Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 74: The Cloud Minders [VHS]

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Discovering Amazon's second-hand buying/selling service has allowed me to stock up on ST-TOS episodes that I had deliberately ignored in the past. "Cloud Minders" is one such episode.

In all honesty, 3rd-season ST-TOS episodes are nowhere near as bad -- nor 2nd-season episodes as good -- as the conventional wisdom would have you believe. Nearly all 3rd-season episodes have points of interest, but these disparate elements seldom coalesce to form a meaningful storyline liable to appeal to outsiders.

3rd-season ST-TOS episodes are characterized by increasing verbosity and awkward departures from long-established plot and character guidelines. Budget cuts resulted in a different "look" for the show, but ingenious set-designers did everything in their power to cope with the resulting financial constraints ("The Cloud Minders" illustrates this quite well). William Shatner, unjustly maligned as Kirk, invariably acts with giant conviction in an effort to keep the show on the road. Aside from this, however, one comes across all too many poorly acted and abysmally directed passages of dialogue. In 3rd-season episodes there is an increasingly dreary reliance on sadomasochistic plot devices (obedience collars, torture chambers, etc.), which are a scriptwriter's copout. The actresses' costumes are raunchier, suggesting reduced studio censorship (or interest). This isn't the "kiddie format" which the show's regular staff dreaded; but it comes close.

All of the above trends are exhibited in "The Cloud Minders", which, as I have said, is for hard-core fans only. But 3rd-season episodes, for all their flaws, should not be overlooked: note the interesting treatment of contraception in "The Mark of Gideon;" Spock's sputtering encounter with an ancient vulcan hero in "The Savage Curtain;" the eating of the acid fruit in "The Road to Eden;" and best of all, the web-spinning sequence in "The Tholian Web," a special-effects sequence still unmatched for pure shock value and spine-tingling horror.

Kirk and Spock just want to pick up some Zenite antidote from the
planet Ardana, and find themselves in the middle of a class war between aristocratic cloud dwellers and the subservient cave dwelling Troglytes.
Though later in the series, this was one of the more stylish, if not best acted episodes. Just about everyone gets to chew the scenery, (Count how many times different characters exclaim "For What Purpose?") Costume designer William Ware Theiss's creations leave you wondering how they stay on, and Spock gets to flirt with Droxine, the sexy daughter of High Advisor Plasus.

The Cloud Minders is one of the last episodes of the Season Three slump. Now, you may be thinking that this is a good thing. Wrong. As the slump came to an end, the awfulness increased. The awfulness would climax in The Way to Eden. In addition, The Cloud Minders also marked a big decline in quality, even for the Third Season slump.

I can't believe how bad The Cloud Minders is. When Kirk is doing his log entry, it seems like we are going to have a solid show. However, right after Shatner is done with his log, he fumbles his lines like nothing else. It's like man Ozzy Osbourne, get it together. There were more fumbles in Shatner's dialog than in a Washington Redskins football game.

However, things get back on the road once we get to the surface. Unfortunately, things go bad when Droxine arrives. Right when she shows up, Spock starts thinking with the other head. He was so out of it that he took Plasus' joke seriously (Nor I a work of art)! Then Spock can't figure out why the Troglytes would destroy art. Hum, maybe this is their way of commenting on the social system Spock. Then, we go to Spock's awful thought processes (The name Droxine seems appropriate for her). And if that wasn't bad enough (Can she retain such purity by knowing the suffering of the Troglytes)? Sadly, it gets much worse. Spock goes out and talks to Droxine. When Leonard Nimoy found out he had to say this love crap, he protested to Fred Freiberger with little avail. Spock openly admits the Vulcan mating cycle with an outworlder. Rewind exactly 40 episodes and we see Spock dying from Pon Farr and unwillingly to tell his closest friend in the universe. When Spock reenters the resting chamber, he says (Am I intruding Captain)? Oh boy. Then Spock just stands there when Droxine says that Vanna is not accustomed to light and logic. This provokes Kirk to defend the Troglytes while Spock just stands their. This makes Kirk look like an egghead.

Then we come to the awful torture-the-babe scene. This was so cheesy, even more so with the special effects. When Kirk stops the torture, Spock hardly says anything to condemn it. He just leaves it up to Kirk to defend Vanna and appear like an egghead. It is no wonder that Plasus wants Kirk shot on sight if he returns.

