Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 17: Shore Leave [VHS]

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

 

 

This episode takes you to a planet where the crew of the Enterprise is supposed to relax. They do everything but..
Kirk and company are chased by the things they fear most. It's a planet who has a computer which can read people's most inner thoughts. It was interesting to see that McCoy came from a Southern background. Something I didn't know until watching the episode. It has a few tense moments...like McCoy getting jousted by a knight in armor. It was anther one of those supercomputers that alters reality thing....

Apparently, due to budget concerns, there was a last minute rewrite of Theodore Sturgeon's orginal script. This resulted in a couple of plot inconsistencies and a little bit of filler footage.

But that doesn't stop this from being one of the most fun Star Trek episodes ever filmed. It has a white rabbit, a samurai, a tiger, a knight, a World War II Fighter plane, Don Juan, chorus girls, and many other fun and fanciful elements.

Kirk gets involved in an extended fist fight and gets knocked around considerably. This fact alone earns a 5 star rating from me.

Theodore Sturgeon, the writer of this episode, proved himself to be one of sci-fi's greatest writers. He would later go on to write Amok Time. If you are looking for an episode that is funny and has a mystery, this is the one.

This is truly one of the most delightful episodes of the original series and gives us a glimpse of the role that the holodeck will play in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Enterprise arrives at a planet where the conditions seem idyllic. No insect or animal life, lush vegetation and ideal climate. After the survey party gives an all-clear, Kirk authorizes shore leave for all personnel.
However, shortly after McCoy beams down, odd things begin happening. He sees a little girl and she is followed by a large rabbit, all reminiscent of the classic story "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. This is only the beginning, as suddenly the crewmembers are fighting for their very lives against a samurai, tiger, and old style fighter planes. While denying the reality of the situation, McCoy is killed by a lance-bearing knight on a horse.
Kirk is accosted by his old Star Fleet academy nemesis Finnegan and after a fierce battle; Kirk manages to beat the tar out of him. All is resolved when they learn that the planet is automated and the machinery is cognizant of their thoughts, creating whatever it is that they want. The caretaker comes out with an intact McCoy and the Enterprise crew now understands and appreciates the planet. In closing, Kirk is given time with a lost love and the Enterprise prepares to leave orbit fully recharged.
Play and entertainment will always be a part of the human experience and the greater the technical competence, the more sophisticated the style of play. The logical conclusion is a holodeck where you can live out your fantasies, yet this is the logical, middle step between virtual and holodeck realities. Much has been said about McCoy's repeated "He's dead Jim", but one of his best lines in the entire series takes place in this episode. When a beautiful dress appears next to Lieutenant Barrows, McCoy encourages her to put it on. She agrees and goes into the bushes to change. Before she goes, she admonishes Dr. McCoy, "Don't peek." His response is, "I'm a doctor, when I peek it is in the line of duty." This is a great line and it appears in one of the greatest episodes in the series.

This used to be one of my fave episodes, but I didn't enjoy it as much when I viewed it recently (first time in 20 years). Maybe age makes one a curmudgeon.

Crewmembers beam down to yet another Eden-like planet (for a change they don't mention Eden this time) in which any dangerous things they think about mysteriously show up: a tiger, a jousting knight, a rapist dressed as Don Juan, whatever. The Caretaker of the planet finally appears and tells them if they just exercise self control, they can have a jolly old time... because they can conjure up good things also. They need only control their thoughts. That's all there is to the episode. Really!

It's consistent with a running theme in classic Trek that truly advanced aliens have no inherent need to torment or hunt human beings, that such advanced beings should have evolved ethically as well as technologically. Conflict derives here (as it does elsewhere) from misunderstanding.

In a weird sort of way, the premise of this episode anticipates bestsellers like "The Secret" by several decades. Anything you focus on long enough, you get. Only on this planet it happens much faster... because the aliens monitor everyone's thoughts and then manufacture the object of those thoughts, whether it be Alice in Wonderland (McCoy) or a Samurai (Sulu). And of course the aliens can manufacture members of the opposite sex, anatomically correct to the last detail, wink wink nudge nudge.

Admittedly, it's a clever, whimsical idea from legendary writer Theodore Sturgeon (along with Harlan Ellison, the most famous ST writer outside of ST itself). The reason I have to mark it down to 4 stars is that the "Kirk in love" scenes -- this time with an old flame named Ruth -- are especially cringe-inducing. "Don't you like birds, Mr. Stiles?" he intones like a dopy teenager... or Hayden Christiansen in Attack of the Clones. It's too bad, because Shatner is otherwise fine... and "Kirk in love" does work in some episodes (namely The City on the Edge of Forever).

"Shore Leave" is definitely one of the most entertaining and one of the best episodes of Star Trek - The Original Series. The Enterprise crew is on shore leave on a planet where there's no sign of life except for plants. But the Enterprise crew starts to notice something. They all begin to see strange forms of life ranging from the rabbit and Alice from Alice in Wonderland, to a war airplane. Whatever the crew thinks about is what they will see on the planet they're on. Captain Kirk and the crew have to figure out what is happening to them on this mysterious planet and find out what to do about it.

"Shore Leave" is a great all-around episode. It has more to offer than most of the Star Trek episodes. Parts of it are funny, it's mysterious and has a sense of adventure in parts, and it even has a few fights. If you like Star Trek - The Original Series at all, no matter what kind of episode you like, I recommend getting "Shore Leave." It's one of the best episodes ever made.

A U.S.S. Enterprise landing party beams down to an uncharted planet. The planet seems like a perfect candidate for shore leave with its "Earth-type" characteristics. Kirk sends McCoy down with the party to check it out. McCoy's first encounter on the new world is with a life-sized white rabbit in a waistcoat, being chased by a little girl in a pinafore. Kirk answers McCoy's somewhat odd call for help and beams down himself to find his old rival from academy days, Finnigan. While trying to catch his old enemy, Kirk meets Ruth, an old girlfriend. He notices that neither Finnigan nor Ruth have changed in appearance since he'd last seen them. Elsewhere, Sulu is attacked by a Samurai Warrior while others are chased by tigers and aircraft. McCoy, who has paired off with Yeoman Tonia Barrows, is killed by a black knight on horseback. As the perils become more and more deadly, Kirk and Spock realize that their thoughts are somehow coming to life around them. An old man appears, explaining that this planet is designed as an "amusement park," and he is the Caretaker for the world. The planet is not meant to be hostile, and the results of one's fantasies are not lasting. McCoy appears, healed, with a Rigel Cabaret girl on each arm. Tonia disengages the good doctor and they go off to spend what promises to be an enjoyable vacation together. The Caretaker invites Kirk and his crew to spend their leave on his planet. Kirk agrees, realizing that once warned, it would provide a most diverting vacation spot. As he makes his decision, Ruth appears.

This episode is very different than most of the others. It is more of a comedy than a sci-fi episode. You certainly see the lighter side of Shatner, Nimoy and the rest of thr Star Trek crew.