somehow when Kirk says it, it sounds legit.

Sometimes when you are with a beautiful woman it is as if time stands still. That's especially the case if that woman is a Scalosian.

“ Wink of an Eye 's” Deela , a regal blond whose presence at first may just seem like a buzz in your ear, took a real liking to Captain Kirk. So much so she wanted him to help repopulate her planet. But despite her smile and proclivity to be photographed at Dutch angles, Kirk's relationship with her didn't last long – and that's in either time phase.

Another amorous partner who teetered on the edge of villainy, Marta the Orion wasn't the first “green woman” to appear on Star Trek , but she's the only one caught smoochin' Captain Kirk. In the episode “ Whom Gods Destroy ” she is Garth of Izar 's asylum-bound “kept woman,” ready to do her consort's bidding even if it means putting the moves on a Starfleet captain.

Played by Yvonne Craig (yes, Batgirl, making this one of the first of many DC/ Trek connections), Marta proved that even in the future, there's something incredibly enticing about women who are a little bit loopy.

Even when facing the business end of a life sentence on a frozen penal colony, Kirk can't help but score with the ladies.

Despite sharing a prison bunk with Dr. McCoy on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 's Rura Penthe, there's a moment of intimacy between Kirk and fellow prisoner (and possible escape aide) Martia . First seen as African supermodel Iman , it was later discovered that she (he?) was actually a shapeshifter. Before dying at the hand of a Klingon disruptor, the final form the creature took was that of Captain Kirk himself. So, in a way, this was one of Kirk's most narcissistic love interests.

5 – Rayna Kapec

Not just humanoids fall under the spell of James T. Kirk – even artificial intelligence gets its microchips all a-flutter around the Captain, as seen in “ Requiem for Methuselah .”

The android companion to the great immortal Flint (whose resume includes being a Macedonian conquerer, Renaissance painter and Romantic composer), Rayna soon grew to have tremendous feelings toward Kirk.

As is so often the case around William Shatner , however, these feelings caused her to literally short circuit.

Rayna the Robot marked an important step for Kirk in his relationship with women. He found it difficult to just shake her off as the Enterprise sailed off to their next star, so much so that Spock had to give him something of an emotional memory wipe – an ambiguous procedure still causing debate among Trek fans today.

4 – Miramanee

Here's a tip. Want women to fall at your feet? Come to them as a weather-controlling god.

“ The Paradise Syndrome ” is one of the more tender TOS episodes; indeed, it forms a nice opening bookend with TNG 's “ The Inner Light .” Kirk gets bonked on the head and finds himself living among Space Native Americans. He's forgotten everything, including how to pronounce his name (Kirok is close), but he hasn't forgotten how to love.

He marries the lovely Miramanee and impregnates her, but she and fetus die when Kirk's lack of divinity is exposed. It is one of the few episodes of original Trek where, yes, the status quo is restored, but it doesn't end “all right.”

3 – Dr. Carol Marcus

While Kirk was shacked up with Miramanee , however, we now know that, halfway across the galaxy, a previous love affair of his had indeed sired him a son.

Carol Marcus , first introduced to us in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (though perhaps referenced in “ Where No Man Has Gone Before ,” according to some) was no mere floozy. An equal to Kirk in almost every way, Dr. Marcus was an intellectual giant whose devotion to her career (molecular biology) matched Kirk's enthusiasm for command. Amicably, the couple split, knowing neither could step away from their career to commit to a relationship. Their child David reunited with his father, just in time to get killed by Klingons in the next movie.

2 – Edith Keeler

Of all of Kirk's girlfriends, no one shattered his heart quite like “ The City on the Edge of Forever 's” Edith Keeler , and that's because, let's face it, he killed her. Oh, sure, it's not like he picked up a phaser and fired. Rather, preventing Dr. McCoy from whisking her away from that oncoming vehicle did the trick. Yeah, he protected the timeline and kept the 20th century safe from fascism, but try telling that to a man who’s lost a companion as warm, caring and beautiful as Edith Keeler. All you'll get back is the refrain “he knows.”

1 – The USS Enterprise

At the end of the day, Captain Kirk has but one true love: the Constitution-class heavy cruiser designation NCC-1701.

Just look at the joy in his eyes when he sees her from Scotty 's shuttle in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Or the pain at her destruction in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .

Perhaps so many of Kirk's entanglements with women were so, how shall we say, ephemeral, because he knew that there'd never be a place in his heart for two lovers. As he puts it to Bones in “ The Corbomite Maneuver :” I've already got a female to worry about. Her name is Enterprise .

Now, I know I've left off a bunch of good ones, but hopefully not your favorite. But if that is the case, please, let me have it in the comments. And may your Valentine's Day take you boldly to wherever it is you want to go.

Jordan Hoffman was the movies editor at UGO.com for more than four years. He has produced two independent films (look 'em up!) and is a member of the New York Film Critics Online. In 2005, he was named the Ultimate Film Fanatic of the NorthEast by IFC. Jordan fell in love with Star Trek through TOS reruns just as TNG was getting ready to launch. On his BLOG , Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels. He has a funny story about the one time he met Leonard Nimoy.

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Star Trek : "The Trouble With Tribbles" / "The Gamesters Of Triskelion"

Did you know there was a commemorative plate made for the original Trek? Probably more than one, I guess, but the one I remember had Kirk in a pile of tribbles, in a painting inspired by one of the series' most iconic scenes. I've never understood the appeal of commemorative plates, and I'm not sure anybody actually does; I think it's one of those things they sell on TV that doesn't have a reason to exist, but costs money so we assume it's worthwhile. Like Chia Pets or trailers for Transformers 2 . (Okay, I guess the trailers have a point, because how else would we know that Megan Fox is still a functional delivery system for both T and A?)  But that damn Trek plate haunts me. It's ridiculous to the point of being sublime. I can imagine some blue-haired old lady out in Iowa having it in her china hutch, right next to a Santa Claus head mug and her Spoons of the World collection.

