The Paradise Syndrome

Season 3, Episode 3, Aired
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Episode Summary

Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to a planet in the path of an oncoming asteroid. However, Kirk disappears and the Enterprise is forced to abandon the search to stop the asteroid in time. Meanwhile, Kirk recovers consciousness but has no memories of his previous life, and is adopted by a local Amerindian tribe as their medicine chief and god.moreless
7.6
out of 10
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Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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  • My favorite episode ever!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By alyssa01, Jun 27, 2011 Report Abuse
    This episode was the best of all the other episodes. The story line with Kirk was great, a chance to see him have the normal life he so desperatly craved and the end sequence with his wife was truly moving, had me in tears. ! ! ! ! But as good as that story line was nothing could beat Leonard Nimoys performance as Spock. The way he was shown punishing himself becouse of his own guilt at the asteroid not being stopped and Kirk been lost was so heartwrenching ! ! ! All in all this was a massive success of an episode.moreless

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  • Kirk disappears after discovering ruins from a lost civilization, and the Enterprise is forced to abandon its search to stop an asteroid from striking the planet.

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Celedorian, Dec 13, 2010 Report Abuse
    Had Star Trek The Next Generation or another Star Trek series done this episode, it would have been a two parter. Yet director Jud Taylor deserves credit for not rushing it, and the result is a powerful hour of television. This is one of the rare classic Star Trek episodes that features an outdoor location other than the Vasquez Rocks, and there's even an outstanding original score by Gerald Fried to boot. Sabrina Scharf guest stars as Miramanee, one of the most memorable of "Kirk's girls", thanks to Scharf and Shatner's chemistry together. All in all, this is a bright spot for the third season.moreless

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  • Paleface for Another Planet!

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By GeorgeJobson, Dec 13, 2010 Report Abuse
    Captain Kirk lost his memory on a planet on a collison course with a astroid. There Kirk falls in love with an indian woman.while out there the Enterprise is trying to blow up the astroid before in hit the planet. And on thast planet, Kirk finds peace. I didn't think this epsoide didn't do any good for me. The episode is more concern with the latest romance involving Kirk that with the plan to blow up the astroid. I love the show, but this epiosde is a lowpoint of the series. so far I've given this episode a 6. that's the lowest of the series. so far.moreless

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  • On a peaceful, primitive planet similar to Earth, Captain Kirk has his memory erased by an alien temple device and, unable to remember who he is, joins a tribe of people who resemble Earth's American Indians. A hard episode to rate...moreless

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Jay-Spacedust, Dec 12, 2008 Report Abuse
    A well-recognised 'Star Trek' plot clich by this point was the "duplicate Earth" notion. Two of the most recognisable instances came in the second season with "A Piece of the Action" (gangsters), and "A Private Little War" (Nazis), and there are other examples too. Here, it is used again, this time with American Indians.

    I find this a very hard episode to sum up and rate. It has some bad elements, some so-bad-it's good elements, but to be fair some very good elements mixed in. The episode is certainly not without its charm in places.

    This episode is very notable for the explanation, albeit rather briefly, of 'Preserver' aliens, which had travelled through the galaxy thousands of years before 'seeding' humanoid life, which explains why so many other planets have humanoid life. I thought this was a very interesting concept, and deserved an episode of its own to be expanded upon.
    (It has, though, been used in some of William Shatner's 'Trek' novels and suchlike, although I haven't read any of them).

    The temple device that Kirk (literally) falls into is well constructed, and looks much better than some of the cheap and tacky devices of the Original Series. However, I thought the explanation of the phrase that opened the 'trap door' (?), which I will not give away here, was a bit silly and let down an otherwise good concept.

    My major nitpick with the episode when Captain Kirk initially goes missing on the planet. Spock insists to McCoy that they must leave on the Enterprise to stop the asteroid that is speeding towards the planet. Which is great, and adds more urgency to the plot. But why don't they at least beam down a search party to look for the Captain in the meantime? This seemed a very big niggle to me.
    The asteroid itself suffers from some dodgy effects (I'm reviewing the original version, I haven't seen the remastered episodes as yet), again seemingly a casualty of the budget and time restrictions of Original Series episodes.

