Star Trek Retro Review: "The Return of the Archons" | Other Earths
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- Опубліковано 15 лис 2023
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#startrek #startrektheoriginalseries #startrektos - Розваги
Our most important rule is not to interfere. Except when we interfere a lot and then leave behind a team of experts to keep interfering.
Well, interference from outer space had already happened to them and, considering the outcome, they're going to need all the help they can get. The Prime Directive says not to interfere because we might mess them up, not to only let other people mess them up.
The prime directive contains the clause, "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it." It also contains this exception, "The prime directive doesn't apply when something is deemed broken."
it's the american way
Too bad Kirk didn't tell Landru, "Everything I say is a lie".
And poor Doctor McCoy, always succumbing to mind-altering drugs.
"Calculate pi, sucka"
The key to defeating these early AI systems lies in the fact that, unlike humans, they don't have subconscious thoughts. Everything is top layer. Computers like Landru solve a problem in a way that makes sense when they do it based on the information and programming they already have. But then Kirk comes along and plants a contradiction, forcing the computer to recalculate everything it's done since it made that first bad decision. This is why Futurama supercomputers come with paradox-absorbing crumple zones, and why AIs in the late 24th Century (such as those housed at the Daystrom Institute) having the complexity to have obvious subconscious processes is kind of worrying to Starfleet.
He has too much heart, and not enough mind.
That one's actually not a paradox. Kirk _sometimes_ lies, but he also sometimes tells the truth. So when he says he _always_ lies, that's one of his occasional lies
@douglaswolfen7820 Is that true?
I always found it funny how the costuming was rather oddball. While the people were dressed in late period 19th century or early 20th century... Sulu and Red Shirt was dressed late 18th century... Tri-corner hat. lol Maybe they got caught because they were so ..... Out of Fashion. "Hmmmm they are not of the Body, they are sooooooo Last Boston Massacre ago.."
I believe Sulu says something about the clothes he wore weren't the tight type/era.
Yea when sulu gets beamed back up he yells at the dude who gave them the clothes and told them he dressed them wrong, and thats how they knew something was wrong.
😂
@@Dante22314 Exactly! The dude who gave them the clothes didn't realize that styles changed as fast as on Earth but
400 years behind Earth
"Return of the Archons" is one of those episodes with a way cooler title than the actual episode it's for. It immediately makes me ask "Who are the Archons?" and "Where did they go?" and "Why are they returning?" It's an episode title that invites the viewer to ask questions. Turns out the Archons aren't cool aliens after all, bummer. Still a decent episode but far from the best "alternate Earth" one TOS did. But next week...
"A Piece of the Action" is one of my favorite TOS episodes. It's just silly enough to be enjoyable but serious enough to feel like the characters are in danger. Plus Vic Tayback as a 30s style mobster is just perfect casting.
He's got a great voice, too. The kind of voice which was everywhere in the 60s and isn't really anywhere anymore (I assume smoking was related to that).
I love A Piece of the Action! “Except on Tuesdays.” Fortunately, Steve drops these episodes on Thursdays. 😂
One of my favorites too. Fizbin.... the Calvinball of card games. The way Kirk (and Shatner) gleefully settle into the role of gangster.... delightful.
I like "A Piece of the Action" and "Assignment Earth". Looked to be very exciting!
It occurs to me that the loss of a Federation ship on Beta 3 could be an explanation for why some of the locals can't be absorbed - the descendants of the survivors are different enough biologically and/or neurologically that the absorption tech, originally developed for Betans, doesn't always take.
That might explain the setting too; something from the ship's computer that the controlling AI liked and modeled the society after
Does it say in the episode that some people cant be absorbed? At least 3 Enterprise crew get absorbed during the episode
Perfect example of how visionary ST is. Landru's hair style wouldn't be trendy until the 1980s!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯💯♥️🖖🏽
Funny, those robed guys don't look Druish...
