Title: A Taste Of Armageddon
Airdate: 2/23/1967
Plot Summary
The Enterprise heads to Eminiar 7 to begin opening up diplomatic relations with the ambassador passenger they have, unaware they are about to be embroiled in a war that has been going on for 500 years. However, the computers run the war and the people have become little more than drones, unwilling to change their situation.
Risk Is Our Business
Kirk is amenable to the Eminarians, trying to find a solution but pretty much reaches “fuck this” territory once the ship and his away team are in trouble.
Logical
Spock is very helpful, using the nerve pinch after playing possum, and using his mind touch to take over a guard.
He’s Dead Jim
Bones mostly plays counter to Scotty but it lacks the fun of him antagonizing Spock. On the other hand, he’s right there to back up Scotty when Fox is showing to be completely incompetent.
Canon Maker
Code 7-10 means no trespassing.
Canon Breaker
It appears that once again the prime directive is more of a set of guidelines for Kirk.
Vulcans are set up as touch telepaths, yet Spock is able to influence a guard from behind a wall. Actually, though it’s mentioned that Vulcans are touch telepaths, all of Trek would toss this out the window whenever it is convenient.
Scotty mentions they can’t fire phasers with their screens up, this is not something that will be a problem later on.
Somehow however, Fox is able to beam down even though the screens are up. Well, screw canon all over the place.
Man It Feels Bad To Be a Red Shirt
Two red shirts and a red skirt beam down with Kirk and all make it back alive.
Technobabble
The computer records all the communication and can run through an analyzer to determine if it the voice was faked. Handy. The Enterprise is established to be able to destroy a planet.
I Know That Guy:
David Opatoshu plays Anan 7, most known for his role in the movie Exodus. Gene Lyons plays Commission Fox. He was best known for his regular role in the show Ironside.
Miko Mayama plays Yeoman Temura. She had an undistinguished career that ended in 1979 but did date Burt Reynolds for a while.
Finally Barbara Babcock makes her first actual appearance after doing a voice over from The Squire Of Gothos. She wears possibly the sexiest outfit in the original show. Va-voom!
What It Means To Be Human – Review
This is Trek at its best, a parable. There are some interesting accidental allegories in A Taste of Armageddon that probably weren’t intended, but I think exist nonetheless.
The idea that people would get to be such a product of inertia that they would simply walk into suicide booths because their government tells them to? Sure, in this case, the government is on the up and up, insofar as they aren’t lying to the people. Everyone really believes in this lunatic way to wage war.
But it really hits home in 2024, people mindlessly listening to their institutions to be a part of the whole, to feel like their good people, even if it means their own death. Have you seen the suicide booths that are ACTUALLY out there? Or how about people so bound up by the fear of being called racist, they will want their victimizer to be let go, even they already caused great harm?
Don’t even get me started on the gender mutilation surgery people are buying into.
The point is, that institutions can wield a ton of power over the populace and reach cult leader status. It was something that was somewhat unthinkable back in the day but now I realize it happens far easier than I would’ve ever guessed.
As for what A Taste Of Armageddon intended, making war neat and clean, it also is still a powerful message. While we don’t have people (yet) walking into death because they were told, certainly we don’t see some of these conflicts ending. Israel and Palestine are the tip of the iceberg, there are blood feuds that have been and will go on for hundreds of years. Until someone says, the killing has to stop, people will be just as driven, and just as brainwashed, to get to killing and dying.
If I could improve this episode, I would show the governments of these two worlds are doing all this by lying to the people and creating some sort of profit for the corporate players in bed with the government. I’m not sure how I would do it but it would drive the point the home.
Kirk is just awesome in this episode. Once he realizes what’s going on, he has no problem setting the prime directive on fire to stop this nonsense. His disgust of Anan 7 is palpable.
We also have the trope of the useless federation VIP, this time an ambassador. Fox is typically arrogant and stupid, someone who’s never gotten from behind a desk. “Peace, peace, peace,” he preaches, even in the face of obvious evidence these people are not to be trusted.
But once reality finally slaps him across the face, he can’t wait to get a gun. “Who do I got to blow away? Let’s start shooting some fools!” Too funny.
Overall, this is one of my favorite episodes and while I’m sure there’s some problems here and there, I can’t ding it. It’s on my top ten list and I love every minute of it, especially Kirk’s solution.
