Don't Trust Anyone Over 300: Rewatching "Miri" from the original Star Trek

I don’t think I’ve watched a full episode of the original Star Trek since the 1970s.  So when I downloaded some early Friday evening–E was visiting some friends–I was actually able to see them with something like fresh eyes. 

The oddest of them was “Miri.”

1.    Strange new worlds, my ass.

The crew happen upon an exact replica of earth.  Not “earth-type” planet.  Earth. As in “hey, look there’s Winona.”  Star Trek loved alternative history, the most narcissistic of fantasies. But also my favorite. The only question more interesting than “What’s next?” may be “What if?”

2. And the moral of the story.

It turns out that this version of earth was stripped of all post-pubescent life by a man-made plague, which resulted from an attempt to extend life.  Kirk is attacked by Grandma Addams. For guys in a spaceship, the Enterprise crew is strangely anti-hubris.

3. Selective linguistics.

Just as our language has evolved from Chaucer’s English so has “Grup” evolved from “Grown Up.”  All other words have remained stable for three centuries.

4    Kirk’s charms are even creepier than usual.

See absence of grown ups. The planet is inhabited by children who you would think would be even more feral than they are, given that their parents died horribly three centuries ago.  The eldest of these children is a girl named Miri. Since she is “becoming a young woman,” Kirk flirts with her to get information. Given the crisis everyone is facing, this is understandable. But then he has her clean tables and sharpen pencils.  Adding to the off-the-charts cringe factor are also some scenes with Yeoman Rand, designed by the script-writers to induce jealousy.  Yeoman Rand complains, “On the ship, I always was trying to get you to notice my legs.” Really? That was a problem?  To call the female crew members’ skirts short is to acknowledge that the top/loincloth combo was, in fact, a skirt.

5. The revenge of the set decorators.

On DVD, you can see–and confirm–some details that are positively Lynchian. At 23:38 note the window tableau:  a glazed, red-smeared harlequin bust impaled on a trombone; a strangely hoisted doll with mussed hair.

6. And yet. 

The characters are chuckle-headed but sympathetic; while the science tends to be a little elided, the plots follow an engaging pattern of problem, complication, resolution that reminded me of the Horatio Hornblower I read last year.    

Comments

[Carolyn Jean]

Oh, man the Grups. I haven't seen this one forever, though M and I recently watched the pancake monster episode. It really held up!

But I am interested in this set decoration. I will have to investigate this further!

[Kootch]

One of my favorite episodes. Grups and Onlies.

[K]

I'm also watching the very first episode, in which Kirk is portrayed as an intellectual who read and taught Spinoza.

[amy]

Oh yes. Why is Star Trek so good?? I'm reading Asimov's I Robot right now and it reminds me very much of that sort of navel-gazing-y Star Trek brand of sci fi (but now that I think about it, um, is there any other kind?)

[Wyl]

I love how they re-used the Mayberry lot for shooting this episode. In the high-angle shots at the beginning of the clip you can see the Courthouse, Walker's Drugstore, and the Mayberry hotel (these are the buildings I recognize for certain - there's one more that I can't pinpoint). With all the derelict cars and junk out in the street it's as if Earnest T. Bass and his pals took over the town.

[K]

Great eye. Barney had the one bullet, but the kids took it from him when he starting frothing and raving.