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"The Trouble With Tribbles" is one of Star Trek 's successful forays into comedy, and while I have a few reservations, it holds up well. I mean, they don't make plates about Voyager episodes, right? (God, what a terrible way to diet: punishing yourself every time you finish a meal.) Shatner normally gets stuck playing the straight man whenever wackiness happens, and "Tribbles" is no exception to the rule; he seems to be having more fun than usual with the premise, though, and some of his reaction shots here are Nimoy-level hysterical. Kirk's growing frustration and bemusement could've come off as smug, but it doesn't. Instead, he sets the tone for the entire episode; playful, often silly, with just enough of a grounded storyline to keep from floating away completely. We open with Kirk, Spock, and Chekov having a chat about Sherman's Planet, a nearby locale that's currently the subject of dispute between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. (Who aren't officially at war. Looks like the Organian interference back in "An Errand of Mercy" held.) It's been a mildly irritating running gag that Chekov likes to claim that everything in the universe was created by the Russians, and we get a couple more of those gags in "Tribbles," neither of which are funny. Thankfully, the info-dump is cut short by an emergency distress signal from Deep Space Station K-7. The Enterprise moves to respond and learns that the signal was a slight over-reaction, made by the latest in our on-going series of Administrative Assholes, Nilz Baris. See, Baris (played by William Schallert, who, according to his IMDB page, has been in everything, and some of it twice) has this special grain, called quadrotriticale, and it's the only stuff that grows on Sherman's Planet. So it's vitally important that the grain makes it there. (I'm not sure why the Enterprise can't just transport it themselves. Maybe they don't have the right storage units?) Given the planet's tenuous diplomatic status, any problems could mean disaster for the Federation, and Baris used the distress signal to get Kirk to come by so he could order Kirk to put guards on the grain bins. Kirk's not real happy about this, but the word comes down from Starfleet that he's stuck at the station. Might as well make the best of it by letting the crew take some much needed shore leave. One of the reasons "Tribbles" works is that, even though we're dealing with another tedious bureaucrat, we never feel like Kirk is stuck under the creep's thumb. He makes no attempt to hide his contempt for Baris, and since we're firmly on his side (even if Baris's complaints are legitimate, the guy is a total tool), that makes his encounters with the Man actually fun for a change. The way the episode unfolds means Kirk's constantly dealing with things he doesn't really want to deal with, and there's a surprising amount of enjoyment to be had in seeing him complain about it to Spock. And then there are the title characters. Uhura and Chekov run into them while hanging out on the station bar. (On her leave, Uhura wants to go "shopping." Ah, women!) A con-man named Cyrano Jones is trying his best to sell the bartender a fuzzy little purring mound. Uhura is instantly smitten; Spock later theorizes that the sound the tribbles make has a calming effect on humans, so I guess that's why everybody gets such a kick out of them, but they're mostly just pet rocks minus the personality. Cyrano gives Uhura a tribble, and Chekov has time to notice it eating some quadrotriticale he spilled on the table (foreshadowing!)(that the tribble was eating grain, not that Chekov spilled or noticed anything) before we move on to the next scene. Cyrano's my least favorite part of the episode; I know some folks expressed surprise at my fondness for Harry Mudd, but Cyrano to me just points to how well Carmel fit into the show. Stanley Adams doesn't get as much screentime as Mudd might've, but for those times he is in our focus, he's mugging it up fierce, doing all sorts of facial expressions that I assume are supposed to be comic but aren't. The bar-fight at the ep's midpoint is broken up by lots of cutting to Cyrano doing business over at the bar, and it makes the scene go on for ages. The character is never enough a part of the story to matter, and while his comeuppance isn't bad, you kind of wonder why anyone cares to punish him. It's a waste of a name that should've been bad-ass. (Like, what if Casey Jones had a cousin? And his cousin was into being a vigilante, only he'd watched a lot of theater, so he, um… Okay, moving on.) But hey, that bar-fight? It happens because the Klingons arrive, and, per the usual, they're up to no good. Hell, the Squire of Gothos is with them! Not literally, but the actor who played the Squire, William Campbell, plays Koloth, captain of the Klingon ship. (Because I'm a nerd, I like to think that Koloth really is Trelane, and that this is just something his parents did to make him learn humility, or because he banged up the space car or got some star skank pregnant. And the reason Kirk doesn't recognize him? He's wearing a cunning goatee.) Koloth demands that he and his men be allowed to have some fun time on the space station like everybody else—apparently, Klingons don't travel with their own entertainment, like porn or board games—and Kirk reluctantly agrees. This is bound to turn out poorly, since a dozen or so of the Enterprise crew are already wandering around. The build-up to the fight is decent, with Scotty telling Chekov to ignore a series of insults to Kirk from Koloth's second-in-command, only to lose his shit when the guy starts ragging on the Enterprise , but the best part of the whole thing is the aftermath, with Kirk questioning his men as to who started the fight, and then dragging the whole story out of an embarrassed Scotty. The timing here is terrific, and it's one of the few times on the show when having a character describe something that we've all just seen actually works; Kirk's slightly disappointed reaction in learning that he got insulted, and that no one came to his defense, is hilarious. During all of this, the tribbles have started to multiply, and once they start, they don't stop. Another great thing about "Trouble" is the way the tribbles pop up everywhere, to the point where they're dominating the bridge and even getting into the food supply. It's a sight gag that never stops working, and it gains steams as it goes. McCoy does some tests and determines that nearly half of a tribble's energies are devoted to reproduction. And as Spock points out, without their natural predators, there's nothing to keep their growth in check. Everybody's still charmed by their constant purring, but something's going to have to be done, and soon. Apart from Cyrano Jones, "Trouble" has a light touch, and it's one of the better scripts we've seen. Writer David Gerrold provides a couple of through lines—the importance of the grain that Kirk was called in to protect, and the rapid population growth of the tribbles—but never puts too much stress on either of them. Generally I prefer my Trek episodes with some danger to them, and there's really nothing like that here; you never worry that the Klingons are going to shoot anybody, or that the tribbles are going to go mogwai. But it works, because the causualness isn't sloppy. When Kirk opens the storage bin and gets buried under a mound of dead (and near dead) hairballs, it's an a-ha moment, without ever needing to be stressed; the story comes together in a delightfully laid-back fashion, like a long form joke that's really more an anecdote than something with a punchline. So the Klingons were up to their usual tricks, tainting the grain with a poison that would make anyone who ate unable to get full (there's something wonderfully dark about that; the most memorable moment of "Trouble" comes from Kirk standing in a pile of cute aliens that starved to death), and they've got an inside man in the form of Baris's assistant, a Klingon passing as human. He's discovered when a tribble freaks out at him. Tribbles don't like Klingons, which leads to another amusingly dark bit when we learn that Scotty's beamed every tribble on the Enterprise over to the Klingon ship's engine room. Ha-ha, all those pets we loved are going to be slaughtered by our enemies! (It's weird that it's that easy to beam stuff into the Klingons' engine room. Does that mean the Klingons could return the favor? Is anybody checking the pipes?) If "Trouble" works largely because of its easy-going nature, "The Gamesters of Triskelion" serves as a reminder of why that nature was so refreshing. On the plus side, I finally get all those "200 quatloos on the newcomer!" jokes, and the costumes are amusingly ridiculous. Uhura gets to do a little more than usual; between this and "Trouble," it's sort of a banner week for her. I dug Spock's efforts to track down Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov after they disappear, too. Unlike other episodes, the scenes on the Enterprise , while not exactly relevant to the plot, don't come off as wasted time. Also, there are colored throbbing brains under glass, and that counts for a lot. On the minus side, well… Let's get through the story first. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are all about to beam down to do some repair work on a communication station. ("Communiation station, what's your… Haitian.") Things get weird when they step onto the transporter; instead of winding up in the usual grey-sand-and-purple-rocks set, they're snatched mid-beam and set down on the planet Triskelion. Triskelion has its own share of purple rocks, but it also has a fighting arena, "thralls" (aka slaves), a master thrall, and a bunch of disembodied voices that like telling Kirk how spirited he is. Nothing can ever be easy, I guess. Kirk and the rest have been recruited to take part in the Triskelion fighting games; they'll be trained, sold to the highest bidder, and then pitted against other slaves for the disembodied voices' (called "Providers") amusement. Since it's hard for a disembodied voice to train anyone (there's not a lot of local news, so nobody's got a paper to hit Kirk on the nose with when he's been bad), the Providers use other thralls to get the job done. There's Lars, a barbarian type who's a little too into the whole thing; an orange-skinned woman who takes a strong interest in Chekov (we're talking "death by snu-snu" strong); and Shahna, a green-haired hottie in a tinfoil diaper who latches on to Kirk. There's also a caveman, but nobody really talks to him, and in the end he gets a spear in his stomach. All of the thralls, as well as our heroes, have to wear special collars around their neck; the collars show proof of ownership (once a thrall is sold, part of the collar changes color to indicate who that thrall's owner is—fittingly enough, the colors match up with the colors of the brains we see at the end), and they also allow the Providers to deal out punishment as needed. This kind of thing always freaks me out. There's a part in The Great Hunt , the second book of Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series, where a magic user named Egwene gets captured by the Seanchan, a race that hates magic. They stick a collar on her called an a'dam (I had to look up the names on this stuff, but I felt bad that I had to look it up, so I guess I don't lose all my nerd-cred); the a'dam lets them read her mood and make her suffer horribly if she does anything they don't like. I found myself thinking about that collar during "Gamesters." Say what you will about Jordan's writing, but I remember the a'dam stuff being incredibly harsh, a nightmarish portrayal of slavery so complete that it offers no distance between slave and master; Egwene couldn't even hide in her own mind without those fuckers knowing it. "Gamesters" doesn't come close to that kind of ugliness. It's not really the episode's fault that I never felt that concerned for Kirk's well-being. He gets zapped a couple of times—they all do—and Shahna gets it pretty bad when she's caught falling for Kirk's charms, but it was all too damn goofy to really get worked up over. Part of the awfulness of the a'dam is that's controlled by a whole race that thinks they're doing the right thing. Kirk gives the standard Big Speech about how awful slavery is, but we don't see enough of Triskelion civilization to really feel what he's saying; slavery needs a society to uphold it. Without that, it's just an S&M party where everybody forgot the safe word at the same time. "Kirk putting the moves on Shahna" was tedious even without the speechifying. She's instantly smitten with him—sure, she puts up a good front, but she's definitely got that "I am intrigued by you, man-animal, so I'll be all snooty" vibe. Kirk uses her to try and get himself and the others freed, and then he ditches her at the end without so much as a hug. He's managed to free her people, and even got a promise from the Providers that they'll teach the released thralls how to provide for themselves, but when she asks to go along with him on the Enterprise to see the stars, he's all, "Oooo, right, about that—hey, I'll maybe, maybe I'll call you? Like, in a few weeks? I'm moving, and I gotta get settled in first. And there was this thing, with this guy… It's complicated. You're too good for me, really. You're better off with that bald guy in the robe who used to torture you." The whole Triskelion system never really coheres. The brains in charge all evolved beyond the need for bodies (note: evolution does not work that way), and they're bored because being a brain under glass isn't the most exciting thing in the world to be, especially when the cable goes out. So these brains (aka, the Providers) have set up a system where they snatch people from other races and planets and make them fight, and they bet money on the fights to make it exciting. Nothing wrong with that, and I'm as big a fan of talking brains as the next guy, but it's like one of those standard sci-if "outs," isn't it? You've got a weird premise, so it's either EARTH ALL ALONG or some kind of god-like being (let's face it, physical appearance aside, these are your standard god-like beings) is responsible. There's this freaky scene where Lars comes in to Uhura's room and they go off camera and Uhura starts screaming; you think he's trying to rape her, and you're pretty sure nothing happens, but it's an all-too-real moment in an otherwise campy episode. It doesn't help that Chekov's interactions with the orange-skinned woman (too many carrots?) are played entirely for laughs. I'd say "Gamesters" ranks around average, maybe a little below, and how much you enjoy it depends on how much of a kick you get out of the goofy outfits and goofier dialogue. There is a solid three-on-one fight at the climax to save the Enterprise and everyone on it; the rules are unclear, though, because while we're told that Kirk can't step out of the yellow area without losing a weapon, he steps out of it constantly and nothing bad happens. Also, at the he end, he wins by making Shahna surrender, and seeing as how  they were sort of on the same side (even though she was pissed at him), I can't help thinking the brains got shafted. After the fight, the last thing we see is Shahna making a tearful promise about finding a way to go after Kirk, and it's played very serious, as though she'd decided to quit smoking and discover raidum or something. It's enjoyable ridiculous, but not actually good. Grades: "The Trouble With Tribbles": A "The Gamesters Of Triskelion": B- Stray Observations:

• The suggestions about covering Deep Space Nine's excellent "Tribbles" riff, "Trials and Tribble-ations" were solid. I just didn't have a chance to get the DS9 ep before this week, because I am very lazy. I have failed you as a reviewer, and as a human being. Also as a career balloonist, but that's not really relevant here.
• Kirk's best Baris put down: "I think of this project as very important. It's you I take lightly."
• During Kirk's "training," he bitches about having to jog two miles without stopping. Ha! I can jog at least three miles without stopping, and I don't even have a green-haired babe in a shiny brassiere to keep me going.
• Some nice "Amok Time" theme action going on during "Gamesters."

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Recap / Star Trek S2 E16 "The Gamesters of Triskelion"

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Original air date: January 5, 1968

As Kirk, Uhura and Chekov prepare to beam down on a routine mission, they vanish into thin air and Scotty immediately contacts the bridge. "I presume you mean they vanished in a manner not consistent with the usual workings of the transporter," Spock replies. Scotty does - they disappeared with a Stop Trick and the "boing" sound effect that indicates the involvement of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens . Spock, Scotty and McCoy spend the rest of the episode trying to find them in order to add Padding .

Kirk, Uhura and Chekov find themselves on the planet Triskelion, where they encounter kidnapped beings from across the galaxy. A Dracula lookalike named Galt informs them that the Providers have chosen them to become "thralls", which apparently entails being forced to fight one another in BDSM outfits. Kirk, Uhura and Chekov begin their "training" with each assigned a "drill thrall" of the opposite sex. Kirk gets Shahna, a Green-Skinned Space Babe (actually a green- haired space babe) wearing what looks like a very kinky bikini made out of tin foil. Our heroes, of course, refuse to have any part in this and Galt decides to make an example of Kirk by having him whipped. Being Kirk, he manages to turn this into a Fight Scene and subdue his whipper. At this point, the Providers bid on the three newcomers and they become full-fledged thralls. That was quick training. His shirt having been ruined in the whip fight, Kirk goes shirtless for the rest of the episode. Having apparently realized that one Trek cliché has still been left out, Shahnah asks Kirk What Is This Thing You Call "Love"? , prompting the usual speech and demonstration .