    But that's some of the bad and there is certainly good to be found in this episode as well. The whole plot of Kirk, having his memory wiped as his life as a Starship Captain, finding peace and love with the American Indian-like tribe is charming, and especially his romance with Miramanee.

    I also like that this story, in a break from the typical plot structure of epsiodes, takes place over several weeks, as Kirk is immersed into the tribe. And back on the ship, there are some good Spock McCoy moments.

    [spoiler] The ending of the episode, with Miramanee now Kirk's wife and expecting their child dying, is real tragedy, and one of the most superior moments of the (weaker) third season. [End of spoiler].

    So there it is. Some good bits, some not so good bits. I think this is a 'love it or hate it' episode.moreless

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  • Two good stories rolled in to one although I have some issues with Kirk's adventures

    8.1
    "Great"
    By Neenach, Jan 28, 2007 Report Abuse
    This episide has some great moments mostly dealing with the Enterprise and an outdoor location which gets out of the confines of the Enterprise and fake looking planet sets. We've finally figured out why so many humanoids are found on other planets because they were seeded there by intelligent aliens. However, I find it hard to believe that the indians on the planets are actually a mixture of Navajos and such. It would have been more believable if the they were a unique tribe. After all, you find unique animals in Australia and Gallapos Islands because they have been separated from other species for many years. The visual aspects of the colliding asteroid are dazzling and Spocks's attempts to divert it are eye candy. Spock almost goes on a Kirk like obsession to find some way to deflect it. However, his obsession is focused on the obelisk because the secret lies within it. On the other hand, Kirk's adventures has some problems. They try to roll a romance of several months into an episode and this makes it seem to condensed. But Kirk's interactions with the tribe is interesting as they take him for a god. However, Miramanee's death seems too convenient. Unless somebody lobbed an accurate rock throw to her head, her death seemed too forced. It would have made more sense for her to die from the future pregnancy. But, Kirk's happily finding his Shangri-La (albeit reluntantly since he stills sees an Enterprise and two familiar faces in a fog) is enjoyable. But the best moments are still on the Enterprise with Spock in command using that great scientific mind of his to rescue the Captain and divert the asteroid. His interaction with McCoy has wonderful dialogue, especially McCoy's remark about "cutting a diamond" and Spock's payback to McCoy by telling him of how astute his description was. Spock and McCoy feuding over Spock's decisions is legendary, but Spock would always say something positive towards McCoy that would let him know that he still valued McCoy's opinions...no matter how illogical they seemed.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Most of the outdoor scenes were done with voice-overs due to too much background noise during filming, but the voice-overs at the beginning of the epiosde on the surface of the planet are very obvious and poorly done. Budget restrictions, no doubt. Edit
    • It seems odd that McCoy isn't able to help Miramanee after she gets hurt by some flying rocks. They were able to save Spock when he got shot in "A Private Little War," he saved Kirk when he got stabbed in "Journey to Babel" and modern medicine even saved Capt. Pike, who was mutilated from radiation. However, with all their advanced medical abilities they can't stop some internal bleeding from getting hit with rocks. Edit
    • When Miramanee takes the medicine badge off of Salish and puts in on Kirk, take note of the space age elastic band that the badge is tied to. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Miramanee's pregnancy is considered by many Star Trek fans to be the only incontrovertible evidence that Captain Kirk had sexual relations with an alien or human female during the time frame of the original series. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • McCoy: What's the matter, Jim? Kirk: What? Oh, nothing. Just so peaceful, uncomplicated. No problems, no command decisions. Just living. McCoy: Typical human reaction to an idyllic natural setting. In the twentieth century, we referred to it as the Tahiti Syndrome. It's particularly common to over pressured leader types, like starship captains. Kirk: Ah, Tahiti Syndrome. Edit
    • Spock: I want full power, Mr. Scott. Scotty: Aye, sir. All right, you lovelies. Hold together. Edit
    • Kirk: Miramanee... tell me about the wise ones. Miramanee: Tell? But a god knows everything. Kirk: Not this one. Tell me. Edit

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