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And the Children Shall Lead (TOS episode)
Encyclopedia
"And the Children Shall Lead" is a third-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
, and was broadcast October 11, 1968. It is episode #59, production #60, written by Edward J. Lakso and directed by Marvin Chomsky.
Overview: On a distant planet, Kirk, Spock and McCoy find a scientific team dead, and their children who, unknown to the crew, have great powers at their disposal.
5029.5, the starship
USS Enterprise intercepts a distress call from the planet
Triacus, where a scientific expedition is located. Arriving at the planet, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Spock beam down to investigate. They find the expedition leader, Professor Starnes, has gone insane; he almost immediately dies. The other adult members of the team have apparently committed suicide. However, the expedition's five children (led by Starnes's preteen son Tommy) remain alive and well, continuing to play as if nothing has happened.
Recordings made by Prof. Starnes explain that the survey team were driven to suicide to escape what Starnes called "the enemy from within." The landing team buries the dead adults. The children continue to appear emotionless toward the loss of their families. After the funeral, the children and Dr. McCoy beam to the Enterprise while Kirk and Spock investigate a nearby cave where Spock has been getting anomalous readings on his tricorder
. Once inside, Kirk finds himself in the throes of an anxiety attack which abates the instant he leaves the cave. He speculates the anxiety may be caused by the same phenomenon that is causing the unusual tricorder readings.
McCoy speculates that the children witnessed the shocking deaths of their parents and are now suffering temporary lacunar amnesia
. They are temporarily unaware of what has happened and incapable of grieving. He warns that confronting them with the truth too soon could damage them psychologically, and that it would be best to wait until they begin to remember in the natural way. Over bowls of ice cream, Kirk tries to talk to them and they reveal that they did not like living on Triacus and were resentful their parents wanted to stay. Kirk tries to ask more questions but the children begin to chant "busy busy busy" and rudely ignore him.
The children are assigned quarters, and once they are left alone, they form a circle and begin to perform a summoning ritual, chanting: Hail, hail, fire and snow, call the angel, we will go, far away, for to see, friendly angel come to me. Answering the call, a humanoid apparition forms appearing as a richly dressed man who is surrounded by a green glow. He tells the children they have completed their "first step"; he encourages them to take over the Enterprise and change its course to the planet Marcus XII. There he promises the children will be happy, living without responsibilities or rules, once they are with the others of his kind.
On the bridge, Tommy asks Kirk to take him and his friends to Marcus XII, explaining that he has relatives there. Kirk denies the request and tells him the plan is to take the children to Starbase 4 where their relatives will be contacted. Kirk and Spock watch a recording from Prof. Starnes who documents the onset of paranoia and anxiety among his staff just after the recent excavation of a new archaeological site. Just then, Tommy concentrates deeply and uses a series of gestures made with his clenched fist to telekinetically disrupt the playback.
Kirk and Spock leave the bridge to watch the tape elsewhere. Tommy stays behind and observes Mr. Sulu
and Mr. Chekov
at the helm. He telepathically forces Sulu and Chekov to change course — they believe they are still orbiting the planet. Lt. Uhura
notices they have left orbit, but before she can say anything, Tommy gives her the same illusion.
In a briefing room, Kirk, Spock and McCoy watch the rest of Professor Starnes's recordings. Starnes speaks of doing things against his will and how he requested a transport with no apparent need of it. When he realized what was happening, he decided to send out a dispatch to Starfleet to warn them. Starnes closes the entry shouting, "Alien upon us, the enemy from within!"
Mr. Spock reports his findings on the history of Triacus that may be linked to the disturbances felt by the research expedition. Triacus was the ancient home of planetary marauders who fought wars throughout the sector thousands of years ago. The marauders were eventually defeated, but according to legend, the embodiment of their evil remained, and only needs some sort of catalyst to bring it alive again.
Kirk assembles two security members to beam down to the planet to relieve personnel looking over the excavation site. While attempting to beam up the first team, Kirk realizes the Enterprise has left orbit and that he has just had two men beamed into space.
Kirk rushes to the bridge to discover the children in the midst of their circling, chanting routine and the crew merely watching and smiling indulgently at the 'game'. The 'friendly angel' appears, encouraging them to maintain their control of the ship.
Kirk realizes the children have taken over. He attempts to regain control by issuing orders, but the bridge crew's minds have been affected in a variety of ways so that they can no longer hear or obey. Kirk fears that he has lost his ability to command, and his fear is amplified by Tommy's telepathic control. Spock manages to resist Tommy's influence and quickly leads Kirk into the turbolift, reassuring him that he is indeed in command.
