Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 13, Episodes 25 & 26: This Side of Paradise/ The Devil in the Dark

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Volume 13 of Paramount's complete Star Trek reissue contains two episodes long popular with fans.

This Side of Paradise is known primarily as the episode where Spock falls in love. This sensitive story was written by D. C. Fontana, who wrote many of the series' best scripts. Spock had been mostly asexual since the beginning of the series, but when Leonard Nimoy began to receive large quantities of fan mail, the writers decided to come up with a romance for Spock. This episode allows Nimoy to stretch his acting muscles and prove he can do more than merely raise his eyebrow. Seeing Spock come under the influence of the alien spores ("I love you. I can love you.") and finally escape his self-imposed purgatory of logic is akin to watching a butterfly escape from its cocoon. The scene with Kirk alone on the abandoned bridge is a searing portrait of the loneliness of command, excellently acted by Shatner.

William Shatner has referred to The Devil in The Dark as his favorite episode. It's easy to see why: the story, dealing with the crew encountering a new life form which makes the crew reconsider their actions, summarizes everything that Star Trek is about. The timelessness of the story makes it possible to overlook the rather dated Horta costume. This episode was also close to Shatner's heart for a very different reason: while filming the Horta mind-meld scene with Leonard Nimoy, he was notified that his father had passed away. Ever the professional, and knowing that he would not be able to catch a flight for several hours, Shatner refused to abandon that day's filming--although the scene remained unfinished until he returned from his father's funeral. Nimoy remained at his side for the remainder of the day, which cemented their relatively new friendship. Fortunately, there are no continuity problems resulting from the break in filming. In a reversal of the norm, Shatner underplays his performance during Spock's agonizing mild-meld with the Horta, allowing Nimoy to shine.

The picture has never looked better, with great colors and flesh tones, particularly in the outdoor scenes. The sound has been remastered in multichannel stereo.

This is the first (and so far only) set of episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series that I've purchased. One of the main reasons is that so few of the sets contain more than one good episode. The highly erratic quality of the show and the (correct) decision to release the episodes in the exact order that they aired often means that one has to pick up a dud to get a favorite.

Fortunately, the two episodes on this disk are real gems. The first, "This Side of Paradise" is a great "Spock" episode, letting the viewer get to know the coldly logical Vulcan and explore his past. The second episode, "The Devil in the Dark" is a well-done sci-fi monster story.

Sadly, little is done to take advantage of the DVD format. There are no commentaries and only minimal extras in the form of trailers for the episodes. I hope Paramount does a better job when they release the DVD's for Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Two classic episdoes on this DVD, filled with some of the really tough questions. What is paradise? What is considered to be alive? There are just some of the questions which this DVD raises.

In "This Side of Paradise", The Enterprise crew becomes infected with a mind altering "spore" which transforms them into an ideal state of mind. The parallel to me from the late 70's is clear: the spores are a metaphor for drugs. The statement being that spores (drugs) might put you in an ideal "place", but without need nor want, there is no reason to exist.

In "The Devil in the Dark", a silicon-based lifeform attackes miners because her eggs were being destroyed. The classic "care for our earth" motto and "respect all forms of life" themes are definately being presented.

That's the best part of Star Trek. It has its morals, it has its really tough questions. But it was disguised in a way that it was still "entertaining". Best of all, both of these episdoes make you think!

The quality of both the sound and the picture are excellent, and of very high quality.

Overall, a great buy!

The first Spock kiss.

During Star Trek's first season, female horomones raged for Leonard Nimoy's stoic portrayal of Spock. Writers debated on how to give fans their wish of a "romantic" Spock story. "This side of Paradise" was the result. The Enterprise arives on a colony planet with plants that shoot spores that "relax" an individual, Spock gets hit and falls in love. The series would try Spock love stories later, but the first was the best ans most belivable. A must have.

Volume 13 of The Star Trek TOS DVD series has two of the first seasons most interesting episodes. Although I agree that Spock should have been on the cover instead of Scotty for both episodes include classic moments with the Vulcan Science officer. This DVD finds Leonard Nimoy exploring Spock's character somewhat.

The first episode here is THIS SIDE OF PARADISE. I have always found that this episode took a jab at the drug culture of the 1960's but I don't know if anyone agrees with me. The crew beam down to Omicron Ceti III expecting to find a bunch of dead colonists killed by a deadly radiation however instead they find a healthy happy colony. However it is later found out that a native exotic plant with drug like spores has effected the colony protecting them from the radiation but preventing them from making any progress in the colony. Soon the spores begin to affect the entire crew of the Enterprise and everybody abandons Kirk and the ship to live on the paradise including Spock. The episode is a standard Trek outing but it should be noted for Spock bagging the babe for once and of course showing emotions. The only thing that confuses me is why McCoy begins to speak in a ridiculous Southern accent when he is drugged? Silly if you ask me!

