Star Trek Prime Directive Season 1 at LYRATEK.COM
"Be the change you want to see in the world."~ Mahatma Gandhi, 20th century Indian spiritual & political leader
Season One
29 episodes |
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Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Can.
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
Exploring Human Values....
Star Trek and its fans pride themselves on their values and the exploration of values within "the human condition". With that in mind it is well worth taking a look at what they are purported to value most: A law called "The Prime Directive".
The Return of the Origin
Starfleet's non-interference Prime Directive has an obscure beginning in Star Trek history. Its first mention, and indeed ONLY mention in all of the first season, is in a brief exchange between Kirk and Spock in "The Return of the Archons", where they quickly decide that the directive doesn't really apply to this week's situation. What's most bizarre is the way this exchange appears to have been tacked on in hindsight, as though to maintain a congruent view of the Star Trek universe. One would have expected a concept like the Prime Directive to have debuted in an episode in which it both had something more to do with the story, and in which it was properly introduced to the audience through the narrative and dialogue. "The Return of the Archons" doesn't really say what Starfleet's prime directive is, and indeed spends more time studying a completely different 6000-year-old local idea, also confusingly called a prime directive."We seek to better ourselves..."
At its heart, our infamous Prime Directive is the highest General Order in Starfleet - an instruction to not interfere in the affairs of less developed civilizations. It is quite specific with regard to civilizations that have not yet acquired warp drive (and thus the capability to come out and mingle with the rest of the galaxy) - absolutely no open contact is allowed at all with such societies.The Roddenberry Glory
The real origin of the prime directive in Star Trek can perhaps be traced back to the second pilot. We now know this story as "Where No Man Has Gone Before", written by Samuel Peeples. However, producers Herb Solow and Robert Justman revealed in their "Inside Star Trek" book and audio cassette that Peeple's script was one of three competing to be made as the second pilot. The other candidates were "Mudd's Women" by Stephen Kandel based on a Gene Roddenberry "springboard" story idea and filmed almost as soon as regular production began on the series, and "The Omega Glory" which Gene Roddenberry was writing himself. While "The Omega Glory" did not become a filmed episode until the very end of the second season, we have to assume that the script was in some form of development long before the series even began. And as we know, the story of "The Omega Glory" is deeply saturated in the Prime Directive. The real origin therefore appears to have been an off-screen one, collecting dust as a half-finished script on one of Roddenberry's shelves, while the idea rolled around in his head and influenced the notes he made on other scripts throughout the first two years of Star Trek.Although conceived with the best of intentions, the Prime Directive is a flawed philosophy (just as "The Omega Glory" remained a story of deeply flawed symbolism), and it is a great pity that this franchise for exploring the human condition seems to have little capacity for successfully challenging its most entrenched policy.
The Return of the Archons
(Star Trek story #22 in production order)story by Gene Roddenberry
teleplay by Boris Sobelman
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But, returning to the Archons and our only actual season one
prime directive story, there isn't much meat here to sink
any of our arguments into. In fact, the episode is bizarrely
thinner than most in setting up the society on the planet
for the viewer, with the episode opening well after the
Enterprise crew have become involved, and with the information
in the expositional Captain's Log entries being rather sparse.
No doubt making good use of the studio's stock assets,
the costumes and initial backlot sets suggest a society on
par with the gentlemanly side of the American West in the 1800's,
an assumption quickly disspelled by the culture's
self-aware history and remnants of its previous higher technology.