Once back on his feet, Kirk goes to auxiliary control to convince Chief Engineer Scott
to put the Enterprise back on course, but Scott and his technicians are under the children's control as well and refuse to obey Kirk's commands. In the ensuing brief struggle, Kirk notices one of the children standing behind a screen making the same peculiar gestures. Spock says that the children are not evil, but are being used by an evil, alien power. In the corridor, they encounter Chekov, who believes he has received an order to arrest them. As they disable him, they notice one of the children nearby making the same gestures.
Back on the bridge, Kirk confronts the children and demands that their alien friend show himself. When the children refuse to call him, Kirk replays the audio chant. Gorgan appears and sneeringly describes his plan, saying that people who are full of goodness and gentleness are unworthy of being his followers and will always be vanquished by stronger forces.
Kirk plays back video recordings of the children playing with their families on the planet's surface, followed by a few shots of the dead bodies and the graves. The children realize what has happened, and Kirk implores them to see Gorgan as he truly is. The children begin to sob as their faith in Gorgan fails and the entity's face begins to decay. He fades away, chanting "Death to you all!"
With the evil gone, the illusions subside and control of the ship is restored. The Enterprise resumes course to the Starbase.
, Freiberger said, "This script is going to be what 'Miri' should have been." Nimoy objected, calling "Miri" a beautiful, well-acted story, and felt that Freiberger's comments were as much as saying, "'Miri' was a piece of trash."
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, and was broadcast October 11, 1968. It is episode #59, production #60, written by Edward J. Lakso and directed by Marvin Chomsky.
Overview: On a distant planet, Kirk, Spock and McCoy find a scientific team dead, and their children who, unknown to the crew, have great powers at their disposal.
Plot
On stardateStardate
A stardate is a date in the fictional system of time measurement developed for Star Trek, commonly heard at the beginning of a voiceover log entry such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7...
5029.5, the starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS Enterprise intercepts a distress call from the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
Triacus, where a scientific expedition is located. Arriving at the planet, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Spock beam down to investigate. They find the expedition leader, Professor Starnes, has gone insane; he almost immediately dies. The other adult members of the team have apparently committed suicide. However, the expedition's five children (led by Starnes's preteen son Tommy) remain alive and well, continuing to play as if nothing has happened.
Recordings made by Prof. Starnes explain that the survey team were driven to suicide to escape what Starnes called "the enemy from within." The landing team buries the dead adults. The children continue to appear emotionless toward the loss of their families. After the funeral, the children and Dr. McCoy beam to the Enterprise while Kirk and Spock investigate a nearby cave where Spock has been getting anomalous readings on his tricorder
Tricorder
In the fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a multifunction handheld device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data.Three primary variants of the tricorder are issued in Star Trek's Starfleet...
. Once inside, Kirk finds himself in the throes of an anxiety attack which abates the instant he leaves the cave. He speculates the anxiety may be caused by the same phenomenon that is causing the unusual tricorder readings.
McCoy speculates that the children witnessed the shocking deaths of their parents and are now suffering temporary lacunar amnesia
Lacunar amnesia
Lacunar amnesia is the loss of memory about one specific event. It is a type of amnesia that leaves a lacuna in the record of memory.According to Steven Johnson, :...
. They are temporarily unaware of what has happened and incapable of grieving. He warns that confronting them with the truth too soon could damage them psychologically, and that it would be best to wait until they begin to remember in the natural way. Over bowls of ice cream, Kirk tries to talk to them and they reveal that they did not like living on Triacus and were resentful their parents wanted to stay. Kirk tries to ask more questions but the children begin to chant "busy busy busy" and rudely ignore him.
The children are assigned quarters, and once they are left alone, they form a circle and begin to perform a summoning ritual, chanting: Hail, hail, fire and snow, call the angel, we will go, far away, for to see, friendly angel come to me. Answering the call, a humanoid apparition forms appearing as a richly dressed man who is surrounded by a green glow. He tells the children they have completed their "first step"; he encourages them to take over the Enterprise and change its course to the planet Marcus XII. There he promises the children will be happy, living without responsibilities or rules, once they are with the others of his kind.
On the bridge, Tommy asks Kirk to take him and his friends to Marcus XII, explaining that he has relatives there. Kirk denies the request and tells him the plan is to take the children to Starbase 4 where their relatives will be contacted. Kirk and Spock watch a recording from Prof. Starnes who documents the onset of paranoia and anxiety among his staff just after the recent excavation of a new archaeological site. Just then, Tommy concentrates deeply and uses a series of gestures made with his clenched fist to telekinetically disrupt the playback.