By this time, the Enterprise has found Triskelion by following the energy trace left by the Providers' teleporter. As Spock and McCoy prepare to beam down, the Providers seize the ship. Kirk convinces the Providers to show themselves and they turn out to be Brains In A Jar . He bargains for his freedom, agreeing to take part in a three-against-one fight. If Kirk wins, all the thralls go free, but if he loses the entire crew of the Enterprise willingly becomes thralls. Kirk wins, of course, and the Providers honor their agreement. Kirk bids farewell to the now freed Shahna.

The Tropes of Triskelion:

• Abhorrent Admirer : Chekov's drill thrall.
• Anti-Villain : The drill thralls, since they have no more freedom than any other. That said, Shahna is the only one who comes off as truly sympathetic, considering that Galt is a Torture Technician and the other two are attempted rapists.
• On the other hand, the possibility of this happening to Chekov is Played for Laughs .

• Brain in a Jar : The Providers.
• The Charmer : Kirk does a blatantly going through the motions seduction of Shahna.
• Designated Girl Fight : Upon arriving on Triskelion, Kirk, Chekov and Uhura get attacked by four thralls, two males and two females. Kirk and Chekov are fighting one male thrall each, while poor Uhura has to defend herself alone against both females.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : The Providers' actions are such an obvious parallel to the Atlantic slave trade that it would be very surprising if this was not intentional.
• Even Evil Has Standards : The Providers are indisputably evil, being space slave traffickers, but when Kirk wins the final wager, they honor their agreement to let everyone go.
• For the Evulz : The only reason the Providers give for kidnapping people all over the Galaxy, enslaving them, forcing them to fight to the death, and ruthlessly punishing the most minor deviance, is because they were bored .
• Gladiator Games : What the Providers subject their thralls to.

• Perfectly Cromulent Word : The characters keep saying that Triskelion orbits a "trinary" star. The correct word is "ternary".
• Sexophone : Used ironically for the advent of Chekov's Abhorrent Admirer .
• Temporary Substitute : George Takei was busy filming The Green Berets , so Chekov took his place in the script, with a barroom brawling style in the fight scenes taking the place of the martial arts scenes planned for Sulu.
• Two of Your Earth Minutes : The Providers claim to have transported Kirk "one thousand of your meters beneath the surface."
• Walking Shirtless Scene : Roughly half-way through the episode, Kirk's shirt is rendered unwearable after being whipped repeatedly. He spends the rest of the episode shirtless.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"? : Kirk attempts to teach Shahna, with such success that she's heartbroken when he leaves.
• Star Trek S2 E15 "The Trouble with Tribbles"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S2 E17 "A Piece of the Action"

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Star Trek: Season 2, Episode Sixteen “The Gamesters of Triskelion”

Stardate: 3211.7 (2268) original air date: january 5, 1968 writer: margaret armen director: gene nelson.

<<< “The Trouble With Tribbles”

“A Piece of the Action” >>>

“I wager 15 quatloos that he is untrainable…”

The Enterprise is entering standard orbit around Gamma II, an uninhabited planetoid with an automatic communications and astrogation station (what is an astrogation station?) Spock is left in charge of the Enterprise to “mind the store” while Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov beam down for a routine check of Gamma II’s facilities. However, before they can do so, Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov suddenly disappear from the transporter room in what is presumed to be a technical malfunction. The trio spontaneously reappears on a landing pad on a strange planet (Kirk makes note of the trinary suns on this planet). Neither the communicators nor phasers now function properly, and the area is increasingly surrounded by four hostile humanoid races from all across the galaxy who slowly close in on the crewmen.

After some campy hand-to-hand combat, we meet a tall Nosferatu-esque character named Galt (Joseph Ruskin). He announces himself as the Master Thrall of this planet which is known as Triskelion. He moves slowly like a vampire with a booming, echoing voice. The crewmen are then imprisoned in preparation for their training in order to become “Thralls” or slaves who will be forced to fight in a giant combat arena as entertainment for a cohort of “Providers” who gamble on the odds of survival (they use a currency called “quatloos”). In fact, the Providers have deliberately brought Kirk and crew to Triskelion where they will spend their lives in obedience to the Providers’ whims. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov try to escape but they are immediately strangled by newly placed “collars of obedience” which have been strapped around their necks.

Meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise Spock, Scotty, and Bones are befuddled at what might have happened to their crewmen. Scotty and Bones squabble with Spock over how to proceed, and they pursue any leads available. A fluctuating energy reading from a hydrogen cloud comes through a reading as announced Ensign Jana Haines (Victoria George) and the Enterprise heads toward it at Warp Factor 2. The nearest system is M24 Alpha, a trinary system, and so the Enterprise follows the ionization path, which is a focused beam of extremely high intensity light.

Back on Triskelion, each Enterprise crewmen is assigned a “Drill Thrall” to guide them through their daily activities. A large lurch-esque figure named Lars (Steve Sandor) enters Uhura’s jail cell and, as her Drill Thrall, he presumably attempts to rape her offscreen (this is a truly a shocking moment in the episode). Then regular “intervals” are announced for the crew, such as the “Nourishment Interval” (for eating) or the “Exercise Interval” (for training) –Kirk’s Drill Thrall is Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn), naturally she is attractive, scantily clad, and Kirk flirts with her. Lastly, Chekov is partnered with an amusing Drill Thrall named Tamooon (Jane Ross) who was apparently made to look like a man in drag for laughs in the show.

After explaining to Shahna the nature of human love on earth, Kirk surprisingly punches her in the face and steals her key. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov escape their jail cells just as the Enterprise helmed by Spock arrives, but the all-powerful Providers quickly take control of the situation. In response, Kirk calls them cowards and demands that they reveal themselves. Kirk is then beamed 1,000 meters below the planet’s surface to a craggy cave where he finds three colorful pulsating brains behind an impenetrable glass bubble shield. These are the Providers –they once had corporeal bodies but have since evolved over eons to become pure beings of intellect and they believe themselves to be superior to others (in a way, I was reminded of the telepathic mutants at the end of 1970s Beneath the Planet of the Apes ). Kirk plays into the Providers’ desire for gambling by posing a challenge –Kirk will battle three warriors of the Providers’ choosing. It is a tremendously risky gamble, even for Kirk. If he defeats all three, the Enterprise goes free and Triskelion must be ruled more fairly, if loses, however, the entire Enterprise crew will become enslaved Thralls. During the heat of battle in the arena, Kirk easily defeats the first two and battles an Andorian until he is wounded and replaced with Shahna. When Kirk overpowers Shahna with a knife to her throat, she surrenders –Kirk is proven triumphant and the Providers keep their word.

The Enterprise then, curiously, departs from Triskelion without rescuing any of the Thralls, and Kirk leaves behind Shahna even though she wants to board the Enterprise with Kirk. For some reason, Kirk believes the Providers will keep their word and allow the Thralls a modicum of self-governance. While the Enterprise departs for Gamma II, Shahna stares up at the sky and tearfully remarks:

“Goodbye, Jim Kirk. I will learn, and watch the lights in the sky, and remember.”

My Thoughts on “The Gamesters of Triskelion”

An endearing cliché-riddled episode, I actually quite enjoyed “The Gamesters of Triskelion” (though I recognize it often ranks among the lesser episodes of TOS by some fans). I was especially struck by the twist ending in which we meet the three disembodied brains which have been gambling on these cage-match fights. Despite being evolutionarily advanced beings, they are still remarkably savage and brutal.

In reviewing further information about this episode, I stumbled onto the fact that Paul A. Cantor (one of my favorite Shakespeare scholars) wrote about the comparisons between this episode and Hegel’s “End of history.” The Providers represent a futuristic time wherein people prevent boredom by gambling and gaming, rather than conquering and plundering. Sadly, Paul Cantor passed away just recently but I will need to mull over his analysis some more. He also wrote several other pieces about Star Trek which he interpreted as an optimistic metaphor for President Kennedy and the Cold War.

At any rate, once again in this episode we encounter all-powerful god-like beings, and once again we view them with distrust, suspicion, and contempt. Gods in Star Trek are not to be trusted. Their tyrannical power has made them in domineering and decadent, forgetting they are part of a broader galaxy, rather than masters of it. This is best demonstrated in the Providers’ desire for gladiatorial entertainment, valuing little in their fellow creature’s lives, and perhaps most starkly in their allowance for Lars to presumably attempt to rape Uhura. The ending to this episode was also somewhat unsatisfying as the Enterprise essentially abandons the imprisoned Thralls on Triskelion and leaves them in the questionably moral hands of the Providers. Can we trust the Provders to hold up their end of the bargain? Will Starfleet attempt to make contact with Triskelion again in the future? And why did the Providers choose this particular moment to kidnap Kirk? Who’s to say they may not try it again? Is it moral to allow beings with such immense power to continue autocratically governing certain activities in the galaxy?

Writer/Director

This was the only episode of TOS directed by Gene Nelson (1920-1996).

Writer Margaret Armen (1921-2003) was a scriptwriter who was involved in numerous shows throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She wrote for three episodes of TOS –“The Gamesters of Triskelion,” “The Paradise Syndrome,” and “The Cloud Minders” (she wrote the final teleplay). Later, she wrote two episodes of the Animated Series as well as an episode for the cancelled follow-up Star Trek series, Star Trek Phase II . She died of heart failure in 2003.

