A Private Little War - episode #45
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A Private Little War - episode #45
A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR (2nd season; episode #45)
Directed by Marc Daniels / writers: Gene Roddenberry and Jud Crucis Air Date: 02/02/68
This episode was one of the serious attempts to present the impact and ramifications of interfering with the natural progression of a primitive culture. The comedic version was A Piece of the Action, a few episodes later, which was, surprisingly, more effective. Other serious attempts were Bread and Circuses, The Omega Glory and the very similar Patterns of Force; such episodes illustrate how a society with more advanced technology would negatively impact a less-advanced one. As we examine this story closely, we see here that the approach becomes a bit heavy-handed.
In this episode, the culprits are... ! Klingons: on a peaceful planet, the Klingons supply one side, the Villagers, with flintlocks - rifles - while the Hill People, led by an old friend of Kirk's, Tyree (Michael Witney), continue to use bows & arrows. The balance of power has been upset, not to mention that Kirk's memories of a 'Garden of Eden'-type world have been corrupted. Kirk had been on the planet years before as a young Lieutenant, conducting his first planet survey.
In the end, Trekkers came to know this episode as the 'Vietnam' parable of the series. This allusion to Vietnam doesn't stay subtle - Kirk even makes reference to the 20th-century "brush wars" on the Asian continent to spell things out to the audience; Starfleet is the American military in this episode and the Klingons are the Communists. Further, there is, at times, a preachy tone and even flowery references to serpents (the rifles) which sidesteps the issues - the awful true impact of war, that being widespread bloody death. McCoy addresses this unpleasant aspect in his own manner, but Kirk merely waves away such dire consequences with a trite comment about what war is: that it isn't a good life, but it's life.
Despite a rather simplistic 'kill or be killed' approach for such a politically charged episode, the story does drive home the point that once something like flintlocks are introduced into such a civilization, you can't just take them back. Pandora's Box, such as it is, has been opened and it's too late to close it, and there are no easy solutions. McCoy represents the liberal side here with his protests and he offers no other solution. Kirk is the conservative view - Klingons started this and it's out of his hands now. As such, they have one of their more intense arguments in this episode and neither wins. Shatner was actually pretty good in this scene ("All Right, Doctor!" he yells at one point, losing his patience with the at times admittedly irritating McCoy - note that he didn't call him "Bones").
However, when we add in the whole witch-woman routine conducted by Tyree's wife (Nancy Kovack, of Jason and the Argonauts fame), we're surely in some additional unintentional amusement territory, copied in Elaan of Troyius, when Kirk also fell under a woman's spell. Some fans also aren't too keen on the wigs worn by many of the natives here; TOS didn't have good luck with wigs, it seems.
Extra Trek Trivia:
this was the first appearance of Dr. M'Benga (Booker Marshall), who was like Doc #2 on the starship; he appeared only one more time, in the 3rd season's That Which Survives. The Mugato suit was courtesy of Janos Prohaska again; he played the Horta in The Devil in the Dark. Legend has it, the Mugato was originally called the 'Gumato,' but actor Kelley kept mispronouncing it 'Mugato' and the name stuck. The name popped up again in the Zoolander movie (2001) starring Ben Stiller, an avowed Star Trek fan. Will Ferrell played the white-haired character.
Last edited by BoG on Sun May 03, 2015 1:45 am; edited 3 times in total
Private Little War full episode
CLASSIC TREK QUOTES:
McCoy: "Jim! That means you're condemning this whole planet to a war that may never end!
______ It could go on for year after year, massacre after massacre!"
Kirk: "All right Doctor!" (note, it's "Doctor," not "Bones")
McCoy: "Jim! That means you're condemning this whole planet to a war that may never end!
______ It could go on for year after year, massacre after massacre!"
Kirk: "All right Doctor!" (note, it's "Doctor," not "Bones")
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