Cheap Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 33: Who Mourns For Adonais? (Video) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 33: Who Mourns For Adonais?

First there was Trelane, Apollo and then Q
I have always been extremely derisive of the claims that "ancient astronauts" visited the Earth and helped humans build some of their great works, such as the great pyramids. Therefore, I have a fundamental predisposition against the main premise of this episode. However, it is so well done that I consider it one of the strongest episodes of the series. <
> The Enterprise is out in deep space when they suddenly encounter an energy field in the form of a giant hand. They try to avoid it, but it captures the Enterprise and they are unable to break free. A creature calling himself Apollo controls the hand, and he demands that the officers of the Enterprise, minus Spock, who reminds him of Pan, beam down to a planet. Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, Chekov and Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas beam down and Apollo informs them that they are to adopt the ancient ways of herding goats and worshipping him. Of course, they rebel at the idea of being the playthings of a god and they try to find a way of defeating him. Palamas becomes Apollo's love interest and she responds in kind. He promises to make her his consort and turn her into a god as well. <
> Kirk and company believe that Apollo is a member of a group of sophisticated space travelers who landed on Earth in ancient Greece and helped cause the intellectual revolution that occurred there at that time. Apollo admits as much and demands that they form a colony on the planet that will worship him. He exhibits all of the characteristics that the gods of Greek mythology possessed. He is quick to anger, bragging that he can kill any of them at his whim and also shows a great deal of kindness and sensitivity. However, the Enterprise crew is able to destroy his power source and he is rendered impotent. Apollo then spreads himself out into the galactic winds and joins his fellow gods in their exile. <
> This episode has one of the most emotional endings of the series. Once his power source is destroyed, Apollo sheds tears at going from a god to a creature defeated by the species that used to worship him. Kirk and McCoy both express remorse at what they had to do, as Kirk comments on how much those "gods" meant to the early development of humanity. The opening of the episode has one scene that is very dated. When talking about Lieutenant Palamas, Kirk says that some day she will meet the right man and then leave the service. That is one feature of Star Trek that I was happy to see did not survive very long.

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but who built the temple?
Most historic myths, no matter how whacky to modern minds, often have a basis in some fact. As the Enterprise warps through space, the ship is captured by a green glowing hand that holds it like a toy, hanging in the void. The ship is immobilized. <
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>Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Chekov and Lt. Caroyln Palamas beam down to the nearby planet to try to find out what is behind the crippling of their ship. They encounter a small Greek-style temple and a man wearing a toga and a wreath on his head claims to be the ancient Greek god, Apollo. He commands the landing party to bow and worship him, but the refuse. With just a point of his finger, Apollo can change Lt. Palamas' clothing, fuse the phasers and toss the crew about. <
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>He quickly woos Lt. Palamas, telling her that her beauty rivals that of Aphrodite. Yeah, right - that's the pickup line of the universe! They fade off into la-la-land and begin to kiss and embrace. The sudden attention of a god, who calls her wise and promises her the world, aids in helping this young blonde throw her brain out the window. She is head-over-heels and is willing to live her life as a goddess with her new beau. <
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>Spock supervises repairs on Enterprise and works with Sulu to punch holes in the force field that is preventing the ship from moving, beaming up the landing party, or even communicating with them. <
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>Chekov observes that whenever they rouse Apollo's anger and he uses his powers, he gets wiped out and fades away, only to come back some time later, refreshed. They incur his wrath again to try to measure what he is doing and discover that it's the temple itself that helps him to harness his powers. <
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>Temples were built by the Greeks, and later the Romans, to serve as a place to worship their gods - but on this desolate planet, who built Apollo's temple? He claims that his planet was once host to all the Greek immortals, but with no one to worship them, they opted to phase out into space and become one with the Universe. Apollo alone believed that mankind would once reach the stars and has been waiting 5,000 years for mankind to reach him so that once again he could be worshipped. <
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>If this planet was the home for the other Greek gods in the past, where are their temples? If the crew is able to destroy or at least disable Apollo's source of power, will he die? What good is immortality if you must spend eternity alone on a planet with nothing to do but twiddle your thumbs? <
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>An interesting concept concerning the ancient world's perception of technology vs. diety, but you have to roll your eyes when the plot holes reveal themselves.

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Strong show
This is a strong show about the Greek god Apollo. When Trek was at its best, it generally combined thought-provoking and socially relevant questions with tight, internally consistent, and action-packed stories. Who Mourns for Adonais is one such episode. In addition to the interesting idea that the Gods may have been real, we have the very real themes of 1) the pros and cons of hero worship/letting others make decisions for you, 2) the quest for power, and 3) the pros and cons of a simple, care-free life. The guest acting is pretty good here, too, and there aren't too many holes in the plot.

Overall, a strong episode, although I for one at times tire of the more 'literal' episodes, enjoying instead the dreamy, surreal, and menacing ones. I see no reason why we should expect to encounter a moral code (or any system for that matter) similar to our own in outer space. Also there are quite frankly limits to just how good a 'literal' take can consistently be, especially after 35 years and given the time and budget constraints of an episode. That is why I am drawn to the more off-beat shows.

Having digressed, I must return to the fact that this is one of the better of the 'literal' shows.