Star Trek Trivia:

• Margaret Armen’s original script featured a “slithering vine” called a “Delka Vine” which grabs Shahna and tosses her into a pond, leaving Kirk to rescue her. Robert Justman found this idea well beyond the series budget, and the scene was removed.
• The three colorful-brained Providers were played by: Bartell LaRue, a television voice actor who appeared in shows like Mission: Impossible and The Brady Bunch . He also voiced The Guardian in “The City on the Edge of Forever”; Walter Edmiston, a radio and television voice actor; and Robert Johnson who famously voiced the recorded mission briefings on Mission: Impossible . He also voiced various alien creatures on The Outer Limits , as well as in “The Cage” for the voice of Clegg Hoyt’s role as Pitcairn, a transporter chief on the Enterprise. He later voiced a variety of other characters throughout Star Trek .
• Actor Joseph Ruskin who plays Galt in this episode, appeared in a wide array of television shows such as The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Hogan’s Heroes , and he appeared in films like The Magnificent Seven (1960). He later returned to Star Trek appearing three DS9 episodes, episodes of Voyager and Discovery , as well as the TNG film Insurrection .
• Actress Angelique Pettyjohn, who played Shahna in this episode, appeared in a variety of television shows, as well. During the 1970s and 1980s, she became a hardcore adult film actress and a burlesque dancer as well as a Playboy centerfold. As you might imagine, she was a popular figure at Star Trek conventions. Ten years after this episode’s release, she was photographed for a poster both in and outside of her Shahna costume (she sold these nude posters at Trekkie conventions to what we can only imagine was a hoard of adoring fans). She died at the age of 48 due to cervical cancer.
• This episode was produced by John Meredyth Lucas at Gene L. Coon’s request.
• The working title of this episode was “The Gamesters of Pentathlan.”
• The original script called for Sulu, rather than Chekov, to beam down to the planet with Kirk and Uhura. However, at the timeGeorge Takei was away filming The Green Berets and he has since expressed regret at missing this episode.  
• Stuntman Dick Crockett appears as the Andorian in this episode.
• The set from M-113 in “The Man Trap” was reused for portions of this episode.
• The glass bubble encasing the providers was reused from Lazarus’s ship in “The Alternative Factor.”
• The underground dwelling of the Providers was a set reused from Janus VI in “Devil in the Dark.”
• At one point, Chekov calls the Providers “Cossacks” – a pejorative term he previously used against the Klingons in the previous episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.”
• The word “Triskelion” comes from the Greek word meaning “three-legged.” Our modern word refers to a triple spiral design, a version of which can be seen on the landing pad/arena of the planet in this episode.

Click here to return to my survey of the Star Trek series.

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2 thoughts on “ star trek: season 2, episode sixteen “the gamesters of triskelion” ”.

One of the most beautifully memorable closing quotes ever in Star Trek: “Goodbye, Jim Kirk. I will learn. And watch the lights in the sky. And remember.” – Angelique Pettyjohn as Shahna

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I remember Angelique from a Get Smart episode where she played an agent who had to have a man dubbing for the voice. I was a little disappointed by that because she had such a beautiful voice. As a guest actress in Star Trek playing such a humbled female character, and certainly when the loving charms of Captain Kirk came into the mix, Shahna was a favorite Trek memory from my childhood. Angelique’s performance remains one of the most beautiful in the classic Star Trek and a reminder of how important it is to rescue someone as special as Shahna from the slavery of an evil world like Triskelion. R.I.P., Angelique.

Thank you for your review and trivia.

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'Star Trek': 5 of Captain Kirk's most memorable alien loves

James Tiberius Kirk. Captain of the starship USS Enterprise. Courageous explorer of the cosmos. Intergalactic love machine. Throughout William Shatner's three-decade reign as Captain Kirk, one thing is clear: his devilish charm works wonders with the ladies, both human and alien.

JJ Abrams has carried this through in Chris Pine's incarnation of the character, hooking Kirk up with a green-skinned Orion Starfleet officer in 2009's Star Trek and two cat-like aliens in Star Trek Into Darkness .

To mark the return of Kirk to the big screen, Digital Spy takes a look at 5 of the cosmic lothario's most memorable love interests from The Original Series .

Shahna in 'The Gamesters of Triskelion' Angelique Pettyjohn's green-haired drill thrall encountered the Star Trek crew on her homeworld of Triskelion, where she was tasked with training Kirk for gladiatorial battle. Naturally, Shahna was unable to resist the Captain's charm, but at the close of the episode found herself ditched by Kirk when she asks to fly away with him on the Enterprise.

Deela in 'Wink of an Eye' When all the males on the planet Scalos become infertile due to radiation poisoning, their Queen Deela (Kathie Browne) turned to Kirk in a bid to save their race. The Captain found himself pulled into an accelerated timeframe where he became invisible to the Enterprise crew and incurred the wrath of Deela's jealous lover Rael.

Elaan in 'Elaan of Troyius' A royal family member, Elaan (France Nuyen) came into contact with Kirk in 2268 when he took on the role of her etiquette coach to solve a diplomatic crisis. Elaan, spoilt and entitled, refused to get married, prompting Kirk to get tough (at one point threatening to spank her!) as her intergalactic Henry Higgins. Elaan, not accustomed to men standing up to her, eventually fell for Kirk and used her magical Elasian tears to put him under her spell.

Marta in 'Whom Gods Destroy' Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl in the camp '60s TV incarnation of Batman , starred as a mentally unhinged, green-skinned Orion in 1969 episode 'Whom Gods Destroy'. This encounter was in fact a close shave for Kirk, who found himself tied down as Marta tried to seduce him. Her efforts were foiled, however, after she tried to stab JTK and was subdued by Spock with his trusty Vulcan nerve pinch.

Star Trek Into Darkness opens on May 9 in UK cinemas and on May 17 in the US.

Movies Editor 

Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.

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Star Trek – The Gamesters of Triskelion (Review)

The first Star Trek pilot, The Cage , was produced in 1964. To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, this December we are reviewing the second season of the original Star Trek show. You can check out our first season reviews here . Check back daily for the latest review.

The Gamesters of Triskelion is not a great episode of Star Trek . Although filmed after Obsession , even if the production order lists it before that episode, The Gamesters of Triskelion feels like we’re watching producer John Meredyth Lucas finding his feet. It’s an episode that feels light and looks relatively cheap, formed from a collection of clichés that would already be familiar to Star Trek fans or fans of pulp science-fiction.

Perhaps the best thing that can be said about The Gamesters of Triskelion is that it has a decidedly pulpy charm to it. The entire episode looks like it was lifted from the cover to some trashy paperback, and the plot is recycled from stock science-fiction concepts and themes. While this isn’t enough to sustain an entire fifty minutes of television, it does allow the episode to feel a little distinctive and memorable… if not necessarily in a good way.

Shat happens…

It is amazing how much of the franchise’s memorable iconography and imagery comes from weaker episodes of the classic Star Trek . It’s a testament to the show’s production design team, that could always find a way to make  Star Trek look impressive, even on a tight budget and a short schedule. There’s also something enduring about the bizarre images that  Star Trek could throw up on screen, even when the scripts were lacking; from space! Lincoln in The Savage Curtain to half-black/half-white racism in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield .

Of course, there are episodes that are both great and iconic at at the same time, like Mirror, Mirror . Still, rewatching the show, it is hard to believe just how much of the popular perception of Star Trek comes from episodes that are of… questionable quality. After all, The Gamesters of Triskelion seems to have made an impression. It seems to be a go-to reference for Matt Groening’s television shows.

Throwing a bit of stick about…

It was the Star Trek episode that The Simpsons chose to reference in Deep Space Homer , right down to the distinctive set design and a NASA official yelling, “I’ll wager 400 quatloos on the newcomer!” The design of the “brain spawn” on  Futurama seems influenced by the design of the eponymous gamesters here. The Gamesters of Triskelion is really the perfect cocktail of Star Trek clichés and memorable images.

The Gamesters of Triskelion looks like a pulpy piece of science-fiction from the late fifties or early sixties, filled with primary colours and elaborate fight sequences. It is a story about slavery and oppression, in which a handsome Earth man is abducted to another planet so that he may teach a beautiful woman about this thing called love. The beautiful alien has striking green hair and a costume that seems to be made of tinfoil. There are ancient ruins and obvious soundstages. There are creepy overseers and monstrous aliens. The whole thing is overseen by three brains in a jar.

A jarring transition…

The episode seems more preoccupied with the next fight sequence than with logical plot developments. Gerard Fried’s iconic fight music from Amok Time gets yet another go-around, as Kirk and his away team find themselves fighting for their lives against a number of aggressive aliens. Fred Phillips’ Andorian makeup reappears here, but the production design of The Gamesters of Triskelion seems to hark back to classic science-fiction archetypes – the burly giant Kloog, the space-age Roman Lars, the bald cloak-wearing psychic Galt and the green-haired space babe Shahna.

Interestingly, and perhaps tellingly, The Gamesters of Triskelion marks a return to the aesthetics of the first season. The episode presents a planet that is a graveyard, occupied by ruins of an ancient civilisation that collapsed in on itself long before mankind reached the stars. It recalls the eerie sense that space is a graveyard, an element of early stories like The Cage or Charlie X or The Man Trap or What Are Little Girls Made Of? or even The Squire of Gothos .

Galt sees all…

There was a sense in those early episodes that mankind had arrived late to the party, stepping out into a once-vibrant cosmos that was now decaying and collapsing. The gamesters were once a mighty civilisation. Now all that remains are three brains in a jar, gambling on fights to the death. This feels like a rather conscious step backwards for Star Trek , which had spend a significant portion of the late first and early second season suggesting that space was populous and full of activity from powers like the Romulans or the Klingons.

It’s possible that this step backwards is a result of the changes taking place behind the scenes. After all, it was Gene L. Coon who had overseen a lot of the development of the wider Star Trek cosmos. After he left, it did seem like the show slipped backwards a little bit. With its space-age vampire preying on witless Starfleet officers, Obsession seemed to hark back to The Man Trap , the first Star Trek episode to air. By Any Other Name would see the crew revisiting the galactic barrier for the first time since Where No Man Has Gone Before , the first episode produced.

Second star on the left, straight on ’til morning…

There’s a sense that this is Star Trek trying to find its footing again, after all manner of changes behind the scenes. It’s an episode packed with elements that feel familiar, with no real sense that the series is pushing itself. The crew fight to the death! Non-corporeal bored aliens! Kirk seduces a beautiful babe! Freedom is good! Slavery is bad! Action! Dramatic music! A significant section of the episode is given over to time-eating scenes on the bridge of the Enterprise as Spock, McCoy and Scotty argue about what to do. (Answer: try to find the missing crew members .)

The most interesting plot element of The Gamesters of Triskelion is the implied criticism of television and spectacle… and maybe gambling. The gamesters are effectively couch potatoes. “We have found athletic competitions our only challenge,” they tell Kirk, “the only thing which furnishes us with purpose.” Kirk suggests that this is a flaw humanity shares, advising them, “My people pride themselves on being the greatest, most successful gamblers in the universe. We compete for everything. Power, fame, women, everything we desire, and it is our nature to win.”

This is what happens when Shatner tries to eat all the scenery at once…

Much is made of the entertainment of the gamesters, both inside and outside the ring. When Kirk begs for mercy for Shahna, the gamesters spare him – because the drama engaged them. “Captain, you do indeed present many surprises. Because you have amused the Providers, there will be no punishment.” The climax of the episode features the gamesters broadcasting the fight, as if hoping to share their sport with the universe. “Because you wager your skill for all your people, they will be permitted to watch the outcome of the game on the ship’s viewscreen.” 

