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Series and Season: Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 2
Episode #,and Episode Name: 11 – “Friday’s Child” and 12 – “The Deadly Years”
Setting the Stage: I started at 7:30 pm on January 17th, 2020 still watching via Netflix and using their episode order. I am with the (now) usual suspects: my husband, Tempura, and Professor Zoom. I am back to listening to instrumental music while I work, something I picked up in my undergraduate years. If I work while listening to songs that have lyrics, the lyrics either distract me or wind up in my writing. Tonight is a blend of Hans Zimmer (Man of Steel soundtrack), The London Symphony Orchestra (Star Wars), and Minus the Bear. For those of you who have caught on to my many Star Wars references, or for those who are new and have this ridiculous idea that you have to choose, I say…
Quick Summary with my Impressions: “Friday’s Child” has McCoy giving a report on a new planet. There are tall people with weapons, the Klingons are back, and a red shirt gets killed – all in the first five minutes, oh my! Two of the tribe leaders seems to be in conflict over who to barter with; will they choose the Federation or the Klingon Empire? The leader who liked the Federation is dead, killed in the scuffle, and the one who had a deal with the Klingons is now in charge. Kirk’s quick thinking helps the new leader consider his options, but then he touches the pregnant wife of the old leader (to stop her from being killed) and gets himself in trouble. The Enterprise leaves orbit to assist with another Federation vessel after failing to communicate with the landing party, Scotty is at the helm. This Klingon delegate doesn’t seem as “Klingon” as the last leader we encountered. He seems anxious and, to be honest, a little on the cowardly side. Husband tells me that if we knew any Klingons, they would have to kill me for writing that. McCoy has awful bedside manner, as usual, and SLAPS A PREGNANT WOMAN! I mean, she slapped him twice but daaaaamn son. Spock makes the rocks explode, and the dudes wearing muppet fur take a dive. Back on the Enterprise, Scotty figures out it’s a trap!
The baby is born while Spock and Kirk make bows, the kind you use to shoot arrows and not the kind you might put on a baby’s head. Spock doesn’t want to hold the baby (I relate to him more and more) and McCoy is apparently now the assumed father? Ummm, okay so new mom just bounces up after having a child – I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works. But she lies to the incoming party, telling them her child and the Enterprise crew are dead, interesting. The Klingon wants to verify her story, but Spock and Kirk attack and there’s a whole lot of fighting and even more dead men. Watching McCoy coo over the baby is ridiculous and we have a mostly happy ending.
I liked some of the things in this episode, like the woman becoming the regent at the end, the tribe reviewing all offers for whom to trade with, and Kirk’s outrage over his killed crew member, but a lot of other things felt off or I wasn’t very fond of. Overall I give this episode a 5.2, especially because they killed muppets. Faux fur or bust!
“The Deadly Years” has the landing party arriving to a seemingly empty outpost. Chekov finds an elderly man, who apparently died of old age, until Spock reveals no one was over the age of 40. Two other old people show up, and we find out that they have aged decades in a matter of weeks. Back on the ship, everyone except for Chekov starts to show signs of aging (forgetfulness, hearing loss, etc.) and we again see shirtless Kirk. I wonder if he had something in his contract about it? Why does McCoy’s accent get more Southern as he gets more agitated? It’s not a good Southern either, it’s much to drawn out. Mind you I say that as a Jersey girl who lives in NC, but I digress.
Chekov is talking to himself and Sulu is amused, I am really enjoying the two of them. Spock’s aging makeup is quite subtle, at first, and Kirk’s memory is getting worse by the minute. A competency hearing is created to determine if Kirk is fit to keep running the Enterprise. Wait, why can’t Sulu take command? I mean he’s done it before, I think, sometime in Season 1. As Kirk is deemed unfit, so is Spock who is now most certainly showing more signs of aging and is quite cold. The Commodore takes over, like we haven’t seen that before, but just then the Romulans attack! The Commodore freezes, unable to give commands to the crew, but of course the shot works just in time for Kirk to take back over. Oooh, we get a throw back to corbomite and Kirk really knows how to bluff like that best of them. He catches the Romulans off guard and makes an escape, while everyone else gets the injections to save their lives.
I liked the subtle ways the aging started to affect each crew member, but it disappoints me that Kirk wasn’t more upset about losing the female medical crew member as he has been for the various red shirts that have died in recent episodes. I also feel like random Commodore was played very stiff and I’m not even sure why he was there. Maybe I missed something earlier in the episode, or because I’m not watching in production order, but whatever the reason he was not great. Overall, I also give this episode a 5.2 on the corbomite scale.
I have to say I really liked the throwbacks in both of these episodes to things from Season 1 with the return of the Klingons, Romulans, and even Corbomite. A few episodes ago we saw the return of Mudd, so maybe we’ll continue to see some more things that are familiar as time goes on. Until tomorrow…
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 
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