Day of the Dove : Who Mourns for Adonais? : Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.
Summary[]
While approaching the planet Pollux IV, the Enterprise is stopped by a forcefield shaped like a giant human hand. The face of a humanoid appears on screen and invites a landing party to beam down. The man identifies himself as Apollo, member of a race that came to Earth thousands of years ago and was worshipped as gods in ancient Greece. He demands just that from the crew of the Enterprise too, which Kirk naturally refuses.
Soon Apollo's interest focuses on the attractive Lt. Palamas, who reciprocates his feelings. Kirk puts straight that it is her duty to repel Apollo, while on the ship Spock has found a way to penetrate the forcefield and fire on the power source in Apollo's "temple". The desperate Apollo recognizes that his time is over and vanishes.
Errors and Explanations[]
The Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers[]
Plot Oversights[]
- Apollo doesn’t identity himself until after Kirk and company beam down. Since Spock stays on the ship, he has no way of knowing who the being claims to be. Yet near the end of the episode, when Kirk speaks with Spock and addresses Apollo by name, the Vulcan acts as if he knows precisely what his captain is talking about. Knowing Spock, he probably made an educated guess, based on the face that appeared on the viewscreen before the landing party beamed down, and the being's mention of Pan. [N 1]
Changed Premise[]
- To convince Palamas to shun Apollo, Kirk gives a rousing speech about the bond of humanity, how we‘re all the same and share the same history. As he holds her hand, he says that man or woman, it makes no difference. He states that they are all human. All well and good, but if we're all the same, why isn't there a female captain of a starship? “Turnabout Intruder" states that a human woman has never served as captain of a starship. (I wonder what happened to Number One‘? She was the second-in-command on Christopher Pike's Enterprise—see “The Cage"—and certainly seemed like command material.) Perhaps during this period, Starfleet couldn’t find a woman in it’s ranks who wanted to command a starship? [N 2]
Equipment Oddities[]
- In this episode, Sulu adjusts the tractor beam to repel. This capability of the tractor beam was lost somewhere in the years that follow, because everyone is shocked when Wesley does it in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Naked Now." Probably discontinued for some reason, such as excessive power requirements.
Continuity and Production Problems[]
- Throughout the entire show a hand grips the Enterprise. Then, when Spock fires the phasers, it suddenly disappears. It the crew of the Enterprise succeeded only in punching holes in Apollo’s force field, shouldn't the graphics show a hand with holes in it’! Apollo could have replaced the hand with an invisible force field. [N 3]
Nit Central[]
- Jack B. on Sunday, October 25, 1998 - 5:47 pm: Spock called the hand a "human appendage". Couldn't that be a hand from a Vulcan, or a Romulan, or a Andorian... He was using the term Human to mean Humanoid.
- Later on, Apollo refers to Hercules. That was the name the Romans used. The Greeks called him something like "Heracles". Mike Konczewski on Monday, October 26, 1998 - 10:27 am: Apollo was called that name by both the Greeks and the Romans. Heracles was the Greek name for Hercules.
Ex Astris Scientia[]
- Apollo as well as Kirk speak of 5000 years since the "gods" came to Earth. But the ancient Greek culture that Apollo keeps referring to all the time didn't evolve prior to 800 B.C., so it should be more like 3000 years. Perhaps they are both including the otherwise unmentioned Mycenaean civilization.
Notes[]
- ↑ Listed under Continuity on the IMDB entry.
- ↑ Fandom User Ahroun Dragon on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Remember that this was filmed in 1968. The real reason is that the company executives didn't think a female captain would be believable. It's the same reason why they replaced Number One with Spock.
- ↑ Listed under Plot Holes in the IMDB entry.