However, even that was done much better in Bread and Circuses – another episode about how mindless (and cruel) entertainment can be used to hold a society back from reaching its potential. However, while Bread and Circuses made a few sly swipes at NBC, The Gamesters of Triskelion hedges its observations in the most banal and generic manner possible. Of course slavery and fights to the death are bad, but that is all that exists of the gamester culture.

The brains of the operation…

It doesn’t help that the script mangles a lot of these themes. Most obviously, Kirk seems horrified by the idea of enslaving all of these races for the amusement of the gamesters. This makes sense. Slavery is bad, after all. However, he is perfectly happy to murder them as part of his final gambit. Of course, the gamesters force his hand, but the episode is too swept up in the excitement of the brawl to give it any real thought.

“An opponent must be killed to be removed from the game,” the gamesters tell him. “If only wounded, he is replaced by a fresh thrall. Is that clear, Captain?” It seems like Kirk might have tried to haggle this with the gamesters – insisting on a limit to the number of tag-ins or such. Instead, Kirk simply replies, “Yes, that’s clear.” Kirk is pretty bloodthirsty during the fight – he only seems to hesitate when Shahna is used against him.

Crossing sticks…

There’s also a rather uncomfortably imperialist subtext to the episode, arguably one that comes embedded in the pulpy tropes. Stating his terms to the gamesters, Kirk reflects, “You will educate and train them to establish a normal self-governing culture.” While this is understandable, Kirk adds, “We have done the same with cultures throughout the galaxy.” It makes it sound like the mission of the Enterprise is not to seek out new civilisations, but to spread the Federation’s idea civilisation, building societies in their image.

Of course, this comes with the territory. The aesthetics of The Gamesters of Triskelion come right out of a science-fiction b-movie, with Kirk even teaching an alien space babe about love. “What is beautiful?” Shahan actually asks at one point. “What is love?” she asks later on. The Gamesters of Triskelion plays into the same sort of fantasy as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars – the story of a hero abducted to a strange land who takes the opportunity to hook up with an exotic slave girl and to oppose tyranny. ( John Carter of Mars was also fond of exotic gladiatorial combat.)

“Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. No more.”

It feels like The Gamesters of Triskelion embraces the idea of a white man remaking an alien culture is his own image a little too quickly after A Private Little War . Similarly, the episode’s casual sexism feels a little out of place as well. A Private Little War featured a sexual assault and murder towards the end, as a way of punishing a female villain. The Gamesters of Triskelion places an implied attempted rape at an act break, as an incredibly cheap way of drumming up tension.

Uhura is assaulted by Lars in her cell, in a sequence shot in silhouette. “What are you doing?” she protests as he enters her cell. “Get out!” Lars matter-of-factly states, “I have been selected for you.” Despite his choice of euphemism, it is clear what is going on. As Kirk begins to freak out, the tension mounts, the music builds… and the camera cuts to black as we zoom in on William Shatner’s face.

Reach out a touch somebody…

This is a tasteless sequence in a number of ways. For one thing, the scene is constructed more around Kirk’s helplessness than anything concerning Uhura. Kirk is the character who gets the big reaction shots, and it is made perfectly clear that Kirk’s freakout as he tries to protect his officer is as important (if not moreso) than anything that actually happens to Uhura. Once the episode has got an act break out of Lars’ attempted rape, it is never mentioned again.

As much as the episode places Uhura in peril by having her “selected” for Lars, it is telling how The Gamesters of Triskelion treats potential “selection” for the two male members of away team. Chekov’s potential “selection” is treated as a joke, because the threat of sexual assault is apparently a thrill when it happens to a woman, but hilarious when it happens to a man. Shahna’s potential “selection” for Kirk is treated as a love story waiting to happen. “I must say, I’ve never seen a top sergeant who looked like you,” he quips.

That fresh “out of the body” glow…

The episode’s fixation on “selection” is itself quite unsettling. The idea of breeding slaves does underscore the horror the practice – the idea that these people are nothing but livestock to those who own them. However, the fact that The Gamesters of Triskelion features no children (and no pregnant characters) suggests that the episode is more interested in using “selection” to generate some cheap laughs and even cheaper thrills, rather than to communicate the horror of slavery.

There’s also the unavoidable reality that The Gamesters of Triskelion feels rather cheap. There are a number of obvious elements that make it seem like The Gamesters of Triskelion is cutting corners, even beyond the script assembled from recycled parts. Rather than the expensive transporter effect, the gamesters ensure that characters travel via much cheaper jump cut. The backdrop seen during Kirk’s conversation with the gamesters is very clearly the same one used in The Devil in the Dark .

It doesn’t help that Shatner is in full scenery-chewing mode. To be fair, Shatner’s gloriously over-the-top performance is one of the highlights of the episode, but it’s a performance that draws attention to the cheesy artifice of the whole production. This is an episode in which Kirk seduces a green-haired lady in a space bikini before engaging in a battle royale against a whole host of b-movie aliens. Shatner’s performance is a cherry on top, suggesting that the actor isn’t taking the whole thing entirely seriously.

The cast occasionally had to resort to desperate measures to keep Shatner’s ego in check…

It is worth noting that The Gamesters of Triskelion could have been the last episode of Star Trek . The show was in a precarious position at this point in its run. At one point, word even reached the set that Star Trek had been cancelled – that NBC would not be continuing the show. As guest star Angelique Pettyjohn told the fan magazine Enterprise Incidents :

The producer came in during lunch time and made an announcement to the cast and crew that he was sorry to say that the network had cancelled the series, and then everyone was very depressed. And so the last two days of shooting everyone was king of down around the set because of that and because they all loved working together so much. On my last day of shooting I had a particular speech where I said, ‘Goodbye Jim Kirk, I will watch the lights in the sky and remember;, and I had several tears in my eyes and those tears were real at the time because I was thinking, as my motivation as an actress that seriously it was goodbye Star Trek. I will watch the film and the lights in the sky and I will remember this experience with all of you, and it meant a great deal to me and I cried at that and that’s how I meant it because I knew that the series wasn’t going to be shooting any more.

It does lend Shahna’s tearful goodbye a bit more resonance, but it is also a terrifying thought. Even without the difficulty of syndicating a thirty-six episode show, which would likely have killed any chance of the repeats that helped Star Trek secure its audience into the seventies and beyond, it’s depressing to imagine the production shutting down on The Gamesters of Triskelion .

Triumvirate 2.0…

Of course, the show did close on The Turnabout Intruder at the end of the third season, which can hardly claim to be a much better episode. However, that episode came at the end of a long and painful season where the series stumbled and faltered under a variety of factors. In contrast, the second season of Star Trek had been been bold and creative and ambitious, and it would be again. Closing out on a piece of dull pulp like The Gamesters of Triskelion seems like the worst place to cut the second season. Well, except for after The Omega Glory and Assignment: Earth .

The Gamesters of Triskelion is memorable. It is very pulpy science-fiction, harking back to fifties and sixties space operas and planetary romances. While none of the elements coalesce into a good or interesting story, the visuals do linger. Which is something.

You might be interested in our other reviews from the second season of the classic Star Trek :

• Supplemental: (Gold Key) #1 – The Planet of No Return!
• Supplemental: (Marvel Comics, 1980) #4-5 – The Haunting of Thallus!/The Haunting of the Enterprise!
• Metamorphosis
• Friday’s Child
• Who Mourns for Adonais?
• Supplemental: Spock’s World by Diane Duane
• Supplemental: New Visions #3 – Cry Vengeance
• Wolf in the Fold
• The Changeling
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1984) #43-45 – The Return of the Serpent!
• Supplemental: (IDW, 2009) #13 – The Red Shirt’s Tale
• Supplemental: Deep Space Nine – Crossover
• Supplemental: New Visions #1 – The Mirror, Cracked
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1984) #9-16 – New Frontiers (The Mirror Universe Saga)
• Supplemental: Mirror Images
• Supplemental: Mirror Universe – The Sorrows of Empire by David Mack
• Supplemental: (IDW, 2009) #15-16 – Mirrored
• The Deadly Years
• Supplemental: (Gold Key) #61 – Operation Con Game
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1984) #39-40 – The Return of Mudd
• Supplemental: The Galactic Whirlpool by David Gerrold
• Supplemental: Alien Spotlight – Tribbles
• Bread and Circuses
• Journey to Babel
• A Private Little War
• The Gamesters of Triskelion
• The Immunity Syndrome
• A Piece of the Action
• By Any Other Name
• Return to Tomorrow
• Patterns of Force
• The Ultimate Computer
• The Omega Glory
• Supplemental: Assignment: Eternity by Greg Cox
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #49-50 – The Peacekeepers
• Supplemental: (IDW, 2008) Assignment: Earth

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: cancellation , Gambling , gamesters , gamesters of triskelion , gene roddenberry , john meredyth lucas , margaret armen , pulp , sci-fi , science fiction , shanha , Shatner , star trek , Television , to the death , tos , what is love? |

2 Responses

A few months ago I had an opportunity to re-watch “The Gamesters of Triskelion” for the first time in many, many years. And I think that from now on, going forward, I am inevitably going to think of this episode as “the one where Captain Kirk gets it one with Lady Gaga” 🙂

The Gamesters of Triskelion is really the perfect cocktail of Star Trek clichés and memorable images.

LOL! You are NOT kidding! Seriously, even before reading your review, I thought of this episode as the quintessential example of by-the-numbers Star Trek: The Original Series…

1) The crew of the Enterprise become the pawns of incredibly ancient alien beings with seemingly god-like powers 2) Kirk meets a sexy, half-naked alien woman who he seduces in order to gain information and foment rebellion 3) The entire crisis is resolved in a huge, dramatic fight scene between Kirk and a group of alien gladiators 4) Having overthrown a corrupt and totalitarian regime, Kirk promptly skedaddles away on the Enterprise, leaving behind the denizens of the planet to have to pick of the pieces & rebuild civilization all on their own, in the process also abandoning the woman whose heart he broke

I guess you could offer up the excuse you’ve cited before, that “The Gamesters of Triskalon” was just one more episode in a TV show that the creators figured would get viewed once or twice and then forgotten about by the general public, as opposed to becoming an entry in an iconic series that is endlessly re-watched by avid fans half a century later.

