“Who Mourns For Adonais?” starts with an intriguing, but ultimately shallow premise: What if the Greek Gods were actually aliens who descended upon Ancient Greece, who influenced our philosophy, morality, religion and science? And what if we met those “gods” whilst out on a five year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations? Could we boldly go back to our roots and become “children” once again? It’s all fascinating on a visceral level, but it has no practical meaning whatsoever, either for us, or for the episode. Put simply, the idea just doesn’t have enough depth to justify being the central focus of an entire episode.

The story begins with the Enterprise being captured by what amounts to a giant hand. It’s surreal and arresting – from a visual standpoint. And it serves to thrust us into the heart of the story. But like the premise itself, it’s just way too heady to be useful on a practical level. Ditto for the disembodied head that suddenly appears on the viewscreen to tell the Enterprise that it has been captured and will not be allowed to leave – rather, Kirk and his officers (save for Spock, who looks like Pan) will beam down to learn of their fate.

The being presents himself as the god Apollo, and claims to have knowledge of Earth from 5,000 years prior. What he wants is the same adulation and worship from the Enterprise crew that he received from the ancient Greeks. There’s just one problem, humanity has grown since then – particularly in the realm of accumulated knowledge. Therefore, Kirk and his mates are not at all pleased by being offered a life in paradise as slaves. Thus, the main thrust of the episode is to follow Spock on the Enterprise and Kirk on the planet as they try to find a way to defeat Apollo’s powers.

Unfortunately, the episode relies too heavily on contrived technobabble solutions and esoteric plans. And the interactions between Apollo and the humans become tedious and repetitive. Apollo also amounts to something of a one-trick pony, probably thanks to limitations in special effects budgeting. But the result is a clear letdown in not only the portrayal of the being, but also his relevancy to the episode.

In the same vein, his most dangerous power, his influence over Lt. Palamas (Leslie Parrish), is likewise betrayed by his reliance on coercion rather than wiles, particularly when Lt. Palamas spurns Apollo’s advances – on Kirk’s orders. But the character is reduced to simply threatening the Lieutenant and gets so worked up that he drains his powers. It’s anticlimactic.

Chekov’s ingenuity is a hidden strength but “Who Mourns For Adonais?” just doesn’t have enough momentum to fill an entire episode. Other issues include Scotty’s repeated insubordination and some questionable performances from Kirk and Apollo.

Filed under: Original Series