FWIW, I use this episode to show folks what people *think* destructive cults look like, then go to other eps like "Way to Eden" and "A Taste of Armageddon" to show them what a *real* destructive authoritarian group looks like.
And Belar used to give me nightmares when I was a kid.
The actor who played Belar would've made a decent Joker for the '66 Batman series if Cesar Romero had passed on the part. 🤡👍🏻
According to Wikipedia The Purge was actually inspired by this episode.
Gonna try Kirk's tactics with ChatGPT now. Will let you know how it goes. If you don't hear from me within 24 hours, you know what to do: go to your stacked-out prep shelter and wait for the machines to take over.
Love your channel Steve. This is one of my favorite episodes. The costumes and behavior of the planet's inhabitants is just so odd. And the cost cutting reuse of Old West and 18th century costumes and the Desilu Mayberry setting are fun. Dr. McCoy's strange behavior after he has been absorbed is also a delight. I love to randomly ask people, "Are you not of the body?"
But I also thought this episode, along with many others like "The Apple" are critiques of religions and cults. But like "A Piece of the Action," this episode is a little more clever about it, since the root of the issue is a computer rather than a system of beliefs or cult that inhibit free will, critical thought, or individual actions. The question, "are you of the body?" reminds me of questions like "have you been saved?" or being handed religious texts by strangers. I thought you might touch on that a bit. Keep up the good work Steve!
Charles Macaulay, the actor playing Landru, would also play planetary leader Jaris in another episode, Wolf in the Fold.
Even if it’s the will of Landru, the morning after Festival must be very awkward for everyone.
Truly it would seem so, as evidenced by the shrieks and cries of TAMAR's poor DAUGHTER the mourning after she was endlessly ravaged by strangers in the Red Hours. Funny how even though they are all walking automatons, they still feel pain joy and suffering. Who does that reMIND you of?
I love how this is Kirk's super power. My favorite is when Nomad is about to explode and Spock gives Kirk a wry look and says "You're logic was flawless, we are in grave danger."
I've always loved this for the utter weirdness. I can't say it's objectively a great episode, but it's so memorable.
I know this is going to annoy Steve, but the brief Lower Decks gag about Landru and Beta III is probably more memorable than this entire episode.
Awww! I just bought a new scythe.
Nah, but it's very funny.
besides how hot Spock looks in black, I 100% agree
see my comment above
The Mass Effect trilogy would be two whole games shorter if Captain Kirk was there to assist Shepard with pointing out to Sovereign the circular and yet self-contradictory logic undergirding the Reapers' programming.
Sounds like a Bad fanfiction 😂
I liked the part when Rejar (sp) brought out a light panel dating back to the time of advanced technology. He then said they had almost destroyed themselves but Landru brought them back to a simpler time. He then created and programmed the computer. I also liked when the lawgiver killed a person and they found out it was just a hollow tube. The conditioning of people was so strong that the lawgiver just pointed the tube and the person died.
This is one of those episodes that I always think about when I rememeber Star Trek. It's one of those episodes that was a favorite of mine WHILE watching for the 1st time because of the possibilities. So many interesting paths it looked like it was about to take and so many surprised when instead the next potential plot was revealed. Added to that was the eerie vibe and the suspense. I genuinely felt not just scared for the characters, but unerved by several moments. And what really helped it be special for me was it being one of very few I hadnt seen the first time around (my 1st round of watching devotedly) and which I had no clue even existed. You can beat that moment when you realize that your favorite show which you watch over and over again suddenly turns out to have a "new" episode. Like when as a teen I disvovered Twilight Zone's hour long season after nearly having the series memorized beat for beatthanks to reruns. But all that did fall flat, I recall, and now hearing your review I can see why. It's one that I remember great than it was, but thats okay, because those false memories have "rerun" far more for me than the actual show.
He actually said "You're on your own now, I hope you're up to it" and then it cuts to Enterprise 😄
Another episode where Uhura does virtually does nothing but wander about looking pretty. Notice how, when Sulu calls the Enterprise, Kirk just barges in and answers the call. Then when Kirk contacts the Enterprise, Scotty's there using Uhura's controls. Keep your grubby hands off Uhura's console, folks. She's there to do a job. No wonder Nichelle nearly left the series.
