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Star Trek

Shore Leave

Season 1, Episode 15, Aired 12/29/66

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Episode Summary

The Enterprise crew take shore leave on a peaceful, pastoral planet... where their dreams and fantasies come to life.

8.3

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Cast & Crew

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Leonard Nimoy

Mr. Spock
William Shatner

Captain James Tiberius Kirk
George Takei

Lt. Hikaru Sulu

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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In many ways, one of the most groundbreaking and clever entries in the original series.

8.2

"Great"

By Mac-Ale, Nov 02, 2010 Report Abuse

The crew investigates mysterious happenings on a planet that seemed to be a paradise.

This episode is often overlooked or thought of as silly, probably because of the large "man in a rabbit suit" from the first scene. In actuality, Sturgeon crafted a very inventive story, in a time long before the planet Raisa or the holodeck of later Trek lore. And it's exciting, count the number of dramatic situations and characters the crew encounters in 60 minutes, it's quite astounding. The premise is similar in concept to a holodeck - machinery that creates real objects, organisms, and people all for the sake of the mental diversion of the planet's visitors. An interesting idea and fairly innovative for the late 1960s.

"Shore Leave" makes a nice bookend with "This Side of Paradise" as an exploration of what truly makes the mind entertained, challenged, and satisfied. Another plus is the glimpses into characters that impacted Kirk during his academy days, something the original series rarely mentioned. There is also a decent sense of dramatic mystery here. The more I think about it, after these Season 1 episodes, there really are only a handful of entries in "Star Trek" that show half the imagination of stories like this one.moreless

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3 1
While on shore leave, Kirk plays hide and seek, Sulu plays with a gun, McCoy plays with a yeoman

2.5

"Terrible"

By hrtonslv, Nov 02, 2010 Report Abuse

Well sorry folks. In my last review we agreed more so on any other review. (Balance of Terror) However, on this one, we disagree more so on any other review. I thought this one took the cake for not making any sense at all for a script and Kirk's character was farthest from what the series set up for the man he was characterized. I'm guessing everyone was taken in by the delightful characters and imaginative thoughts that took us out of the normal mindset of Star Trek. I think those refreshing attempts were achieved so much better in "I Mudd", "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "A Piece of the Action".moreless

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4 5
The crew of the Enterprise discover an Earth-like planet where wishes come true.

7.0

"Good"

By Celedorian, Sep 10, 2010 Report Abuse

This is somewhat bizarre offering. Unlike most other Star Trek episodes, most of this one was shot outdoors instead of on soundstages, so that's a nice change of pace. The episode also has an original score that's very good (except for an out of tune cello.) The plot, however, sort of meanders along; it becomes clear before long that the writers didn't really have any plan but were just making it up as they went along. (Actually, Roddenberry wrote much of it while they were shooting.) It all adds up to a memorable episode but one that lacks the greater meaning of some of the others.moreless

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0 0
The crew of the Starship Enterprise prepare to take shore leave on a peaceful, lush planet supposedly devoid of life, but where people's dreams come to life, which in some cases proves to be very dangerous. A so-so but rather silly tale...moreless

6.5

"Fair"

By Jay-Spacedust, Oct 29, 2008 Report Abuse

After a run of more serious episodes, here things let up with a more light-hearted story.

The episode in many ways is a comedy, but never seems to fully decide on this, as some more 'dramatic' moments are mixed in. I found a couple of the scenes, such as Spock 'tricking' Kirk into taking shore leave, to be a bit smug.

The episode has some nice location footage, filmed at Redwood Shores in California. I always loved episodes with good location scenes, and here they really bring the episode to life, rather than being stuck in a semi-convincing studio as is sometimes the case.

But not everything is so slick - during the fight between Kirk and Finnegan, for example, there are a number of clear stunt double shots, which I found to be very distracting.

Doctor McCoy has some strange flirting scenes with the episodes 'guest crew member', Mary Teller. These scenes were quite nice in a way, but as others have commented, McCoy is old enough to be her father!

Apparently, the original script was more extravagant but was too expensive to film, so had to be cut back. I wonder, in today's CGI world, if that episode could be produced, and if I would rank it higher.

I know that some people absolutely love this episode. While I can name worse TOS episodes, personally it isn't really one of my favourites. It's a watch-once-and-move-on episode in my opinion, and doesn't have the re-watchable factor of some better episodes.moreless

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The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play

8.0

"Great"

By amazingwebhead, Nov 08, 2007 Report Abuse

In my opinion, this is exactly the kind of the episode that the series needed at this point. After six rather mentally engaging episodes, it's good to finally be able to kick back and enjoy a bit of fantasy with the characters we have by now- grown to love.

Penned by the great Theodore Sturgeon, 'Shore Leave' is Trek's first story with a comedic edge since the brilliant 'The Naked Time'. Perhaps not as interesting or as involving as the previous episode, but nevertheless makes up for any lack of serious themes with a good dose of light-hearted comedy. This episode also has a great deal of characterisation told similar to that of 'The Naked Time', using both recurring characters and guest stars and living out their 'fantasies' or even desires. Not only does this build our cast and help flesh out those guest characters to be more than death bait, but it creates a very interesting and fantastic story that allows pretty much anything to happen. In this way, it holds the attention very well and has an irregularly fast pace for an original Trek episode. All of which, work in the show's favour.

