My Thoughts - Star Trek: Arena (1967)

Synopsis: The Enterprise discovers a human outpost has been completely obliterated and, after a short fight with the lizard-like Gorn, pursue the alien ship in an attempt to destroy it. However, another alien race, the Metrons, intervene by disabling both ships and sending both Kirk (William Shatner) and the Gorn captain to a deserted planet so they can fight each other in hand-to-hand combat.

My thoughts: 

While there are some who insist James Kirk (William Shatner) is a great captain, this episode seems to contradict that. His decision to pursue the Gorn ship even though he was outgunned and the end result would likely cost him the Enterprise and the lives of his crew. There is brave and then there's just stupid.

And yes, I know he was trying to delay an invasion. They were, however, deep into space, giving them time for a strategic retreat and an opportunity to come up with a better game plan.

It was probably Shatner's famous overacting, but Kirk even seemed a bit insane at times. Frankly, if I were Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), I would have likely tried to remove Kirk from command based solely on that.

The battle between Kirk and the Gorn (played by Gary Combs, Bobby Clark and Ted Cassidy) is iconic but also hasn't aged all that well. This is mostly because the Gorn looks increasingly fake whenever my television gets a bit higher in definition. This, however, is something I am willing to forgive based on when the show was made.

My bigger problem with that battle is Kirk's survival is much more luck-related than skill-related. Kirk literally only survives because the Gorn captain, who should have killed him in a matter of seconds, moved way too slow and gave Kirk all the time in the world to both remember his chemistry lessons and use those lessons to create a weapon. Plus, let's face it, Kirk cheated by making a primitive gun in what was supposed to be a hand-to-hand battle.

Final Opinion: I like most episodes from the original Star Trek series, but this is one of the exceptions. Kirk is supposed to be the hero, but this episode didn't really give me hero vibes when it came to the character.

My Grade: D

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