Then the episode takes it's biggest hit, the zenite gas. This is the biggest cop out I have ever seen in the series. And the way it is first presented is horrible. McCoy says that it won't be easy dealing with the Troglytes because they are mentally retarded and inferior. He then casually mentions that the gas is causing it.

When Plasus refuses to use the masks, Kirk becomes a barbarian and starts violating many rules. First, he beams down against government orders. Then he abducts Plasus to show him the existence of the zenite gas. After they are all affected by the gas, we are treated to the lamest fight scene in the series. First of all, Jeff Correy is too old. Second, Plasus has not done an hour of manual labor in his life. Therefore, he should be one of Kirk's weakest opponents.

After the lame fight is over, we go back to Stratos where Kirk blathers something about a Bureau of Industrialization and leaves Vanna behind, unprotected in Stratos. We all know that the second Kirk and Spock materialize on the Enterprise, Vanna is going back to the torture booth.

It is a real pity that this is one of the worst episodes in the series because I think it had the potential to be in the Top 10. I like how in David Gerrold's original story that is ended on a deliberately ambiguous note, with the only "triumph" being that Kirk finally managed to establish a dialogue between the groups. When the zenite gas was put in the story, David Gerrold said, "And if we can just get them troglytes to wear gas masks, then they'll be happy little darkies and they'll pick all the cotton we need."

"The Cloud Minders" finds the Enterprise visiting Ardana, a planet rich in the mineral zenite and where the society is divided into those who live on Stratos, a city in the cloud where everyone engages in the mental arts, and the Troglytes, who work in the zenite minds. As Kirk tries to negotiate for the zenite, the Troglytes have started to rebel. Plasus, the head of the Stratos Council, starts torturing Troglytes, with little success. Kirk meets with Vanna, the leader of the Troglytes and offers help: it seems the zenite gas causes "temporary" mental and emotional problems and McCoy has whipped up some masks that improve the health of the miners. Of course, Vanna does not trust the strange visitors from another planet and the people of Stratos do not want to give up their belief of superiority over the Troglytes. This leaves it all up to Kirk to show them all the error of their ways. Since there is a planet that needs that zenite I guess playing around with the Prime Directive is okay (this time). We have seen much better examples of Kirk bringing enlightenment to supposedly advanced but obviously bigoted societies than we get in "The Cloud Minders."

In "The Cloud Minders," Kirk and the crew travel to planet Ardana looking for zienite because there's another planet that needs zienite in order for the plants to grow and supply oxygen to the planet's people. However, some conflict arises when Captain Kirk doesn't get the zienite right away and when he sees the kind of punishment that one of the women in Ardana receives.

I don't see where "The Cloud Minders" is a bad episode. It's interesting and the Enterprise crew travel to some cool places such as the city in the sky. And the part where Kirk keeps Vanna and Plasus inside a mine in order to prove to them that he is right, is well done. "The Cloud Minders" might not be one of the top ten episodes of the original series, but it's not that bad of an episode either.