“The Gamesters of Triskelion” is very much a product of its time, when TV was both plot-driven and extremely episodic. In a way, it is sort of unfair to judge it by today’s standards, when so much of television is character focused and driven by a larger arc. If an episode like this aired in 2014, I expect many viewers would be wondering if any of these events would be followed up a season or so from now, if we’d be re-visiting Triskelion to see the consequences of Kirks actions. Did the Providers really try to organize the former Thralls into a new civilization, and if so were they able to make it functional? Has Shahna moved on with her life, or is she still pining for Kirk?

I guess this just goes to show how much audience expectations have changed since the late 1960s. Back then, most viewers probably said “Oh, that was cool. I wonder where the Enterprise is going to end up next week?” Nowadays, the audience is more likely to be left asking “Wait, that’s it? That’s the end? But what happens next?”

It’s certainly interesting that this episode reveals just how much of a product of its era the original Star Trek was, and enables us to see how much the medium of television has transformed in the intervening decades.

My apologies for the looooong reply. And I hope that you do not mind all of my recent comments. Your blog is really thought-provoking.

Of course I don’t mind your comments! Glad to have them! Apologies that it takes me so long to reply. As you may have gathered, I tend to schedule posts in advance so I’m away from the actual site for extended periods.

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The Star Trek Universe's Next Major Crossover Event To Begin in Landmark 500th Issue Special

Data's lost chapter begins, as star trek's android quits starfleet to kill a god, wednesday season 2 has a huge choice to make with its new addams family member after 60 years of confusion.

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2. Famously, Star Trek 's Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) never married, but he had no shortage of love interests in both his personal and professional lives. Many of Kirk's most important relationships were from before he assumed command of the USS Enterprise, but two particular ex-girlfriends would return to play a big part in his later life. During his five-year mission on the Enterprise, Kirk had no time for serious romantic relationships, with one or two notable exceptions. However, he certainly gained a reputation as a ladies' man during Star Trek: The Original Series .

That reputation also defined Chris Pine's interpretation of Kirk in the J.J. Abrams movies. One of the earliest scenes in Star Trek (2009) saw Kirk attempt to hide from Cadet Nyoyta Uhura (Zoe Saldana) after a one-night stand with her Orion roommate. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) doesn't appear to be the same lothario, although viewers have only been introduced to two alternate reality versions of Captain Kirk thus far. One of these Kirks has left a lasting impression on Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), but on the basis of the Enterprise Captain's extensive romantic history, a romance between La'an and the Prime Universe Kirk may already be doomed before it starts.

RELATED: Star Trek’s TOS Planet Teaches La’an How To Deal With Kirk’s Strange New Worlds Death

13 Ruth (Star Trek: TOS, "Shore Leave")

In the Star Trek: TOS episode "Shore Leave", Kirk and the crew took some much-needed rest on a planet in the Omicron Delta region. Typically, for Star Trek , the planet where everyone's dreams became a reality was too good to be true. When Kirk beamed down to the planet, he was greeted by Ruth, a lost lover from his days at Starfleet Academy. This was a robot duplicate of Kirk's former partner, but the original script revealed that Kirk and Ruth separated at some point during his first " star cruise ". This choice between Kirk's love life and his life among the stars would become a recurring pattern.

12 Dr. Janice Lester (Star Trek: TOS, "Turnabout Intruder")

Sandra Smith is the only actress who played Captain Kirk when her character Dr. Janice Lester swapped bodies with the Enterprise Captain. Prior to Janice's elaborate power grab, she was in a year-long relationship with Kirk while they both studied at Starfleet Academy. Janice was unable to progress within Starfleet and felt that this was because of sexism. Kirk's own progression led to her resentment toward him, resulting in the relationship breaking down. Years later, she lured Kirk into an elaborate trap to steal his body and finally become Captain of the Starfleet flagship.

11 Dr. Carol Marcus (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Prior to assuming command of the USS Enterprise, the young James T. Kirk was in a relationship with Doctor Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch). It's been teased that Kirk and Carol will be together during Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, providing a chance to learn more about the young couple and their eventual breakup. Kirk and Carol's careers were incompatible with a lasting and committed relationship because he was a Starfleet officer, and she was a dedicated scientist.

It's possible that Marcus is the " blonde lab technician " introduced to Kirk by his old friend Gary Mitchell as it was revealed that Kirk almost married this technician. Kirk and Carol were similarly serious, as they had a child together - David Marcus (Merritt Butrick). Kirk agreed not to be part of David's life, something he would later regret when he was reunited with Carol in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Tragically, David was killed on the Genesis planet, and the grief of that loss was seemingly too great to ever reunite Kirk and Carol romantically.

10 Doctor Janet Wallace (Star Trek: TOS, The Deadly Years)

In "The Deadly Years", Kirk was reunited with another female scientist with whom he'd had a short-lived romantic relationship. Again, differences related to their careers drove a wedge between Kirk and Janet, leading to their breakup. Now a married woman living on Aldebaran III, Dr. Janet Wallace (Sarah Marshall) was instrumental in curing Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise of a deadly virus that caused rapid aging. To make matters worse, the Enterprise was also attempting to outrun the Romulans when the crew was stricken by the sickness, so it was thanks to Janet that the Enterprise survived the encounter.

9 Lt. Areel Shaw (Star Trek: TOS, "Court Martial")

During Kirk's Star Trek: TOS court-martial , the prosecuting attorney was Lieutenant Areel Shaw (Joan Marshall), who was another ex-lover of the Enterprise Captain. Thankfully for Kirk, Areel was never less than professional during his trial. The fact that Kirk and Shaw parted their relationship as friends was presumably a contributing factor to her impartiality during the trial. Kirk had committed no offense and was being framed by a former friend Lt. Benjamin Finney (Richard Webb). Realizing this Areel accepted that the charges should therefore be dropped, and she left the Enterprise, kissing Kirk goodbye.

8 Lenore Karidian (Star Trek: TOS, "The Conscience Of The King")

Kirk fell in love with Lenore Karidian (Barbara Anderson) the troubled daughter of Shakespearean actor Anton Karidian, alias of the brutal executioner Kodos (Arnold Moss). Refusing to believe that her father could be such a monster, Lenore murdered those who could connect Anton to his brutal past. Kirk's relationship with a serial killing actress could not last, and he had the young woman institutionalized for her crimes. However, his refusal to admit his feelings for Lenore to Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) suggests that Kirk had formed a deeper bond with the actress than it first appeared.

7 Edith Keeler (Star Trek: TOS, "City On The Edge Of Forever")

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds recently remade one of the greatest Star Trek: TOS episodes , "City on the Edge of Forever", by having La'an fall in love with a man who had to die to save the future. Interestingly, that man was an alternate reality version of the Captain James T. Kirk who would have to make a similar decision many years later. In "City on the Edge of Forever", Kirk fell for the progressive Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), who in many ways embodied the very ideals that built the United Federation of Planets. Sadly, Edith was ahead of her time, and her teachings about peace, love, and understanding would have inadvertently allowed the Nazis to win World War 2. Aside from Carol Marcus, Edith Keeler is the most impactful Kirk relationship in the whole of TOS , because of the tragic decision he was forced to make.

6 Miramanmee (Star Trek: TOS, "The Paradise Syndrome")

As Kirk was suffering the effects of amnesia when he entered into a relationship with Miramanmee (Sabrina Schariff), it's arguable that she doesn't count on the list of his love interests. However, the relationship between "Kirok" and Miramanmee was another huge tragedy for the Enterprise Captain. An amnesiac Kirk was believed to be a god by a pre-warp society and fell in love and married MIramanmee, who became pregnant with his child. Horrifically, mother and child were killed by a primitive and brutal stoning when Kirk's godlike powers failed to prevent an asteroid from hitting the planet. The grieving Kirk stayed with his wife as she lost her fight for life.

5 Shahna (Star Trek: TOS, "The Gamesters Of Triskellion")

Kirk's relationship with Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn) in "The Gamesters of Triskellion" is where the much-parodied " human thing we call...love " scene comes from. In the episode, the Providers pit humanoid species against each other in combat, kidnapping Kirk to participate in their games. Kirk is trained by Shahna, whose eyes he opens to the wider universe and the human concept of love and romance. When Kirk and his fellow crew are rescued by the Enterprise, Shahna asks to go with them. However, Kirk decides that she'd be better off learning a new way of life on Triskellion, instead. It's likely that Kirk never really loved Shahna and instead saw her as a means to escape the planet with his life.

4 Antonia (Star Trek Generations)

When Kirk and Picard met inside the Nexus in Star Trek Generations , Kirk had, technically, been in a 75-year-long relationship with the unseen Antonia. In his Nexus fantasy, Kirk and Antonia lived on the Idaho farm of Kirk's Uncle, with a dog and several horses. It was the idyllic retirement that Kirk couldn't allow himself when he met the real Antonia after he first left Starfleet in 2281. Kirk revealed to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) that he regretted never having proposed to Antonia, but now the Nexus allowed him to live out that fantasy.

3 Kirk's Kelvin Timeline Love Interests

Kirk's main love interest in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek films was the Kelvin Timeline version of Carol Marcus (Alice Eve), as they clearly shared an attraction to each other. However, the relationship didn't take off on account of Kirk's death in Star Trek Into Darkness and the criminality and brutal death of her father Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller). Prior to Carol, Kirk had apparently had a romantic relationship with Nurse Christine Chapel, who was so affected by the breakup that she went to practice medicine in the furthest frontiers. Kirk also had casual sexual relationships with the Orion Cadet Gaila and the Caitian twins.

2 Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh was partnered with a Kirk from an alternate universe. Traveling back in time to stop a devastating change to the timeline, Kirk and La'an formed a mutual attraction. This version of Kirk's lack of knowledge about her ancestors allowed La'an to truly be herself around him. Sadly Kirk was killed by the Romulan time agent Sera, meaning they would never discover if La'an could have brought "her" Kirk back to the Prime Universe.

On returning to the Enterprise, La'an sought out Kirk, but was unable to reveal anything about her mission with his alternate reality counterpart. As Kirk will come into the orbit of the USS Enterprise later in Strange New Worlds season 2, it will be interesting to see if La'an pursues a relationship with the Prime Universe Kirk. The season 2 trailer has already teased Number One (Rebecca Romijn) picking up on " an energy " between the two, setting up a potential new Star Trek love interest for James T. Kirk.

