Patterns of Force

Season 2, Episode 21, Aired
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Episode Summary

The Enterprise seeks out a historical researcher with whom the Federation has lost contact, and discovers he has contaminated a culture, remaking it into a near-duplicate of Nazi Germany.
7.9
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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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  • Nazis in space? Puhlease!

    1.0
    "Abysmal"
    By peck2000, Nov 14, 2011 Report Abuse
    After the low point of "A Piece of the Action", in which Kirk and Spock got to dress up as gangsters and pretend to be Damian Runyon characters, which resulted in an episode that was just plain terrible, the STAR TREK producers offered us this chunk of crip. This time, Kirk and Spock get to dress up in WW2 Nazi uniforms and make some trite observations about how making the trains run on time doesn't justify genocide.

    This results in an episode that isn't just terrible, it's also offensive in the way it trivialises the holocaust while thinking it's making some kind of worthwhile social comment.

    This is the absolute nadir of the STAR TREK series, no question ...moreless

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    3 4

  • Kirk, Spock and McCoy dress up as Nazis..... in a cloak room!

    7.3
    "Good"
    By hrtonslv, Dec 09, 2010 Report Abuse
    The lesson in the end that John Gill learned is fascinating. I was reading that Shatner and Nimoy had some difficulty in shooting this one because they were both Jewish. That is quite interesting and I felt like I had learned something about putting myself in someone's shoes. The emotional scenes where they are drugging Gill to come out of it worked very well backed with the dramatic music we have all learned to love and enjoy. The episode was not quite as well as "Bread and Circuses" where we visit the Romans, but I still thought it held up pretty well.moreless

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    2 0

  • An episode which leaves you more thoughtful than others of the series

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Merry84, Dec 09, 2010 Report Abuse
    This episode is the last of the series I was able to watch, due to the fact that it was never shown on TV here in Germany, and it left me rather thoughtful because I had the distinct feeling of "Was this really necessary?" I always thought it very unlikely that any society in the universe should come up with a similar insane idea of ruling a country like the Nazis did, and the (too obvious)similarities shown in this episode with uniforms and stuff marred my enjoying of it, so that I came to thinking that it wasnt an altogether bad idea not to show this episode on TV here in Germany. From all the other episodes showing similarities to earth-based societies, this is clearly the weakest, but the important lesson that we have to learn from history in order to prevent similar dreadful things from happening which is pointed out in this episode leaves a strong impression behind and makes it absolutely worth watching.moreless

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  • Kirk discovers a planet controlled by a Nazi movement.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By Celedorian, Nov 27, 2010 Report Abuse
    Invariably, if you talk about the evils of Nazi Germany, you talk about Adolf Hitler This episode uses a good sci fi premise to take Hitler out of the equation and ask the tougher questions about why a Nazi sort of government is created and how it can be accepted by regular people. For these issues to be addressed in a television show so soon after it actually happened is amazing. That said, the episode isn't very ambitious and much of the episode is fairly predictable. All in all, it's a solid episode that would be rather forgettable if it were not for the unique subject matter.moreless

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  • Kirk and Spock search for a missing historian, and find he has 'contaminated' a planet, making it a near duplicate of Germany ruled by a Nazi regime. Once again, many didn't like it, but I thought it was a good episode...moreless

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Jay-Spacedust, Jun 20, 2010 Report Abuse
    A few episodes ago we had "A Piece of the Action", which was an excuse for the show to play gangsters. Here, we get one set in Nazi Germany; it seems to be another clich of the series of "which genre can we use this week?". There are also other examples, with Roman society, etc. However, while not a complete series classic, I did enjoy this episode.

    The story seems more thoughtful, in the vein of the first season, compared to some of the offerings seen in the second season. I felt that more depth could have been given as to just how the planet became so similar to Nazi culture, but there was still more depth to it than some of the more recent stories to play before this one.

    Personally I find the story to be a good one. I like the escape from the prison cell (even if it is slightly far fetched), and like how the story unfolds, explaining just why this alien culture has become to Nazi-like.

    I've heard some people comment that this episode exploits the source material; I'm not sure I agree. Couldn't the same be said for 75% of war films and whatnot? Yes, it is entertainment, but so are many of those old war movies, and I'm not sure that many of them have any more a serious point to make than this episode.

    Maybe this episode suffers from being shown close to "A Piece of the Action", as they are both excuses for the series to play with different time period genres. But I do find "Patterns of Force" a very interesting and exciting episode, and would rank it as one of the better of the second season.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • The whole point of having the transponders implanted in the landing party is so they could be rescued without having their communicators. So it makes no sense to jeopardize that chance by removing them. They would have been beamed back to the Enterprise without the risk of being apprehended, and then could have returned wearing the correct uniforms as disguises, and having the right equipment and personnel as needed. Edit
    • In the syndicated remastered version, they cut the scene where Kirk calls up to the Enterprise and has McCoy beamed down. This leads to an odd glitch where one minute they're in a hallway discussing the fact they need McCoy, then McCoy appears in a closet, then everyone else is in the closet as well. The sequence plays complete on the DVD release. Edit
    • In the syndicated remastered version they delete the scene of a disguised Kirk bumping into a guard and taking his key. This leads to an on-screen glitch since they then show the guard finding out that his key is missing... even though we never see how it was stolen or that Kirk and Spock just ran into him. The sequence plays complete on the DVD release. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • This episode was very hard for the cast to shoot as several people were Jewish, including William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Edit
    • Has never been shown on TV in Germany due to the Nazi theme. Edit
    • Besides the obvious Nazi parallels, there are other similarities to Jewish names and cultures: "Isak" for "Isaac," "Abrom" for "Abraham," etc. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Kirk: Spock, take his uniform. Spock: You propose we pass ourselves off as Nazis? Kirk: If John Gill's the Fuhrer, it would seem the logical approach. Spock: That's very well taken, Captain. Edit
    • Kirk: (to Spock) That helmet covers a multitude of sins. Edit
    • Eneg: Punishment becomes ineffective after a certain point. Men become insensitive. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • McCoy: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This insight, which history has repeatedly confirmed, comes from Lord Acton, a historian who lived in the nineteenth century. His opinion was every person was in some sense unfit to govern, because of the temptation to misuse power. Edit
    • Isak: I'm afraid it will be a formal declaration of war against Zeon, their Final Solution. Alludes to Adolph Hitler's infamous "Final Solution," a plan to rid his country of its Jewish people. Edit

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