Ah, THIS is where Futurama got the Fry-Visits-the-Planet-of-the-Evil-Robots plot from!
Also the amazon planet. He talks the lady ai overlord to death just like Kirk.
I adore when you do your funny summarizing of the situations and characters SO much. Like the delighted "oh I got this mother fucker now" when it came to Kirk facing Landru. That made me cackle! It's like one of your other jokes about how Kirk needs to run a course on killing computers. That is just excellent. This is one of my favorite episodes of TOS because it has a creepy ass atmosphere and build up. Yeah, the pay off is a little, meh, for me, but now whenever I watch this again I'm going to hear your "got this mother fucker now" with that little chuckle. Thank you for all your reviews and videos. I've been watching through your back log.
This was a great analysis; I particularly appreciated the observation (around 14:50) about the awkwardness of McCoy hanging out in the background (which I've noticed the two or three times I've watched this) when, as you say, Kirk is nonchalant about possibly losing McCoy. Good observation.
The Red Hour Festival is The Purge, decades before The Purge movies were ever thought of.
What I loved is that this planet's fashions progressed at the same speed as Earth, but 400 years behind us. The crew member assumed it was still 1776 when he gave Sulu and O'Neal their costumes. OOPS! Wrong century, dude! It's "Little House on The Prairie" time!
I also love Kirk's 'Bret Maverick' look!
This is one of those episodes that was a product of its time. Most of the things that Star Trek did, it was if not the first to do them, one of the first. Sci-fi as we know it today wasn't really a thing yet, what passed for sci-fi was so cheesy, that Star Trek was revolutionary. It only seems cliche over 50 years later when all of its tropes have been used in so much other media. I won't say this is one of the best episodes of the original series, but it's a good one.
Value for your latinum?
I've always liked this episode. When I was a kid and saw it for the first time, it scared me a little because so much stuff was happening without explanation. And watching this review...the red hour reminds me a bit of The Purge. But maybe in this case, the red hour is to let off some steam before returning to total mind control and thereby keeping the town folks from losing it for good. Just a thought.
Yes when I was a kid it scared me too it was a great mystery, I still enjoy it
"Work hard, play hard" taken to another level.
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people, the Druids
No one knows who they were or what they were doing
This episode hits differently after _Lower Decks_ .
How so?
@@GrandNagusEli
*SPOILER ALERT:*
In _Lower Decks_ , it’s established that the people of Beta III went back to worshiping Landru again.
Whenever I watch “Return of the Archons”, I can’t stop thinking how Kirk’s efforts were in vain.
@@GrandNagusEli They go back to worshipping Landru.
@@BlackCover95 The power that the archons have over that planet (and OURS!) is nigh impossible to defeat without fighting them off in an ongoing war of CONSCIOUSNESS. Just like the WAR that is currently being fought here on earth over HUMANITY"s CONSCIOUSNESS right this very second! Ass usual, bureaucracies think that using lip service to address a psychic catastrophe will do the trick. But they were wrong, of curse. AGAIN. When will they EVER learn?
Not Jeff here. The lasting legacy of this episode is that on the party floor at cons, there will be a Red Hour party yelling "Festival! Festival!"
I always found it ironic that Spock is the logical one, but Kirk is the one that kills computers with logic. Ok, now I'm imagining Kirk winning an argument with Spock and Spock's ears start smoking.
"Don't make me paradox you into destroying yourself!"
I can't help but wonder if this episode somehow inspired how the Borg behaved later in TNG from "The Best of Both Worlds" onwards. The people of Beta III displayed many of the same characteristics that Borg drones would later adopt (thinking and acting in unison), save for the Red Hour of course. 🤔
You should look up the Lower Deck episode S1E10 where the Cerrito vidited that planet.
