The Gamesters of Triskelion

The template for My Little Pony, has a boss who's a bit of a phoney, a merciless Ming, or a vampiric thing, a character that appears somewhat dodgy.

Kidnapped from the Enterprise Kirk, Uhura and Chekov find themselves in an alien Squid Game long before (or after) the event was created.

"The Gamesters of Triskelion" (Jan. 5, 1968) Old TV Guide synopsis: 'On an uncharted planet, Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are shackled in collars and trained for mortal combat to amuse their captors.' Three disembodied beings require humanoids from across the galaxy to satisfy their gambling bug, while Spock argues with both McCoy and Scott as to how to find their missing comrades. Kirk benefits from having an attractive trainer in Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn), who naturally wants to learn more about lip service from an avowed expert. It all seems too familiar and lacks subtlety, but ensured a cult immortality for Angelique Pettyjohn, such a busy fixture on television at the time, yet a mere 10 more credits after 1971 before a tragically young death at 48 in 1992.

Among many other aspects of the show, I'm a big fan of the original Star Trek's cheese factor. I'm also a fan of the fighting shows, partially because they tend to be high on the cheese factor. The Gamesters of Triskelion is chock full of both of those elements, but my score is a couple points lower than it would otherwise be due mostly to the fact that the plot of this episode isn't particularly fresh.

To an extent, writers Margaret Armen and Gene Roddenberry, along with director Gene Nelson were cruising along on autopilot. It's certainly an enjoyable autopilot, but it's not enough to garner a 10/10. Very Similar ideas can be found in earlier episodes including Bread and Circuses, Arena, Amok Time, I, Mudd, and The Cage/The Menagerie. Another slight problem is that some of the mechanics of extending the episode are fairly transparent, such as Kirk not fighting so well in the early segments.

Kirk, Chekov and Uhura are abducted and diverted a few light years away while being beamed down to another planet. They become imprisoned in a "culture" that uses violent games for sport. Through this and developments further into the episode, Roddenberry and crew are able to explore issues such as slavery, totalitarianism, and ideas of evolutionary, cultural and intellectual superiority.

But The Gamesters of Triskelion is a lot of fun for other reasons, including the fight choreography and the often-ridiculous aliens, including a Grand Poobah who looks something like Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. This episode also has one of Kirk's more questionable love interests.

Okay so this one is not the most intellectual show of the series. And some of the content was cheesy, sure...like the weapons and the Thrall fights. But some factors were very high on the cool chart: 1. Start with the name: Triskelion! What an unusual, creative name for a planet! Almost sounds like skeleton! Way cool! 2. The three talking brains. I saw the show when it first aired. I thought talking brains were cool then, and that was on a black and white TV. In color, they're even cooler! What other show has talking brains? 3. The hot green-haired babe with the tinfoil bikini! That alone is enough to rank this one among the most memorable shows of the series! Talk to anyone who's seen it, even years ago, and they might not remember the name, or what it was about, but EVERYONE remembers the babe in the tinfoil bikini! On my black and white TV she was a blond. And all the time it was green. Off the charts on this one! I was a preteenager at that time, but still joined thousands or millions of other boys/men at the time silently shouting "Go for it Kirk!!!" Yes, this may not have been one of the best episodes in any one category, but it is one of the most memorable and it therefore ranks in my top ten.

This is a fairly straight forward episode. We have here some people who like to use other people for sport. Note the masters and those they enslave. Note their "bodies" and how our much beloved Captain Kirk describes them.

We have intellect obsessed with competition. So much to the point of using other living creatures to gratify their blood lust for sport. Remind you of anyone or any society current or historical?

Beyond that, there's not much more to talk about. We have enslavement, gladiatorial games, a sexy alien babe, a dark ominous master "chief thrall", and some action.

It's an entertaining episode. Try not to over analyze this one because you'll just give yourself a headache. In the end Kirk pulls another rabbit out of his hat by using the gamesters of Triskelion's own psychology against them. And for all of their higher "intellect" (which proved not to be so high after all), they still succumb to basic instincts in the end.

I guess you might say that the one regret is that Kirk never came back to visit Shauna again, but hey, it's Trek.

A good hours entertainment. Give it a spin on the DVD player.