1 Why Kirk Never Married In Star Trek

Aside from the amnesiac Kirok's marriage to Miramanmee in Star Trek: The Original Series , Captain Kirk never married or settled down. An answer to why he never married is provided in Star Trek Generations . When he arrived aboard the USS Enterprise-B as an invited guest, Kirk was surprised to meet Ensign Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim) and pondered how his former helmsman had the time to start a family. Captain Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) wryly observed that " if something's important, you make the time ."

The suggestion that Kirk was always too busy to settle down and start a family is made more explicit when he later met Jean-Luc Picard in the Nexus. Both legendary Star Trek captains reflected on how they have only been able to have families in the fantasy world of the Nexus. Kirk stated his belief that, while that's all well and good, he only ever felt that he could make a difference in Starfleet. In essence, Kirk never married, because he was married to the USS Enterprise. With that realization, Kirk left his fantasy marriage behind to save the galaxy one last time.

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

Everything We Know About Michelle Yeoh's Upcoming Star Trek Movie

Star Trek: Section 31 is the next film in the Star Trek franchise, though information is scarce. Here's what's known about Michelle Yeoh's new movie.

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Before star trek: section 31 was a movie, it was a tv series, when will star trek: section 31 begin filming, and who is in the cast, what can fans expect for section 31's story and when it's set, where and when can fans watch star trek: section 31.

When Michelle Yeoh appeared as Captain Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Discovery , rumblings about a solo project for her immediately followed. After the legendary actor was finally given awards recognition for Everything, Everywhere All At Once , Paramount's desire for her to headline a Star Trek movie only increased. After being stuck in development for years, Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek movie -- believed to be titled, Section 31 -- is moving ever-closer to release. What follows is all the confirmed information about the first feature film in this universe since 2016's Star Trek Beyond .

The Prime Universe iteration of Yeoh's character, Captain Georgiou, died in the second episode of Discovery Season 1, after her first officer, Michael Burnham, mutinied. Yet, the actor returned to the role via her Mirror Universe counterpart, where Philippa Georgiou was the Emperor of the Terran Empire. Over the next three seasons, she was a crucial member of the series, working as part of the morally gray Starfleet intelligence unit Section 31. She left the series in Season 3, sent back to the origin of the Mirror Universe by the Guardian of Forever, a "character" from Star Trek: The Original Series . While some fans assumed a solo adventure set in Star Trek 's distant past, newly released details and filming reports don't rule out a prequel story set between Discovery seasons.

Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 Movie Begins Phase 2 of Star Trek on Paramount+

Star Trek: Discovery was greenlit for a second season before the first even aired, echoing the previous return of Gene Roddenberry's universe with Star Trek: TNG . In 2018, along with returning to that series, Yeoh and Paramount began talks to create a spinoff series around the Philippa Georgiou character, first reported by Deadline . Yet, confusion around the project began at that same time. Discovery Season 2 revealed that Georgiou served Section 31, but she was with the crew who traveled 1000 years into the future at the end of that season.

Georgiou was also a principal character in the series' third season, set in the 32nd Century. She made her exit midway through, disappearing into Star Trek 's distant past. How she left seemingly set up the story her spinoff series was going to tell, though Section 31 could be a prequel. During her final Discovery press tour, Yeoh deflected questions about the spinoff, not yet officially announced . "I have great hope that this is not the last you'll see of Philippa Georgiou," she said in and interview , adding, "my team, my executive producers, my writers have been so amazing. I think we got into a stage where we loved this character so much, and there's so much potential in stories and adventures that she can have."

It wasn't until three years later that Paramount officially confirmed the spinoff , but it was no longer a series. " All the way back in 2017, before the first season…even aired, Michelle had the idea to do a spin-off for her character, " Alex Kurtzman told Variety . However, with the then-recent Oscar winner's schedule and Paramount's own business troubles, the series was trimmed to a feature film. The press release suggested production would begin in late 2023, but the historic writers' and actors' strikes caused by the studios delayed it into the next year.

Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 Is a Chance To Save Star Trek Movies

After many years of development, filming got underway for Star Trek: Section 31 on January 30 , 2024, in Toronto where most of the new series are filmed. The film is being executive produced by Alex Kurtzman, who is the chief producer on all new Star Trek projects. Longtime Discovery producer and director Olatunde Osunsanmi took on directing duties for the movie from a script written by Craig Sweeny . These three are executive producers on the film, along with Aaron Baiers, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth and Michelle Yeoh. Section 31 is a joint project from CBS Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.

A number of cast members were announced when filming began, though their roles remain something of a mystery. Along with Yeoh, the cast includes:

• Omari Hardwick
• Sam Richardson
• Sven Ruygrok
• Robert Kazinsky
• Humberly Gonzalez
• Agusto Bitter
• James Hiroyuki Liao

Kacey Rohl also appears in the film, revealed to be playing future captain of the USS Enterprise-C Rachel Garrett . This puts the setting of the adventure into question, since Rachel Garrett assumed command of the ship in 2344 or some 80 years after the events of Discovery . According to cast members' social media posts, filming for Section 31 wrapped in early March 2024. Notably absent from the cast is Shazad Latif who played Ash Tyler in Discovery Seasons 1 and 2, becoming a leader in Section 31 at the end of that second season. Similarly, Alan van Sprang isn't in the cast, who played Leland, the operative who recruited Georgiou in the deleted scene from Discovery Season 1. While these absences may mean nothing for the story in Section 31 , it could also be a big clue.

The official film synopsis reads:

Returning to the role of Emperor Philippa Georgiou from "Star Trek: Discovery," Yeoh will lead a narrative where her character is enlisted into a covert division of Starfleet. As the press release details, Georgiou will strive to safeguard the United Federation of Planets, but she’ll be equally challenged to confront her own dark history.

Star Trek: Section 31 Director Praises Michelle Yeoh's 'Incredible' Performance

To understand what Star Trek: Section 31 might be, fans first must understand Phillippa Georgiou's journey so far. The Emperor of the Terran Empire was saved by Michael Burnham in Discovery Season 1 and brought to the Prime Universe. There, she was given her counterpart's rank and tasked with deploying a hydrobomb on the Klingon homeworld that would've destroyed it. When Burnham found a different solution, a deleted scene suggested she was recruited by Section 31 after "retiring" from Starfleet to open a bar. During Season 2, she worked with Section 31 and, once Leland was taken over by the evil AI Control , fought and killed him.

In the 32nd Century, she suffered an affliction because she wasn't where she was supposed to be. To solve this, Burnham and Georgiou went to a mysterious planet where the Guardian of Forever from Star Trek: The Original Series hid out during the Temporal Wars. After sending her back to the Terran Empire to prove she'd truly changed, he sent her to a time "when the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe were still aligned ." Based on Star Trek canon, specifically Star Trek: Enterprise , this was before the past events of Star Trek: First Contact .

It's possible the events of Section 31 take place in 2257, before the events of Discovery Season 2, though this makes the presence of Rachel Garrett anomalous. She was in her mid-40s in 2344, after all. However, the Guardian of Forever is an almost all-powerful being and could send her to multiple places in time and space. Unless there is time travel in Georgiou's past fans don't already know about, it's likely her adventure will be a temporal one . Michelle Yeoh has likened this film to Paramount's other 60-year-old franchise, Mission: Impossible as well, suggesting subterfuge, spying and action.

Michelle Yeoh to Star in Blade Runner 2099

Unless Paramount executives change their mind and give the film a limited theatrical release, Star Trek: Section 31 will only be available on the Paramount+ streaming service . The movie was planned for a 2024 release, but this was before the studio delayed production by forcing writers and actors to strike. Still, if principal photography finished in early March 2024, it's still possible Section 31 could be released in late fall, possibly around the end of the year. Typically, for series like Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , post-production takes many months. They usually debut nearly a year after filming. However, Section 31 could release sooner.

The series has ten or more episodes to edit, score and enhance with visual effects. Section 31 is likely only two or two-and-half hours of story, meaning post-production could be completed more quickly. Similarly, if the film was close to filming before the strikes, visual effects artists could have gotten a head start on some of those sequences. With Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds not even finished filming yet, Section 31 will be the only new live-action Star Trek in the pipeline once Discovery 's final season ends.

Star Trek: Section 31 is currently in post-production, while Star Trek: Discovery's final season streams on Paramount+ .

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

The Real-Life Legal Issues Of Star Trek's Brian Bonsall, Explained

The multi-species son of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" warrior Worf, Alexander Rozhenko was the adorable Klingon boy with just enough squishy human genes to keep his dad constantly on his toes. A typical gifted kid, young Alexander was sharp as a bat'leth with a troublesome side, at various points landing himself in hot water by lying, stealing, and generally being a pain in the ridges. Throughout "The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," Alexander would be played by four actors. But it seems that one in particular, former child actor Brian Bonsall, shares Alexander's propensity for landing in trouble. But unlike the Klingon child he played, Bonsall's unruly streak veers into dangerous territory that led to multiple legal troubles between 2007 and 2010.

Cast as the cherub-cheeked, precocious Andy Keaton in "Family Ties" at only five years old, Bonsall would put in countless work hours by middle school. By the time he was cast in "Star Trek" a few years later, the boy actor had racked up credits in several TV movies and shows, earning three Young Artist Awards for his performance on "Family Ties."

But like many young actors, Bonsall struggled through the transition into adulthood. After deciding to focus on music, the former child actor began working in construction to support his musical career while living in Boulder, Colorado, when he was arrested for third-degree assault against his girlfriend in 2007. In 2009, after a year spent evading authorities following a missed court date, Bonsall was arrested again for assaulting a friend. The following year, Bonsall was sentenced to probation after popping hot for cannabis on a court-ordered UA before finally getting his life on track in the ensuing years.

Brian Bonsall got his life back on track

Despite his earlier legal troubles, Brian Bonsall seems to be doing pretty well these days. After admitting his struggles with substance addiction in 2010, Bonsall has continued to pursue a music career, even touring with punk band the Ataris in 2016. In a StarTrek.com profile published around the same time and later reprinted in BestLife , Bonsall shared, "My drunken run-ins with the law are about 10 years behind me, so I'm pretty happy about that. I'm not proud of my past mistakes but you live and you learn, I guess ... hopefully."

Like many former Trek actors, Bonsall revealed his appreciation for fans at conventions, telling StarTrek.com, "It was definitely super-neat to sign so much Star Trek memorabilia and to see the positive response from the fans." After years spent away from the camera, Bonsall popped up in the comedy horror short "Slaughsages" in 2019 and made a cameo appearance in the 2022 indie horror film "You're Melting." 

