26 – Errand of Mercy

Grade: B-

Summary

Captain Kirk receives orders from Starfleet to proceed immediately to the planet Organia, and to do whatever is necessary to prevent the Klingons from taking possession of it. Kirk and Spock meet with Organia’s leaders to persuade them to ally with the Federation against the Klingons. The Organians are not at all concerned about the potential destruction of their planet, or when some of their people appear to die. This is very troubling to Captain Kirk, who hopes to secure the planet for the Federation cause.

Commentary

This episode starts out OK, but it becomes a bit tedious near the end. It’s better than the last few episodes have been, but I’m not all that impressed with it overall.

Of Note

I thought it was interesting that the Organians predicted that the Klingons and the Federation would become “fast friends” at some point in the future. This process started here, but really accelerated in the Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country film.

In this episode, Spock says “pure energy”. I don’t know if this is the instance that was used in Information Society’s song “What’s On Your Mind”, but it’s close enough.