The primary premise of this episode is as old as humanity and one that will probably always be part of the human condition, no matter how far we move out into the cosmos. There is a biological plague on a Federation planet, which threatens to wipe out all of the planetary flora in a matter of hours. An antidote to the plague, called zienite, is available, but is only manufactured on Ardana, so the Enterprise is ordered to Ardana to receive and transport the zienite to the plague planet. When it arrives at Ardana, they find a society segmented into the Troglytes, who live underground and mine the zienite and the planet?s rulers, who live in a luxurious city in the clouds.
The Troglytes are in the midst of a rebellion, demanding their share of the wealth of the planet. They withhold the zienite and attack Kirk and Spock when they beam down. The leader of the Troglytes later attempts to capture Kirk to use him as a hostage. The Troglytes believe that the Enterprise is there to intimidate them into ending their rebellion, so they don?t trust Kirk. The Troglyte leader is captured and tortured. Kirk attempts to intervene, but is reminded that he cannot interfere with the actions of a planetary government.
Kirk and Spock beam back to the Enterprise and McCoy informs Kirk that there is a gas in the zienite ore that retards mental development and leads to increased negative emotions such as anger. However, there is a mask that will filter out the gas and the effects are reversible. Kirk then violates the law and beams back to the surface to make contact with the Troglyte leader and seek her cooperation by offering a supply of the masks. He then goes to the mine and has the planetary leader beamed down to make the point. Both men are affected by the gas and begin to fight. They are beamed to the Enterprise where they settle the issue. The zienite is delivered and the planetary social structure is altered to include the Troglytes.
Throughout the episode the daughter of the planetary leader is taken by Spock and there is some heavy flirtation between them. Spock even explains to her that as a Vulcan, he mates only once every seven years, something that Vulcans are not supposed to mention to outworlders. This is an absurd feature of this episode. When billions of lives are at stake, no Starfleet officer would be engaged in a heavy sexual flirtation that could jeopardize the mission.
This is another one of those episodes in the last year of the original series where there are features that seem to be included just to fill the time. There is no real reason for the romance between Spock and the daughter of the planetary leader, given the circumstances, it simply would not have happened. The most absurd feature of this romance occurs when Kirk and Spock are resting. Spock hears the daughter preparing refreshments and moves out of the room to talk to her. He comments on the sensitivity of his ears and engages her in conversation. At this time, Kirk is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Troglyte leader. Spock is oblivious to this, moving back into the room only when Kirk yells his name. It is rare when a single scene severely damages an episode, but this is one of those times.
This episode had some legitimate premises, but the romance of Spock and the scene just mentioned reduce it to the point where I rank it in the bottom third of the episodes in the original series.

Again, Star Trek, even when it is bad, is still pretty good.

This episode is no exception. It keeps your interest, has social implications, and features outstanding acting by William Shatner (one of Hollywood's greatest).

The Cloud City concept is interesting, and the episode features good use of a NASA photo taken from the Gemini capsule of canyons on earth.... as a Troglyte falls to his death.

I never felt Spock was getting Frisky with Droxine... I merely felt he was feeling his human side come out, and it was at best a mere flirtation. Besides, Spock really does have "exquisite ears."

In this, the 74th Star Trek episode, we find the Enterprise travelling to the cloud city of Stratos on the planet Ardana to get a rare mineral to help stop a plague on another planet.

Classic Trek has told stories about two different civiliztions clashing before, and this one holds very little surprises. The upper crust of society lives in a city held above the planet's surface by powerful anti-gravity generators, while the lower class toil in the mines below to gather the mineral wealth of the planet that they are not allowed to enjoy.

The stereotypical plot lines of the story almost detract from the rather heavy handed message that the episode is trying to get across - that all people are people, and should be treated with the same respect. The seperation of the ruling class from the working class is emphasized too much by things like the city floating gently far above the troubles they create.

The reason that the Troglytes (short for Troglodites?) have a retarded intellect and violent tendencies is their constant exposure to a gas that the mineral produces, and not anything actually genetic. McCoy finds out that they are the same race. Plasus, the leader of Stratos, resists giving the Troglytes gas masks to help filter their air until Kirk forces him into a situation that exposes him to it directly, in clear violation of the Prime Directive.

One of the only saving graces of this episode is Spock's obvious interest in Droxine, the daughter of Plasus. Spock get her to finally agree that the Troglytes might be her intellectual equals despite their contant exposure to the mineral gas.

I would have liked to see a story about what happens to this civilization after the major society changes that Kirk and crew just about forces on them, but that is impossible now except in the non-canon Star Trek books.

My score - 5.5 out of a possible 10 (1/2 point for Spock's interest in Droxine).

The U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 comes to the planet Ardana to acquire zienite, a rare mineral needed to stop a planet-wide plague on Merak II. The zienite is not available, however, because the miner class Troglytes are rebelling against the rulers of Ardana, who live in the cloud-city of Stratos. The Stratos-dwellers insist that the Troglytes are naturally inferior beings, but Kirk discovers that the Troglytes are being affected by a gas emitted during mining. Unable to get both sides to settle their differences, Kirk traps the Troglyte leader Vanna and the High Advisor of Ardana's Ruling Council, Plasus, inside a mine. When the gas takes effect, Plasus realizes what is happening and promises to help the Troglytes. With peace restored, the U.S.S. Enterprise is able to secure the zienite it needs.