The other episode here is THE DEVIL IN THE DARK which is one of Trek's finest episodes in the first season and of course Shatner's personal fave. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to mining colony of Janus V after a report monster has been killing 50 miners! It turns out the Monster is actually a silicon based lifeform known as a Horta. The creature is the last of it's kind and highly intelligent. It has laid thousands of bizarre looking eggs and is protecting them from the miners who had invaded on it's nest. In a strange way this episode tackles the racial issues of the sixties. Still this episode is a classic partly because of Spock's mind meld with the Horta creature which is priceless acting. Sure the Horta may look cheesy but the episode itself is great!

Overall Volume 13 is a must one classic and one standard but both memorable episodes from the original series. Take a close look at Spock in these episodes it really developes his character. Highly recommended!

Without a doubt, if you get any of the volumes of the original Star Trek series instead of getting separate episodes, there's not a much better choice than this one. It includes two of the best episodes of the original series that Star Trek ever put out. You have one ("This Side Of Paradise") where Kirk and the crew venture to a planet only to find people that live in peace and paradise, and they must do something to keep from falling into the land's spell and becoming completely peaceful themselves. In the other one ("Devil In The Dark") you'll witness the Enterprise crew in one of their most exciting adventures in which they travel to an underground mine and seek out a monster that can burrow through solid rock.

Both of these episodes are Star Trek classics, and if you're a fan of the original series, I strongly recommend getting Volume 13 of Star Trek - The Original Series.

I am in the process of replacing my Vhs Tapes. I have certain episodes that I like to watch over and over. This is one of those. It it so nice to be able to see the original epiodes on DVD.

These two episodes take place after "A Taste of Armagedon"
Episode 25: This Side of Paradise
Star Date; 3417.5
Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sulu beam down to Omicron Ceti 3. It is a paradise on the surface. They meet Elias Sandoval (Frank Overton) and Spock sees a woman, Leila (Jill Ireland) he knew years ago. An orchid sprays out confetti on Spock and he suddenly feels happiness, peace and serenity. Soon, the whole crew of the Enterprise is effected by the orchid spores with horrible after-effects.

Episode 26: Devil in the Dark
Kirk (William Shatner) beams down to Janus IV ti investigate a rock-like monster that is killing the men in the tunnels. It is able to go through any metal like acid.

May look like a silly episode now, but when we were youngsters, we loved it.

Note: During the filming of this episode, William Shatner was told that his father had died. Shatner wanted to continue filming that afternoon. Their is a scene where Leonard Nimoy is standing close to Shatner concerned about his friend. They finally convinced Shatner to leave the studio and do what he needed to do. Shatner left on a Friday and returned the following Monday to continue the scene. All of it was aired.

Also in the cast: Leonard Nimoy, DeForst Kelly, Ken Lynch, James Doohan, Barry Russo.
Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired.

Overall, these are not 2 of the stronger eps from Season 1 however they do allow for telling insights into the characters of both Spock and Kirk. In the first, weaker ep, strange spores on an otherwise inhospitable planet allows settlers to survive in blissful existence without any ill effects from deadly radiation that is constantly bombarding the planet; in fact, even preexisting medical conditions are righted giving the inhabitants perfect health. Now as you can expect, Kirk has to spoil things and 'rescue' the settlers from their brand of Eden. The plot is rather weak as we are never told why Kirk isn't affected to the degree of the others to the effects of the spores or how easily he is able to counter the effects but we do get to see a softer, 'human' side of Spock as he actually admits loving someone here and you can feel his regret at having to leave this moment behind at the end.

The stronger second ep has a strong moral encouraging communication rather than revenge and retribution to settle differences. Spock again gets to emote as he mind melds with the alien which is the subject of persecution as miners of a mineral-laden planet misunderstand the reasons behind the creature's animosity towards them. A great advertisement for diplomacy over brute force if you can get over the low tech special effects.

If you are picking and choosing which volumes to collect and keep, put this under the "good to have" category, the others being: "must have" and "give it a miss".

Both these episodes do a stellar job of spotlighting Leonard Nimoy at his best, and Shatner and DeForest Kelley do pretty well in them too.

"This Side of Paradise" finds Spock possessed by alien spores, which - as they have for the human settlers of Omicron Ceti III - give him immortality and a remarkably sunny disposition. As he and the rest of the Enterprise crew succumb to the spores, they lose all ambition and seek nothing more than to become happy stargazers lolling in the fields. Kirk, of course - the ultimate Type A personality - will have none of that, and has to snap his wayward crew out of their lollygagging by inducing violent emotions in them to kill the symbiotically parasitical spores. And that starts with getting Spock really, really mad...

Nicely produced, clever story. Nimoy is great, playing against his usual strait-laced character as the laughing, lovesick fool, with the beautiful and charming Jill Ireland. DeForest Kelley gets to put on his natural, down-home Southern drawl, and jus' be a good ol' boy for a while. The confrontation between Kirk and Spock is terrific, and Spock's painful transformation brought on by the spores is very well-handled.

"Devil in the Dark" is not as great as most people seem to think it is, its script actually pretty derivative and trite. It is, however, excellently produced and acted, with believable sets and matte shots suggesting a massive, underground mining complex, and great performances from Shatner and (especially) Nimoy. Nimoy had great emotional range and rarely got to show it, but he makes up for it in spades here by mind-melding with a highly lethal alien being that turns out to be more sinned against than sinning.