Episode of the Week : The Way to Eden
- Thread starter Botany Bay
- Start date
This episode is nowhere near as bad as it's reputed to be. And some interesting ideas are explored. Chekov's character is even enriched by this episode! But there is nothing in it, or about it, that's particularly painful to watch, except that the plentiful songs do suck, pretty hard. The girls are cute, though, with their painted on flowers and their pretty frocks. STAR TREK pandering to its Hippy audience is no different, or worse, than similar attempts other series in the franchise have tried, over the years, to pander to this, or that, Special Interest. I don't have any real problems with it ...
I vote 5. I also feel this episode is not as bad as it's reputation. Since I got my dvds, I've noticed that the badge each of them looks like an egg with an infinity symbol drawn on the yellow circle. I thought that was a really good attention to detail for a group like that. The egg is a symbol of life and the badge might be a symbol of infinite life, or natural life. Some people did not give up in the third season at least, too bad the rest of them had already fled.
A problem with all the shows in the sixties that featured episodes about hippies, is that they were usually written by "establishment" "over 30" men who either didn't quite understand hippies, or were making fun of them. And of course they then got over-30 actors to play them who didn't really care. Mod Squad may have been an exception.
I'm fairly aware of the flaws in the episode, but there are some scenes I really like, such as Spock's discussion with Sevrin in the brig, the number "Heading Out to Eden" and that whole scene in auxiliary control, the segment on the planet (the reversed footage notwithstanding), and Kirk's self-aware closing line. Plus, it's just so quotable: "Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy, I got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy." 
Six.
Six.
I would have preferred the original version of the story with Joanna McCoy. 4.
Anybody know the status of New Voyages/Phase II's efforts to do a version of "Joanna"? @GSchnitzer, perhaps?
It's not one of my favourites but I kind of like it. I gave it an eight and lets not forget The Enterprise does stray into The Romulan neutral zone once again and this time with no confrontations!
JB
JB
There are some very good elements in this episode even though I have a difficult time giving it a strong ranking. The return of Lt. Palmer, Aux Control and the shuttle craft. Although the Hippy space music is a little "out there"....the wound down "Heading Out to Eden" is offbeat terrific....if only to me. For my money, Charles Napier and Skip Homeier are perfectly cast, and put this one over the top. Still, it has that budgeted-down dry 3rd season vibe to it, for me, lacking the energy and promise of S1/2.....the hallmark of the some of the weaker (though gems, unpolished as they may be) S3 offerings. 4.
5. Among the general campiness there are some bits of goodness. I thought Charles Napier and Skip Homeier did a good job. I like the new (remastered) Aurora. Even when I was 7 or 8 I recognized a cheap rehash (Tholian ship with stuck on nacelles) when I saw one.
Yes but a very spot-on depiction of SPACE hippies!
and that was enough to entice Yeoman Mears into giving up Star Fleet
Or a wounded Melakon who hitch hiked to Tiburun for plastic surgery?
JB
JB
I gave it a 1. I'm not too crazy about the songs. I can't say that I'd be letting them be running free on the ship in spite of an ambassador's son being one of the hijackers of the Aurora. The Romulans are awfully lax patrolling their neutral zone compared to "Balance of Terror," "The Deadly Years," and "The Enterprise Incident." Spock being able to pinpoint the location of this mythical Eden begs a little more explanation. Happy-go-lucky Chekov seems to undergo a mood swing into an uptight judgemental person. And why, oh why, at the end are Kirk and his officers helping these half-clad barefeet people off the shuttlecraft and back onto the acid grass?? If I was D.C. Fontana, I'd take my name off it, too!
I would think that in Trek times, a counter culture wouldn't be needed. Their goals would have been reached.
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