episode #10 - The Interrogation

Air Date: 11/15/74 / Production #B-512 written by Richard Collins Directed by Alf Kjellin

There's the usual chasing at the start of this episode, out in the wilderness - though it's in an open field and this may be why Burke is captured this time around. There's also the usual conflict between Urko and Zaius: Urko wants to put Burke to death immediately but Zaius is intrigued by a female chimp scientist named Wanda (Beverly Garland) and an old human book she has from 1986, a book which details interrogation techniques. Zaius approves her plan to interrogate Burke, much to Urko's frustration. Of course, in the view of many, such interrogation is more aptly termed torture: it begins with a constant bombardment of loud noise, like drums beating, and then there are flashing lights, no food and a persistent question - "which humans helped you?" Oh, yes, Burke is also strapped to a revolving table. Virdon & Galen, meanwhile, sneak into town and show up at the home of Galen's parents, prominent citizens in the ape order. As to be expected, Galen's father is not pleased with his son's activities.
The surprising development in this episode is, naturally, the sudden introduction of Galen's parents (played by Anne Seymour and Norman Burton). Up until now, we didn't even know if Galen had living parents. There are no real surprises beyond this intro; the mother is more sympathetic to her son's plight and the parents eventually help Galen in some way. The strange aside in all this is about that old human book which is used as an instruction manual to question Burke. The book's publication year (1986) is casually stated, as if it was published only 50 years prior, not a thousand years ago. How can a thousand-year-old book be in such fine shape? There's also a fine distinction between Urko's brutal goals and such interrogation; Urko is not interested in any prolonged torture - his rather simplistic stance is for swift resolution. Such interrogation seems a mite too sophisticated for his blunt approach. There's an amusing scene when Urko interprets the word "brainwashing" in very literal terms. There's also a rare scene with Burke which takes place before he went on the mission into outer space, either a flashback or hallucination. BoG's Score: 6 out of 10

Star Trek TOS Actor alert: in small roles as apes in this episode are Harry Townes as a chimp doctor and Lee Delano as a gorilla soldier. Townes appeared in Return of the Archons, while Delano showed up in the comical A Piece of the Action, as a gangster.