Title: More Tribbles More Trouble
Airdate: 10/6/1973
Plot Summary
In More Tribbles More Trouble, the Enterprise is escorting some robot ships carrying grain to Sherman’s planet, they rescue Cyrano Jones and a bunch of tribbles.
It turns out that Jones has made tribbles “safe” by inhibiting their breeding as well as having acquired a glomer. This little creature feeds on tribbles which helps reduce their population.
However the Klingons want him badly and have a new weapon that can immobilize the Enterprise. Kirk has to protect the grain, protect Jones, the Enterprise, and deal with another tribble outbreak all over the ship.
Risk Is Our Business
Kirk is once again bedeviled by tribbles. First he has one that keeps taking his chair, growing bigger and bigger until finally Kirk just gives up and lets it have the center seat, marking the first and only time a tribble commanded the Enterprise.
He also gets buried in tribbles again, musing he’d think he’d learn.
Logical
Spock notes that tribbles are well known for their proclivity in multiplication to which Jones hilariously replies:
“Yeah, and they breed fast too.”
Spock also remarks that they could throw tribbles a the Klingons which Kirk thinks is Vulcan humor. Turns out it wasn’t.
He’s Dead Jim
Bones studies the tribbles and is able to find a drug to make the Tribbles truly safe.
Helm Sluggish Captain
Sulu pilots and fires weapons during the various battles with the Klingons well.
Hailing Frequencies Open, Sugar
When the Klingons disrupt their systems and can’t really fight back, Uhura wry mentions “well, we can always throw rocks.”
My Wee Bairns
Scotty is very grumpy at the beginning, muttering a lot of what I assume are Klingon racial epithets. He is able to beam a bunch of big-ass tribbles to the Klingon ship again, much to Koloth’s consternation.
Three Arms Are Better Than Two, ya Fuzzy Face
Arex mans his station and does little else.
Getting Animated
Quadrotritcale makes a return, even though Shatner can’t remember how to pronounce it. Sherman’s planet is also mentioned making this a true sequel to The Trouble With Tribbles. The Klingons are still making trouble and my dear Captain Koloth makes a return.
But of course the big return is Cyrano Jones and his tribbles. We get an answer on how he was able to get the station cleaned up so quick thanks to the glomer.
I Know That Guy
Stanley Adams returns as Cyrano Jones in a rare repeat appearance from a guest star in TOS.
Technobabble
The Klingons have a new weapon to keep ships in stasis but it only works for a bit and drains the crap out of their energy reserves.
One might wonder why we never saw it again, but to the episode’s credit, it addresses the limitations and the crew determine it’s really not useful or viable.
The “safe tribbles” Jones engineered turn out to be colonies of tribbles, rather than large tribbles. They come apart at the end with amusing results.
The robot ships are pretty nice designs, with nacelles that are clearly obvious denoting their ability to go to warp. They look like something that could carry a lot of cargo.
What It Means To Be Human – Review
This is a nice sequel to the superb Trouble With Tribbles episode. It’s only real flaw is tribbles aren’t pink. It doesn’t do anything to contradict canon.
It nicely explains how Cyrano was able to get off early from his sentence as well as a logical progression with the Klingons coming up with the glomer to hunt tribbles. In fact later, in DS9, Worf says they are an ecological disaster and were wiped out. The Great Tribble Hunt, as Odo sarcastically called it.
There is one issue. Tribbles don’t like Klingons and they even say so in this episode. But the tribbles on the Klingon ship never whistle or get upset. I suppose that’s a nitpick.
It was great that Stanley Adams made a return, he does a good job slipping back into the role.
While this is a comedic episode, it never crosses the line into silly. The danger from the Klingons is real and again, there’s a mystery to it all.
Tying it back into Sherman’s Planet and the quadrtriticale (that neither Shatner nor Doohan can remember how to pronounce) was a nice touch. I see no reason not to call this episode canon as it feels like a natural sequel.
I can’t put it up there with the original series tribble episode but a solid entry to Trek lore.
