Plato's Stepchildren

Season 3, Episode 10, Aired
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Episode Summary

Kirk and his crew find themselves at the mercy of powerful individuals who possess mind-over-matter powers...and plan to use the Enterprise crew for their twisted entertainment.
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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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  • Kirk and his crew are trapped by aliens with telekinetic abilities who want Dr. McCoy to spend the rest of his life as their physician.

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By Celedorian, Dec 24, 2010 Report Abuse
    This installment is famous for supposedly featuring television's first interracial kiss (performed by Kirk and Uhura), but the episode itself is somewhat dreary. The story is similar to "The Gamesters of Triskelion" from the second season, but instead of a hot alien babe there's a dwarf (Michael Dunn) and much of the episode features the crew of the Enterprise humiliating themselves for the entertainment of both the aliens and the television audience. On the plus side, Michael Dunn (who was considered for the role of Spock some years before this) is fantastic; but it's not enough to make the show anything more than mediocre. (And for the record, Sammy Davis Jr. and Nancy Sinatra shared an interracial kiss on a variety program about a year before "Plato's Stepchildren" first aired.)moreless

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  • Sounds Greek to Me!

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By GeorgeJobson, Dec 21, 2010 Report Abuse
    I'm giving this episode of Stsar Trek a 5. That is low and may be the lowest of the original series. The planet is greek and is run by a people who can use their mind to move things and mess with people's miknd. that one scene where Kirk and spook are under the mind and have them doing stupid stunts maybe be the turning point of the epiosde. It's painful to watch the way the two has bee treated. Especially Mr. spook, who have it emotions drain right out of him. I didn't care much about this episode. A big embrassement.moreless

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    2 1

  • Painful to watch... because you're watching sick sadistic acts of degradation.

    4.9
    "Poor"
    By Gislef, Dec 21, 2010 Report Abuse
    The main reason this episode is probably rated fairly low is because you're watching writer Meyer Dolinsky drag the audience through a series of degradation games. the Platosians are another in a series of super-powered alien races, albeit low-grade compared to the Metrons, Organians, Trelane, Thalasians, etc. Basically Dolinsky hits the audience over the head with the idea that "absolute power corrupts absolutely"... except, of course, if you're the angelic Enterprise crew who all resist the urge for some sweet, sweet revenge at the end.

    So after some minimal set-up with the usual coincidence required (the Enterprise just happens to be going by when Parmen happens to suffer a very rare life-threatening infection), it's watch the Platonians torture Spock and Kirk again... and again... and again. The torture is... well, torture to watch. As with most third season episodes, it's the Kirk & Spock Show, with McCoy along with the ride. Nichelle Nichols gets about as much screen time and a chance to do anything in the third season here as she ever will this late in the game. Yes, we get the first interracial kiss, with the sop tossed in that it's hinted at as a form of torture.

    Liam Sullivan and Barbara Babcock do what they can with their one-dimensional stick figures in this morality play, but Michael Dunn, always a class act, shines here. He manages to rise above the mediocre scripting and give some real human reaction to the situation. His character doesn't really add anything to the situation, but whether it's Alexander reacting to the torture, or swearing vengeance, or his last look of joy and happiness at the end, Michael Dunn is always at the top of his game.

    Overall a simplistic "power corrupts" moral message but so cloaked in allegory (by making the bad guys telekinetic meanies) that if there was any real message or real-world allegory to be found, it's deeply buried. Meyer Dolinsky has done better, but he should have stuck to spy, cop, and detective dramas.moreless

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    3 1

  • Some non-conformist dwarf refuses to shoot up with Kirk, Spock and McCoy spoiling the mood of the party

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By hrtonslv, Dec 21, 2010 Report Abuse
    Apart from my girl, Uhura, (who looked ravishing!) and the big kiss scene, this one was uncomfortable at times. Especially the long, drawn out part where Parman is making Kirk and Spock do dances and strange things. I have to admit I do love saying out loud "How about a serenade from the Laughing Spaceman!?" whenever some band or DJ asks the crowd what they want to hear. Of course, no one knows what the heck I'm talking about. So I guess the episode has some redeeming quality to it.moreless

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  • Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet inspired by the Ancient Greeks, and run by ageless individuals with strong psychic powers, who use Kirk and co. for their own twisted entertainment. Another of the third season's far better episodes...moreless

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Jay-Spacedust, Aug 18, 2010 Report Abuse
    I am extremely surprised that this episode is generally rated so low, as I personally consider it to be one of the third season's far stronger instalments.

