Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 50: By Any Other Name [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the one where aliens take over the Enterprise. They compress them into these strange cubes of salt or some alien substance. It was fun to see the crew take advantage of their human form and use human weaknesses as a means to prevent them from taking over the ship. These aliens did take human form for a temporary amount of time. To fool Kirk and crew of course. All in all it's one of those episodes that you can watch again and still find it good.
Especially the scene where Scotty gets the alien drunk.

Synopsis:

When the U.S.S. Enterprise answers a distress call from a small planet, the landing party is captured by a group of agents from the Kelvan empire, located in the distant Andromeda galaxy. The Kelvans' purpose is to find planets suitable for colonization. However, their own ship was destroyed and now they need the Enterprise to make the 300-year journey home. To utilize the starship, the Kelvans â€" huge, tentacled creatures â€" take on human form. After several attempts at escape, Kirk accepts his fate and agrees to let the aliens take over his ship. The Kelvans use their technology to transform all but essential Enterprise personnel into small "cubes" which, unless broken or damaged, can be restored to human beings.

Recognizing that the Kelvans, in their new human bodies, are discovering human sensation and emotion, the remaining crew attempts to foster dissent amongst the aliens: Scotty succeeds in gettting one of them drunk, McCoy injects an irritant into another, and Kirk makes romantic overtures to the Kelvan leader's woman. With the Kelvans thus distracted, Kirk and the crew are able to regain control of the ship.

Kirk points out to Rojan, the Kelvan leader, that the Kelvans are already becoming less like they were before by encountering the humans. In 300 years, their descendants will be so human-like that they won't be able to live among their people on Kelva. Rojan sees the logic in his argument and sends a robot probe to Kelva, reporting what has happened. Pledging to restore the Enterprise crew, Rojan accepts Kirk's offer that the Enterprise find the Kelvans a Class-M planet to colonize.

The Enterprise responds to a distress call and beam down to the planet surface. Crew members discover initial readings on the planet indicate no life forms present. Just after completing readings, two humanoid being approach Kirk telling him, "now you will surrender your ship too me". With a shocked look Kirk, the Kelvin name Rojan continues his dialogue, "this will be the end of existence as you have known it."

The Kelvins are intelligent. On their voyage from Andromedia to earth, their ship was damaged beyond repair, after crossing the energy barrier, at the edge of the universe. Like the "flat earth" no federation ship dare go beyond into the abyss, so the fact the Kelvins crossed the barrier suggested they had superior technology.

The Kelvin's are creatures of outer space and taken "perfect human form". Spock discovers after a mind connection that the Kelvins are immense beings with hundreds of tentacles. Kelvin tentacles symbolize covert clandestine operations in foreign countries by an unknown Empire; the Empire symbolizes imperialistic hegemony government seeking domination; and the perfect human form symbolizes the vanity of oligarchy aristocrat vanity. Rationally it would seem impossible for one too hope in humanity for such a creature. The tentacle monster operates independent of compassion, mercy, and empathy towards its host or prey.

Spock is thrown backwards by the power of the female, Kelinda's mind and the experience has exposed him to various equations, he does not grasp. It seems the Kelvins operative consciousness is mathematical and devoid of emotion. The Kelvins are logical kinsmen of the Vulcans but superior in metallurgy science. Kelvins view humans as parasitic and wasteful. The Kelvin's have one weakness; they have never experienced the power of human emotions.

The Kelvins home is Andromedia. The Kelvin's home is experiencing high radiant levels forcing them to look for remote locations to colonize. The Kelvin Empire wants too conquer and occupy the Federation. Kirk believes that the Federation will cooperate with the Kelvins proving inhabitable planets for the Kelvins. Rojan is not interested. The Kelvin's have a technology condensing a human into their trace elements. The process is reversible if the mineral structure is not damaged. Kirk attempts the attack Rojan presses a button on a box connected to his belt emitting a neutralizing beam that paralyzes the enterprise crew into frozen postures. Rojan but is frozen by the paralysis beam. Rojan decides too demonstrate this technology condensing two members. Rojan decides one must die and annihilates Yoman Thompson into crushed dust. Rojan then tells the group, "you will obey" and a harsh code of honor will apply to all those they conquer.

Rojan installs Kelvin propulsion technology allowing the Enterprise to exceed Warp 8 and Warp 11. The ship must pass through the energy barrier. The energy barrier is made of negative energy. Scotty discovers the material protecting the propulsion technology cannot be breached. Scotty programs the Enterprise to self-destruct at the energy barrier with a push of a button. Kirk decides not too destroy the ship and appeal to the humanity of the Kelvins.

Obviously, Rojan, Kelinda, and Hanar do not want too return back too the Kelvin empire. The 300-year intergalactic voyage will mean that they die in space and one their descendants report on their findings. Rojan, Kelinda, and Hanar experience human interaction and a wide range of emotions: anger, jealousy, passion, greed, and carnality. These Kelvins learned the human condition by their experience and interaction and gain an understanding. Once these Kelvins understand the humans they are willing to trust them because they have a human perspective again. The morality suggests people can learn peace by interacting with each other, gaining a health perspective, and learning to trust each other through their interactions.