The thing I think Star Trek has lost over the years is the sheer size and scope of space. When I watched this episode, I thought the hundred-year-lag was because Beta 3 was on the edge of exploration for it's time and the Enterprise was the first ship fast enough to reach the planet.
When watching Star Trek over the years, that's been somewhat lost. Ships move across entire quadrants to arrive in time for whatever plot deems it necessary. While the Dominion War was excellent, it took weeks, months at most for the fleets of the Federation, Klingon Empire and Romulan empire to muster at Bajor. Reports were coming in weekly about this fleet or that engaging along a front that took up most of the Quadrant. Voyager paid lip service to the scope, but because they really didn't go anywhere (just week after week being "somewhere in Delta") even their long journey didn't feel all that long.
Or maybe I'm just misremembering. That's why you have the YT channel and I'm just a purple Kzin who sits back and kibbitzes
Cool, Torin Thatcher plays Marplon. He was a welcome addition to any cast.
Sid Haig from The Rob Zombie movies was in this. He played one of the robed figures.
Hi Steve! I always thought this was an interesting episode. Sulu getting a bit of screen time was nice, but he was basically stoned again. I also always find it funny that so many planets are basically filled with humans at different points in Earth's development.
I'm amazed. I thought I'd seen all episodes of the original episodes. I sure don't remember this one.
😱🤯
One of the Discovery episodes completely destroys the "talk a computer to death with logic" trope. It was a wonderful take on what happens when an AI truly becomes sentient. I would love to see your take on that episode.
It says a lot that the Enterprise carried a team of experts in rebuilding societies. Apparently it’s a thing that happens so often that it has become routine.
Haha, I love Kirk's anti-logic powers. Especially how Steve does it here: "Wait...OK. I got this. You guys go get frozen yogurt or something. This--computer--obviously--does--not--know--who--he--is-fooling--with!"
I remember watching this when it was first broadcast. The festival was scary as hell.
"Landru... apologizes."
Alternate Earth episode with a nice tip of the hat to alternate holidays! Thank you Steve. I sincerely mean that. Thank you, most Americans I've heard wish a Happy Thanksgiving forgetting that they have thousands of viewers who are outside the country. I found it very refreshing to hear that acknowledged. Looking forward to next Thursday!
Landru is a prime example of what heppens if you don't have proper error/exception handling in your program, a simple try/except block could have prevented him getting Kirked
This is a decent episode. I like that Festival serves three purposes in the episode, first it shows us there is something wrong here, second it allows the citizens to exorcise their pent up aggressions/passions, and third it provides construction debris for "the body" to use as weapons when they are ordered by Landru to attack the landing party. Very good use of story telling.
I also like that Kirk treats Landru like just another computer, insisting that a question put to a computer compells that the computer answer.
And lastly more evidence that Kirk doesn't just blow up a society and then peaces out! Kirk did it so often that you'd think it was standard procedure.🤔
Gene himself put this in his top 10. Most of us who love this one are devoted to it because it's the best satire about religious conformity from 60s TV.
And THIS is why we need Project Swing By!
Like some others here, it was a bit scary the first time around all those years ago. As for the writing, it was typical of 1960s TV writing, true creativity didn’t sell.
Honestly, although we don't celebrate thanksgiving here, I am a fan of seasonal holidays so I've convinced my fam to hang out next weekend lol
“There’s apparently quite a backlog” just made me snort-laugh 😅
Your videos are always informative and well-researched.
Some casting trivia, actor Carl Held (Lindstrom) appeared on Perry Mason 9 times as young law student David Gideon, causing fans of that show to also question why this guy has so many lines and scenes that should have been Paul Drake's.
Dangers of AI.
COOL.
it is a fun episode, not one of the best, nor one of the worst.
But fun.
McCoy was fun as part of the body, because it was so unMcCoy, but made sense in context.
Sulu often feels like he’s repressing something, so his happy side was fun to watch
It’s nice to hear Landing Party when speaking of TOS, as that’s what they called it, when they called it anything.
Should be a fun one next week.