    Pint-sized Michael Dunn gives a very good performance as dwarf Alexander, who has been at the Platonians' mercy for countless ages. The character is very sympathetic, and Dunn plays the role perfectly.

    The Ancient Greek concept had already been utilised in the second season episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?".
    The way it is presented here, it seems as if Earth's Ancient Greek Gods were indeed real, and the Platonians encountered them before voyaging into space.

    The plot is one of (if not THE) darkest of the Original Series, and has some truly chilling moments as Kirk and co. are used as the Platonians' playthings. The moment at the end of the second act, where Kirk is forced to act like a horse, with Alexander the dwarf riding on his back, and Kirk shrilling, is truly haunting.

    Of course, this episode is famous for another thing the kiss between Kirk and Uhura, often cited as American television's first interracial kiss. Many of the 'powers that be' were very unhappy about this, to the extent that some stations refused to show the episode. It seems ridiculous nowadays that something could have caused such uproar.

    Here in the United Kingdom, this episode was typically skipped by the BBC on their repeats of the series, with the treatment dished out to the crew and Alexander deemed unsuitable by the Beeb for the show's timeslot; it became one of several episodes to be dropped from BBC runs of the series. However, since the 1990s, this episode has always been included on repeat runs.

    This episode is also of particular note to me for getting me back into the series, after my interest waned slightly in the late 1990s early 2000s. A few weeks previously I had found an old off-air recording of the second season's "The Ultimate Computer", and not long after, a friend lent me a film he had recorded, and which just happened to have a recording of this episode afterwards. These two episodes reignited my interest in the series.

    Overall, I find this to be a very strong episode, and one that could easily have come from the far better second season. It has a good story with some very dark moments, and I don't think it deserves the low rating it has. From me, it falls not far short of a perfect 10.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Their home star Sahandra went nova 1,000 years ago, yet they arrived on Playtonius 2,500 years ago. While it is possible they left their world long before it went nova, Philana states she is only 2,300 years old. Edit
    • Later the Platonians force Kirk to dress in a toga. After he and Spock defeat them, he pulls out his communicators. Why did the Platonians put his communicator in his toga? Edit
    • Another super-discovery forgotten - all the Federation has to do is inject kironide into its Starfleet members and they'd have telekinetic powers. They never do. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Leonard Nimoy wrote the song "Maiden Wine" that Spock performs. Edit
    • According to Nichelle Nichols, the infamous kiss almost didn't happen. First the director, then studio executives, objected. Roddenberry talked them into shooting the scene with and without the kiss, saying they could decide later. Since it was near the end of a week of filming and the studio didn't want to go over time, Shatner continued to ask for more takes of the kiss until the day was over, then subtly blew the non-kiss take by crossing his eyes at a crucial moment. The result was that the studio and director had no choice but to allow a kissing take. Edit
    • This is the last of six appearances by Barbara Babcock (Philana) in the series. Four of these were as voices of computers or aliens, the other was in "A Taste of Armageddon." Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Uhura: (forced into Captain Kirk's arms) I'm so frightened, Captain. I'm so very frightened. Kirk: That's the way they want you to feel. Makes them think that they're alive. Uhura: I know it, but... I wish I could stop trembling. Kirk: Try not to think of them. (the Platonians laugh as they force them closer and closer together) Try... Uhura: I'm thinking... I'm thinking of all the times on the Enterprise when I was scared to death... (they're forced to embrace) ...and I would see you so busy at your command, and I would hear your voice from all parts of the ship... and my fears would fade. And now they're making me tremble. But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid... Edit
    • McCoy: The release of emotion is what keeps us healthy. Emotionally healthy. Spock: That may be, Doctor. However, I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is very frequently unhealthy for those closest to you. Edit
    • Parmen: Philosophic kings have no need of titles. Edit

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