As mentioned above, this style not only works for the story, but for developing our main characters too. We get to see Kirk being reunited with a long lost love, getting into an elaborate fist fight with an old nemesis (more on that later!), McCoy becoming a bit of ladies man and chasing a six foot rabbit, and Sulu firing off a 6-shooter and running away from a samurai. The one problem I had was that Spock was pretty much left alone to smirk at the rest of the crew. Aside from that though, as you can see, there's plenty of character construction going on here, even if much of it is based upon pre-established ideas. It's still good see development of those characteristics and Sturgeon does a good job of doing so.

For anyone who is reading this and thinking that it all sounds like a bunch of baloney, then fair enough, it is baloney, but I enjoyed it. Thankfully if you're still looking for nice character writing however; it's all there, even in the scenes that don't involve knights and WWII fighter planes. In fact, I probably enjoyed such scenes more than the wacky surreal ones. The simple banter between Kirk and McCoy down on the planet before things turn really weird, and Spock tricking Kirk into taking leave, amid others all work magnificently and indeed rather hilariously on screen.

And how about that Finnegan guy! Bruce Mars does an absolutely brilliant job of bringing the animated bully from Kirk's academy years to life. I loved every scene he was in (as inherently annoying as he was written to be) and found the interaction between him and Kirk to be both informative about Kirk's past, and just plain fun. Not only this but it also makes way for one of the best and most memorable fight scenes to be used in the series. This is because there's decent conflict between these characters (this isn't just some guard or obstacle in Kirk's way) that's developed before we meet him: though hearing Kirk's tales with McCoy, and at the beginning of the episode where Kirk is feeling the strain of getting old (although not admitting to it).

Speaking of memorable scenes, I realise that it was very unlikely to be permanent but nevertheless I still found the 'death' of McCoy to be well performed, written and directed. Perhaps not as touching as say, Star Trek II, but still quite a bit of heavy character work early on the series. It's also quite ambitious in that it relies on you being connected to these people, and of course it does work because we do care thanks to episodes like these.

The final conclusion and "ah-ha!" explanation given in the last five minutes wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. In fact, I couldn't really find that much of a problem with it. It does provide good food for thought and for anyone with an imagination, it's quite an attractive premise; A planet where your dreams come true? I wouldn't say no.

In addition to all this (I've really went on and on with this one), we also have a fantastic episode for the eyes and ears. The planet itself on which the crew find themselves taking their break is full of wonderful colours and natural beauty that is so seldom seen aboard the Enterprise and indeed, any of the constructed planet sets made in the studio. This outing also has a very original score that I'm not sure is used later on in the series. This offers a nice break, and helps the viewer connect with the story, taking a vacation you could say, from watching the rather tired sets of the ship. Sure, we'll be glad to see it back in the next episode, but it is good to give it a rest every now and again. Especially as we haven't gone elsewhere in around six episodes!

So with all this you'd think I'd be giving the episode a perfect score, but unfortunately that isn't the case. As entertaining as it can be, 'Shore Leave' is nevertheless just that; a vacation. It's a nice break and a fun episode, but lacks any real substance. There are also a few low points in the story here and there that don't really work. However, as I say, at mid-point in the season, the episode was sorely needed, and it does its job well, without sacrificing the show's integrity by never really taking itself too seriously. All in all, a great light-hearted and well developed episode for character and plot.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Early in the episode, before the phasers and communicators quit working, Kirk searches for Sulu, and while doing so, is calling out for Sulu by shouting his name. He also calls out for McCoy, without using his communicator, when he and the Yeoman arrive on the planet. Edit
- Although Kirk makes a big deal out of McCoy's apparent death, he never even wonders where Mary Teller/Angela Martine has gone or what happened to her. It's uncharacteristic of Kirk to not at least mention something like that, especially when it's a woman. Edit
- Trivia: We learn that it took Kirk fifteen years to go from the Academy to being Captain of the Enterprise. Edit
Notes
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- Mystery Science Theatre 3000 paid tribute to this episode in their episode The Thing That Couldn't Die. In the third host segment, the Observers thought they were bringing people from Mike Nelson's past back for him to see, but the first one was Finnegan. Like here, he tormented Mike. Edit
- This episode was filmed on location at a wildlife reserve called "Africa USA" once located in Redwood Shores, California. The reserve was also the main shooting location for the 1960s TV series Daktari. The reserve was later merged and moved to Vallejo, California as part of the Six Flags Theme parks system, and the original land is now owned and occupied by Oracle Corporation. Edit
- The original script by Theodore Sturgeon had been deemed too "imaginative" and too expensive to shoot by NBC just before the cameras started to roll, forcing a last-minute rewrite by Gene Roddenberry while the episode was being filmed. This resulted in a new script with incomplete scenes and missing pieces of dialog, which lead to those scenes being improvised on-the-fly with ad-libbed dialog by the actors themselves. Edit
Quotes
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- Spock: They act exactly like the real thing. Just as pleasant. Or just as deadly. Edit
- Finnegan: (to Kirk) You stupid underclassman. I've got the edge. I'm still twenty years old. Look at you! You're an old man! Edit
- Kirk: This is turning out to be one very unusual shore leave. McCoy: It could have been worse. Kirk: How? McCoy: You could have seen the rabbit. Edit
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