Despite Bonsall finally ending up on the right side of the law,  his name would be associated with legal trouble once more in 2017 due to no fault of the actor's own when a serial rapist began impersonating him right down to the tattoos. Bonsall, who had been touring at the time and was nowhere near the perpetrator's path, took to social media to warn his fans about the impostor, who was eventually arrested outside of Louisville, Kentucky.

'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 8 'Labyrinths' is a fun, format-following installment

With just two more episodes to go, it seems like "Discovery" is going through a last minute peak. That said, it still has to stick the landing two weeks from now.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5, episode 8

After the apparent "death" of L'ak (Elias Toufexis) last week, the sense of urgency of this fifth and final season of " Star Trek: Discovery " has certainly been ramped up, but we're still willing to wager that his resurrection via Progenitor tech will be the example to prove how important that MacGuffin actually is. 

And while the last couple of episodes have been pretty good , the season is still following the same cookie-cutter template that the past few seasons have — we're at the stage where an ion storm, giant nebula or even the Galactic Boundary plays havoc with Discovery's mission — this time around is actually a marked improvement on the previous two seasons, for a number of reasons. Sadly, though, because of the past two seasons, the full effect of Third Time Lucky is somewhat watered down, because we've seen it, or at the very least, something very similar before. This time, however, it's better. 

Without a doubt, among the many things that make this episode interesting is the location in which most the action unfolds, a giant, secretly-located repository of all knowledge in the galaxy. And the artificial reality video wall that was pioneered for the production of " The Mandalorian " by several VFX companies, including ILM and Pixomondo, which is sometimes called the "Volume," has to been put to fantastic effect. 

Related:    Watch the bittersweet trailer for 'Star Trek: Discovery's final season (video)

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Moreover, the writers and director — in this case, Lauren Wilkinson, Eric J. Robbins and Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour — have finally demonstrated that they are aware of the difference between homage and just plain pilfering. Paying homage or simply tipping one's hat to another great movie or scene is perfectly acceptable, and it can be from the same genre or something completely different. It happens all the time and is almost always clever, subtle, respectful and fun to see. 

For instance, in "The Mandalorian" episode " Chapter 11: The Heiress ," director Bryce Dallas Howard — daughter of Oscar-winning director Ron Howard — included a nod to her father's movie " Apollo 13 ," and even "Toy Story 2" features a brilliant homage to "Jurassic Park," but these add something of value, either a new perspective or an alternative development. The third season of "Star Trek: Discovery" saw an unprecedented number of homages, some subtle and others not so much. But then in " Scavengers " (S03, E06), the writers went way beyond homage and practically lifted a scene directly from the 1987 movie "The Running Man."

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And the nod in this week's episode is to " The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy " and Slartibartfast's answerphone-style welcoming message when Ford, Arthur, Zaphod, Marvin and Trillion, onboard the stolen improbability drive prototype starship Heart of Gold, discover the ancient planet of Magrathea. It's there, it's subtle...and as such, it's brilliant. Bravo . 

This whole season-long plot thread of the breadcrumb chase is hardly new, but interesting, the writers have chosen to make the secondary plots significantly smaller and instead maintain the focus on the main story — and the show benefits from that. This time around. Clearly, actor Doug Jones had other commitments, as quite what's happening between Saru and President T'Rina (Tara Rosling) is anyone's guess. Maybe there will be a nice Starfleet wedding in the finale. Ugh.

The USS Discovery also benefits from having an extremely capable third in command, Lt. Cmdr. Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon), so there's that. You can also very easily tell that different writers wrote this week's installment compared to last week's, because there's inconsistent profanity. However, if that inconsistency is a constant, so is the acting ability of Sonequa Martin-Green (Capt. Michael Burnham). Green is incredible, there's no questioning that. It's not her fault that the writers, directors, executive producers and showrunners keep giving her lame stories to hack her way through. 

Wouldn't it be great to get a story where Burnham is captured and properly tortured? That might sound somewhat sick and twisted, but severe endurance episodes are often the most simple and also the most effective. "There are four lights!" for example, in the TNG episode "Chain of Command" (S06, E10 & 11) or in the "Stargate SG1" episode "Abyss" (S06, E06), where O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) is captured and tortured by the Goa'uld System Lord Ba'al (Cliff Simon). Or in the " Babylon 5 " episode "Intersections in Real Time" (S04, E18) where Capt. John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) is captured and tortured. All these episodes tested the actors involved and the results were some of the best episodes in each respective franchise. The point is, Green could do even more if given better material. 

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Finally, a source has told Space.com that the Starfleet Academy series is still moving forward at Paramount and that it's going to be set in the 32nd century because Mary Wiseman (Lt. Silvia Tilly) is involved, which actually makes a lot of sense, given the throwaway references earlier in this season. But to be perfectly honest, keeping Trek this far forward in the future is a mistake — there's greater need to use technobabble, and the story becomes less and less believable, or relatable.  So, we're really hoping this turns out to be incorrect. 

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" and every other episode of every " Star Trek " show — with the exception of "Star Trek: Prodigy" — currently streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the US, while "Prodigy" has found a new home  on Netflix.  

Internationally, the shows are available on  Paramount Plus  in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream on  Paramount Plus  in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Deadline reports Amazon has acquired The Robots Go Crazy , a pitch package for a sci-fi/comedy starring Andy Samberg from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Beyond the title, details on the plot are currently under wraps.

Rue Morgue (via Bloody-Disgusting ) additionally reports Shudder has acquired the rights to Hell Hole , a new sci-fi horror film from the Adams Family said to “subvert the genre with textures of biological and environmental horror in tandem with questions of gender and bodily autonomy.” Toby Poser, John Adams, Max Portman, Anders Hove, Olivera Perunicic, Aleksandar Trmcic, Petar Arsic and Bruno Veljanovski star.

Bloody-Disgusting reports Companion , the mysterious sci-fi/horror film starring Sophie Thatcher, Rupert Friend , Harvey Guillén, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri and Jack Quaid has been rated “R” for “strong violence, sexual content, and language throughout.”

Zach Cregger’s equally mysterious Weapons starring Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Josh Brolin, Julia Garner and Alden Ehrenreich is now scheduled for a January 16, 2026 theatrical release date. [ World of Reel ]

Mortal Kombat 2

Variety also reports Mortal Kombat 2 is currently scheduled for an October 24, 2025 theatrical release date.

Cybernetically-enhanced athletes dominate sports in the trailer for Bionic , coming to Netflix this May 29.

Elsewhere, a trailer park is populated by a community of vampires in the trailer for Bogieville .

The Last of Us

Bloody-Disgusting has our first looks at Ellie and Joel in the second season of The Last of Us.

Star Trek: Discovery

Spoiler TV also has photos from “Labyrinths,” this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery.

Smiling Friends

Finally, Adult Swim has released a three-minute clip from this Sunday’s episode of Smiling Friends.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

Star Trek (TV Series)

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Russell T. Davies Wishes Star Trek And Doctor Who Could Crossover, And Confirmed The Steps He's Taken Steps To Make It Easier

T he first two episodes of Doctor Who Season 14 are currently available for Disney+ subscribers and, if you're a Star Trek fan, they're worth a watch. The Season 14 cast has already been a blast to watch, with new star Ncuti Gatwa leading the way. But, on top of that, the British sci-fi series made a deliberate nod to the Trek franchise that has some excited about a potential crossover. Amidst the buzz, Who showrunner Russell T. Davies talked about his steps to make the crossover easier. 

A little over a year after Russell T. Davies praised Star Trek: Picard , The Doctor implied that he and Ruby Sunday could visit the Enterprise . During a recent interview, Davies added that he'd be up for a mash-up in a recent interview. And it's a detail that confirms why I was so right to be excited for his DW return in the first place. 

Russell T. Davies Changed The Way The Doctor Referred To Star Trek 

In "Space Babies," Ruby is astonished at how the TARDIS is able to phase into a ship after traveling through space and then asked if it worked like a "matter transporter on Star Trek ." The Doctor laughed at the question and replied, "We gotta visit them one day." It was a quick moment but, for those eagerly awaiting upcoming Trek shows , I'm sure it sent minds racing as to what could be in the works. 

As Russell T. Davies noted to Inverse , the moment is more significant than some may realize. While Ruby Sunday's comment would imply that the series exists as a fictional television show in her modern day, The Doctor implies Starfleet and The Federation are real: 

The Doctor actually now talks about Star Trek as real. Maybe when the Fourteenth Doctor cast that salt at the edge of the universe, maybe some things became real that were never real before.

Just when it seemed like Doctor Who was destined to crossover with Bluey , Russell T. Davies threw me for a loop with this line. Could a crossover between these shows actually happen? If so, I have my comm badge and Sonic Screwdriver both waiting beside me for the moment it's announced. 

Doctor Who And Star Trek Have Crossed Paths Before

Longtime viewers have seen various references to Star Trek in Doctor Who over the decades, and vice versa. Fans of both may also be aware that The Next Generation went on an adventure with Matt Smith's Doctor in the comics, which is a really fun read. It's also been long speculated that Russell T. Davies wanted to have Christopher Eccleston's Doctor do a crossover on Enterprise , but the latter was canceled (with an ending the co-creator regrets ) before any progress was ever made. 

Russell T. Davies did speak to the reality of that Enterprise crossover in the interview and stated that it was never anything more than an idea he said aloud to himself in his office. It's sad to learn that actual negotiations never took place, but it's still great to hear Davies is interested in making it happen. 

Will A Television Crossover Between Doctor Who And Star Trek Ever Happen? 

Unfortunately, I think we're in a time at which studios hoarding their intellectual property more than ever before. Gone are the days of Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse meeting up in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and, with Star Trek under the Paramount brand and Doctor Who now a co-production of The BBC and Disney, the odds of all parties coming to the table and agreeing to a crossover feel slim. 

Stranger things have happened, though and, with the kookiness that Strange New Worlds gets up to, I don't think it would be a stretch to see The Doctor on their Enterprise . If the legal teams could iron out the rights and such, the process of actually constructing the story would likely be even easier in comparison. I'll keep my fingers crossed, especially given how much of a blast this new era of Doctor Who is . It would be awesome to see two of the oldest TV sci-fi franchises united for one grand adventure. 

Star Trek: Discovery currently streams new episodes on Thursdays for Paramount+ subscribers , and Doctor Who debuts its Season 14 episodes on Disney+ on Fridays. With both shows in season at the moment, it's truly a great time to be a geek.