At any rate, the Enterprise crew decide to trade in their own uniforms for local garb during all landing missions. Knowing how the Enterprise crew arrived at this decision would be critical if we wanted to accuse them of deception, but "Return of the Archons" has kept itself in the clear by sidestepping this issue. Kirk and company later flip sides constantly in their use of deception as a means to achieve their goals during the episode. Although often attempting to appear as spaced out and as entrenched in this week's dystopia as the locals in order to blend in and steer clear of suspicion and opposition, they often confront the more solid and actual threats with their true selves, true backgrounds, and true nature.... with these moments nearly always being more entertaining than the deceptive ones. |
| Even so, when all is said and done, "The Return of the Archons" proves to be one of the lesser scripts of the season, and doesn't turn out to be a great episode. Most of the characters, at many times including our regulars, are locked in unusual behaviour patterns perpetuated by the needs of the dystopia of the week, patterns which naturally distance the characters from the audience. Instead of making the exploration of these patterns quick and compelling, we drag our way through far more than is palettable, while the actors never quite figure out on their quick tv shooting schedule how to imbue those patterns with the sort of charisma that audiences respond to. The end result is something that very few non-sci-fi-geeks will sit through. |
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Errand of Mercy
(Star Trek story #27 in production order)written and produced by Gene L. Coon
| This story is worth mentioning in this article as well. While it is most famous for its introduction of the Klingons, led here by actor John Colicos (Baltar from the original Battlestar Galactica), it should be noted that Klingons were most often utilized as the feared force causing Starfleet to break their own Prime Directive all throughout season two. The narrative in "Errand of Mercy" seems to fit the same pattern.... yet unlike "The Return of the Archons", no mention of the Prime Directive is tacked on as though in hindsight, leaving what now seems to be an inconsistency in the Star Trek universe. Sure, it is later discovered that the Prime Directive shouldn't apply, but the Enterprise crew very clearly don't know this as they get involved, and it does seem bizarre that they are not even mentioning it as they plan their moves..... |
The Galileo Others
"Errand of Mercy" is not the only season one story where mention of the Prime Directive is conspicuous by its absense. One of the other more notable cases occurs in "The Galileo Seven" (episode 14). Mr. Spock is arguing for restraint in his crew's position against some native creatures on an asteroid who are quite far from achieving warp drive, and having a hard time keeping his crew from mutinying. Starfleet's Prime Directive seems to be the perfect thing to remind this crew of, to get them back in line and show the locals some respect, yet Spock struggles to make his case without mentioning it. Again, it is all too obvious that the writers hadn't figured it out yet.Of course, there will be much, much more to say about the use of the Prime Directive in Star Trek stories as we delve into Season Two, as the directive comes out of the closet and weaves itself through many a controversial tale.....
"The Galileo Seven", "The Return of the Archons", and "Errand of Mercy" are available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Click on the Amazon symbol for the desired disc format and location nearest you for pricing and availability:
Star Trek Season One "Purist" Standard DVD Box Set: | ||||||
Get your copy of this 8-disc DVD set
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Watch the legend develop from its infancy.
Set contains 29 episodes from the first season
in their original wacky broadcast order,
including "The Menagerie Parts 1 & 2" which used
footage from the original unaired pilot "The Cage".
However, "The Cage" itself is only included with
the Season Three Box Set.
As someone interested in researching how the episodes actually looked and sounded originally, and when and exactly how certain musical cues first debuted, this was the DVD set for me, and it remains the most untampered-with full-season collection of Star Trek out there. Unique extras include pure text commentaries on select episodes. Sadly, these sets are starting to become rare, and prices are now rising as these become collectors' items....
DVD Extras include:
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The Original Series Remastered SetsThe re-mastered Star Trek sets are more readily available, and in addition to picture and sound quality restoration, liberties have been taken with "upgrading" the episodes. Most famously, new CGI effects and optical shots have replaced many space scenes, matte paintings, and phaser effects. Unlike similar upgrades applied to select Doctor Who DVD releases since 2002, the CGI effects cannot be turned off to see the original effects. The kicker for me are reports that the episodes have been rescored with new music. Interesting, funky, but since it's primarily the original music I'm after in the first place, this was not the set for me.Another curiosity: Season One was released on double-sided discs, with standard DVD on one side and HD on the other. Reportedly, not all extras are accessible on the standard DVD side. However, by the time the remastered versions of seasons two and three were released, HD had clearly lost the standards war to Blu-Ray, and so seasons two and three "remastered" offer standard DVD only yet again. |
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Season One - Blu Ray29 episodes @ 51 minutesStar Trek sets are now becoming available on Blu Ray. Picture and sound quality restoration has gone up yet another notch since the remastered version, as have the liberties taken with "upgrading" the episodes. Once again, even newer CGI effects and optical shots have replaced many space scenes, matte paintings, and phaser effects.... but this time the upgrades have the same respect and user-functionality applied to select Doctor Who DVD releases since 2002, as the CGI effects can now be turned off to see the original effects. Good show. It seems that the music has still been tampered with too much for my liking though. |
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Article written by Martin Izsak. Comments on this article are welcome. You may contact the author from this page:
Read the next Star Trek reviews: Season Two and the Rise of the Prime Directive