You neglected to point out how they revisited in lower decks. Not only did Kirk never return, they actually went back to worshipping Landru, and it seems like they have very long lifespans. Looked like Marplon was still alive. All he had to say was that "Landru was so great!"
I can't wait till you review 'The Apple', that's my fave one where the enterprise crew comes in and fucks things up and then just dueces out. 😅
Next week, "The Return of the Enterpriseans".
Return Of The Archons is a personal favorite of mine ... and as a canadian ive already had my thanksgiving/turkey day ... we celebrate it in the first weekend of October
It would be interesting if a recording is made every time that someone beams in or out. If they die the recording is used to 'bring that person back'.
Like presumably the Festival is part of the assimilation to the Body, but its not really reinforced as a theme of how the mind control works (like obviously it's a fiction but the trick is to have it feel emotional or intellectually resonant).
My favourite computer blowing itself up when it runs into an intellectual contradiction is in the Prisoner (60s with McGoohan). Truly epic 60s computer going haywire and great existential cause...
Ritual release of emotion to keep under a limit necessary to maintain control, or physical health of the subjects.
@@garysouza95 The real issue is the story should make the explanation relevant to us in the story in some way, any explanation is just so much bland technobabble without that and they didn't even give us that...
I watched this episode multiple times and remember in part watching it for the first time. The reveal that it was a computer felt a bit flat but not disappointing and during the episode I had a sense of suspense. It might not be the one of the best episodes but it was memorable.
The reveal of Landru being a computer was a last minute rewrite! The original nemesis was an unseen force from a parallel dimension adjacent to theirs! That would have been much more interesting, yes? But sorry, Gene. The powers that bleed say that YER GETTING A LITTLE TOO CLOSE TO THE REAL TRUTH Here! But don't worry. All ya gotta do is change "Dominant Interdimensional Malevolent Entities feeding off the pain and suffering of Humans" to a Computer and yer good."
What if the red hour is when the computer was doing a scheduled self diagnostic and temporarily disconnected from the people’s minds? Maybe it drove them a little nuts while they were offline and mentally isolated.
I always thought that Landru's planet (Beta III) gave me partially-Mornon vibes; I guess it's the architecture and how the normal people dress on that world.
FYI, Druidry is a real faith with active adherents.
Going to do a nitpick here, but pretty sure this ep was the second mention of Prime Directive. The episode right before, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, referred to General Order Number one, which later morphed into being referred to as Prime Directive. However, even though TIS aired prior, not sure what order the eps were filmed in. And I have a memory, though I haven't had a chance yet to look it up, that in the short story version of this ep in one of his Star Trek collections, James Blish went into a lot more detail about the motivation behind the Festival and the sociological role it played in the society. Again, though, I'm going on pure memory, and very old memory at that.
Yeah, this is one of those shows that I would've had the background as a colony of Earth that went wonky.
Happy next thursday indeed xD Great video as usual!
Just imagine how many lives would have being saved if Kirk was still alive when the Borg first appeared. He just have to talk them to dead.and problem solved. ;)
In one respect, it's actually not that out there; These computers were meant to absorb information that aided their missions, and had encountered so little resistance over time, they only ever heard things to aid them. In Landru's case, it had been 100 years since anything of significance had even remotely challenged it. It may have been less that Kirk had a golden tongue for undoing cyber-types, than the AI's in question no longer had the pathways to counter simple contradictions. Mostly, it was his refusal to acquiesce when they would pull 'you must admit I am right' that aided his logic bombs. As to the Borg, a number of the AI's TOS unmade thought they were doing the right thing and that no one would say otherwise; the Borg don't care about right or wrong, assimilation is always a good thing, and there will be obstacles. The only advantage, excluding Borg time travel, that Kirk would find is that a 23rd Century Borg incursion would be, while being incredibly formidable, 100 years behind the ones faced by Picard et al, having not yet absorbed countless cultures. It might not be enough, but Kirk and company would find their loophole as the D Crew found theirs - just not by his usual method.