"By Any Other Name" is an entertaining episode. A group of aliens who have disguised themselves as humans want to take over the Enterprise so they can travel through space. These aliens have a device on their belt in which they can press a button and make it where the person that is going against them will stop dead in their tracks and won't be able to move. If the human still doesn't cooperate, the alien can then turn them into a cube shaped form, and then if they crush that cube, that person is dead. Captain Kirk, Scottie, Dr. McCoy, and Spock have to find a way to outwit these aliens.

From the first few minutes of "By Any Other Name," it seems like it's just going to be a mediocre or average episode. But as soon as the episode gets past its 30 minute midway point, it gets real interesting and entertaining. This episode has some memorable parts such as when Scottie gets one of the aliens drunk with some very old scotch, and then Scottie himself passes out. "By Any Other Name" also has a great plot and good acting to make it a great episode by any means. I recommend anybody who likes the original series of Star Trek to get "By Any Other Name."

When the U.S.S. Enterprise answers a distress call from a small planet, the landing party is captured by a group of agents from the Kelvan empire, located in the distant Andromeda galaxy. The Kelvans' purpose is to find planets suitable for colonization. However, their own ship was destroyed and now they need the Enterprise to make the three hundred year journey home. To utilize the starship, the Kelvans -- huge, tentacled creatures -- take on human form. After several attempts at escape, Kirk accepts his fate and agrees to let the aliens take over his ship. The Kelvans use their technology to transform all but essential Enterprise personnel into small "cubes" which, unless broken or damaged, can be restored to human beings. Recognizing that the Kelvans, in their new human bodies, are discovering human sensation and emotion, the remaining crew attempts to foster dissent among the aliens: Scotty succeeds in gettting one of them drunk, McCoy injects an irritant into another, and Kirk makes romantic overtures to the Kelvan leader's woman. With the Kelvans thus distracted, Kirk and the crew are able to regain control of the ship. Kirk points out to Rojan, the Kelvan leader, that the Kelvans are already becoming less like they were before by encountering the humans. In three hundred years, their descendants will be so human-like that they won't be able to live among their people on Kelva. Rojan sees the logic in his argument and sends a robot probe to Kelva, reporting what has happened. Pledging to restore the Enterprise crew, Rojan accepts Kirk's offer that the Enterprise find the Kelvans a Class M planet to colonize.

Good story, whoever wrote it. I have always thought a good "Star Trek" story would be about aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy. I must say one thing though. If I were to be executed for trying to escape, I certainly wouldn't want to end up crushed into a pile of white powder in the palm of someone's hand. I've always been disturbed by that scene, and worse than that, they had to make it a female yeoman! Killing another man would have been fine, but the Kelvans were rather cruel doing that. Also, the end of the episode indicates that Rojan, the leader of the Kelvans, will go unpunished for killing Yeoman Thompson like that. Kirk says that they will welcome them as friends to join the Federation of Planets. I'm sorry, but would you want to have a race like this as a part of your society? I certainly would not!

Good story, but has too many problems.

The Kelvans are a species from the Andromeda galaxy. Their galaxy is in the process of becoming uninhabitable and their plan is to conquer another. As their ship passed through the energy barrier at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, it was destroyed, so they need a ship. They hijack the Enterprise and their intent is to take it back to Andromeda to inform their superiors that they have found a galaxy suitable to conquer. With superior technology, it is easy for them to take over the Enterprise.
Their primary tactic is to condense humans down into tiny symmetric shapes about the size of a grapefruit. It preserves the essence of the person, yet the structure is fragile, easily destroyed by the strength of a hand. When Spock attempts to mind-meld with a Kelvan, he learns that they are creatures of a completely different form, they have adopted the human shape so that they may live on the Enterprise.
Given the centuries-long journey back to Andromeda aboard the Enterprise, the Kelvans condense all of the Enterprise crew except Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty. Kirk learns that the Kelvans are experiencing human emotions and desires and that it can be used as a weapon. Each of the remaining members of the crew is ordered to try to stimulate the Kelvans into expressing human emotions. Kirk of course tries to seduce a female Kelvan, Scotty tries to drink one under the table and McCoy gives one stimulants. It works and Rojan, the leader of the Kelvans, realizes that they are now too human to even be recognized by their fellow Kelvans. In getting there he erupts in a jealous rage and fights Kirk hand-to-hand in order to win back the affections of a female Kelvan. Rojan surrenders the Enterprise to Kirk and they reach agreement that the problem will be taken to the Federation council.
While this episode does have some moments, particularly when Scotty is engaged in his drinking competition, the basic premise is seriously flawed. Given that the Kelvans are so adaptable in form, they could survive almost anywhere and would not have the need to conquer another entire galaxy. Such a plan would have a limited probability of success.

I've always considered this episode to be one of the worst Trek Classic episodes. The writing is just plain bad (a low point in Jerome Bixby's career. Interesting that he also wrote "Mirror, Mirror", one of the best episodes, as well as "Day of the Dove" and "Requiem for Methuselah", two bright lights in the otherwise dismal third season).

The concept of the story is good, but the execution is an embarrassment for Star Trek.