Kirk and Spock leave the bridge to watch the tape elsewhere. Tommy stays behind and observes Mr. Sulu
Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in numerous books, comics, and video games...
and Mr. Chekov
Pavel Chekov
Pavel Andreievich Chekov is a Russian Starfleet officer in the Star Trek fictional universe. Walter Koenig portrayed Chekov in the original Star Trek series and first seven Star Trek films; Anton Yelchin portrayed the character in the 2009 film Star Trek.-Origin:Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry...
at the helm. He telepathically forces Sulu and Chekov to change course — they believe they are still orbiting the planet. Lt. Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
notices they have left orbit, but before she can say anything, Tommy gives her the same illusion.
In a briefing room, Kirk, Spock and McCoy watch the rest of Professor Starnes's recordings. Starnes speaks of doing things against his will and how he requested a transport with no apparent need of it. When he realized what was happening, he decided to send out a dispatch to Starfleet to warn them. Starnes closes the entry shouting, "Alien upon us, the enemy from within!"
Mr. Spock reports his findings on the history of Triacus that may be linked to the disturbances felt by the research expedition. Triacus was the ancient home of planetary marauders who fought wars throughout the sector thousands of years ago. The marauders were eventually defeated, but according to legend, the embodiment of their evil remained, and only needs some sort of catalyst to bring it alive again.
Kirk assembles two security members to beam down to the planet to relieve personnel looking over the excavation site. While attempting to beam up the first team, Kirk realizes the Enterprise has left orbit and that he has just had two men beamed into space.
Kirk rushes to the bridge to discover the children in the midst of their circling, chanting routine and the crew merely watching and smiling indulgently at the 'game'. The 'friendly angel' appears, encouraging them to maintain their control of the ship.
Kirk realizes the children have taken over. He attempts to regain control by issuing orders, but the bridge crew's minds have been affected in a variety of ways so that they can no longer hear or obey. Kirk fears that he has lost his ability to command, and his fear is amplified by Tommy's telepathic control. Spock manages to resist Tommy's influence and quickly leads Kirk into the turbolift, reassuring him that he is indeed in command.
Once back on his feet, Kirk goes to auxiliary control to convince Chief Engineer Scott
Montgomery Scott
Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is a Scottish engineer in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous...
to put the Enterprise back on course, but Scott and his technicians are under the children's control as well and refuse to obey Kirk's commands. In the ensuing brief struggle, Kirk notices one of the children standing behind a screen making the same peculiar gestures. Spock says that the children are not evil, but are being used by an evil, alien power. In the corridor, they encounter Chekov, who believes he has received an order to arrest them. As they disable him, they notice one of the children nearby making the same gestures.
Back on the bridge, Kirk confronts the children and demands that their alien friend show himself. When the children refuse to call him, Kirk replays the audio chant. Gorgan appears and sneeringly describes his plan, saying that people who are full of goodness and gentleness are unworthy of being his followers and will always be vanquished by stronger forces.
Kirk plays back video recordings of the children playing with their families on the planet's surface, followed by a few shots of the dead bodies and the graves. The children realize what has happened, and Kirk implores them to see Gorgan as he truly is. The children begin to sob as their faith in Gorgan fails and the entity's face begins to decay. He fades away, chanting "Death to you all!"
With the evil gone, the illusions subside and control of the ship is restored. The Enterprise resumes course to the Starbase.
40th anniversary remastering
This episode was digitally remastered in 2006 and first aired on April 14, 2007 as part of the remastered 40th Anniversary original series. It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered version of "The Immunity Syndrome" and followed a week later by the remastered version of "All Our Yesterdays". Video and audio have been digitally restored, and the episode features the all-CGI USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions. Other changes to this episode include:- The planet Triacus was given a facelift to appear more realistic.
- The coloration and sharpness of Gorgan's green glow has been enhanced. His hideous transformation in the end has been slightly modified as the scars on his face now partially fade in rather than progressing over a series of separate camera shots.
Production
In an interview with Sondra Marshak, published in Star Trek Lives (written by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak and Joan Winston), Leonard Nimoy explained that when he complained about the script to producer Fred FreibergerFred Freiberger
Fred Freiberger was an American film and television screenwriter and television producer, with a career spanning four decades including The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Star Trek, and Space: 1999...
, Freiberger said, "This script is going to be what 'Miri' should have been." Nimoy objected, calling "Miri" a beautiful, well-acted story, and felt that Freiberger's comments were as much as saying, "'Miri' was a piece of trash."
External links
- And the Children Shall Lead reviewed in The Agony Booth