"Jim, I don't think they want to have an ethics chat!"
Next time you look at a portrait of President Landrew Jackson, you will not be able to unsee it.
As I was watching this review, it dawned on me that this episode contains a depiction of American ideals including freedom and when regime change is justifiable. I've watched this episode at least 3 times and most recently within the past 6 months, and although I thought that Steve might discuss this, his review made me at least view this episode in a way I haven't previously considered.
I have a friend named Andrew and his screen name is Landru.
Actor Sid Haig played one of The Lawgivers. He would later make a cameo as a judge in Tarantino's Jackie Brown with Denise Crosby as an attorney. Why in the world is there no "Six Degrees" game with Trek?!
There totally should be a six degrees of Trek game. 😂
My favorite bit is when Sulu is being annoying so they lock him in a toilet in some Ensign's quarters
Star Trek. Doing The Purge before it was cool.
Why is it always a dungeon? I mean, I know the answer is 'set recycling', but it's kind of amazing how many civilizations on other planets just casually have dungeons.
Why wouldn’t they? Dungeons are a relatively simple concept.
@@BlackCover95 Stone walls do not a dungeon make nor iron bars a cage, wait no yes those are exactly what make those things.
Yeah dungeons seem like a simple expedient of, I need to confine people who are doing stuff I don't like but I don't want to kill them. Like there might be alternatives, but assuming vaguely human capacities probably the simplest functional one is surround them with impenetrable walls boom they can't move.
@@allanolley4874 being thrown into a hole with a lid (or ceiling-door, if you like) is common too. But that doesn't scale quite as well if you're regularly confining dozens or hundreds of people. But a hole that can hold 1-6 prisoners is probably the easiest way!
The logic that worked on Comp-Landru should've stopped Zod in Man of Steel.
00:10 - Well, they still did use Credits in TOS.^^
I suppose it's good Landru wasn't designed with paradox-absorbing crumple zones, like Robot Santa.
They left behind a party of experts? What happened to them between then and the Cerritos showing up in "No Small Parts" like 120 years later?
A festival for the restival. No, wait...
"Self-awareness kills." LOL
This is the episode that Sid Haig plays one of the Druids.
Star Trek, baby!
I always remember this as the Purge episode.
I had to rewind this video at several points because I could not stop laughing at the "ten cent beer night" reference! I'm old enough to remember!
Why does Le Andrew look like Viggo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters?
I find it funny, that applying logic to destroy computers becomes a Kirk thing, and Spock so, applying logic? Why didn't I think of that!
It probably started out as a Spock line in the script but was commandeered by Shatner during the read through.
The Festival just works.
I was never much of a TOS fan. I've seen maybe a dozen of them, and never got grabbed.
I'm appreciative of the show and other stuff for launching semi-serious spacefaring scifi like TNG.
The Kirk kills a computer jokes in this vid were almost as good as the ones in Lower Decks .
Star Trek always had mixed messages regarding conflict, collectivism & violence. On the one hand Earth supposedly overcame its violent tribalism over resources BUT individualism & conflict was often presented (via Kirk & Picard ) as a positive aspect of humankind. I was also never sure if all the eps with tyranical, crazy computers/robots/Borg was representative of a fear of technology taking over or a stand-in for totalitarianism/communism during the cold war? Maybe both? I'd forgotten about this ep of TOS & the 6 oclock mini purge that occurred with no explanation. Did it give the people an hour to cut loose as a method of social control or ? I mean wtf!?
I thought for sure you were going to use the word "purge", and then you didn't. Nice restraint.
Once you notice a strange loop, you can't unsee it.😊
9:52 is that Rudy Guliani?
Love the review of the writing but I'm curious. How does the script writing compare to other TV shows that were produced around the same time?
The writing of 1960s TV was surprisingly good.
Love the mug.
Landru! LANDRU!!!!
Sorry, can't resist.
Wife's name isn't Mary, is it?
Classic Trek let's goooooooooooooooooo