The Cloud Minders

I am a most fervent fan of Star Trek TOS and still watch it on cable most nights a week. Many episodes have 'stayed' with me over the years, and this episode - with all its shortcomings - is one of them. I think it is because it's Spock, not Kirk, who has the romantic interest. I like the story and the feisty rebellious woman. I like the matte painting of the 'city in the sky', cheesy as it is. I like the gorgeous, ethereal 'Droxine' (and her name!)....there's something about City In the Sky that fascinates me. (maybe it's the spacey, other-worldly music? It fits so well with the city-in-the-sky and clueless aristos.)

...Yes, it is kind of like Elysium, but with different social issues.

If this episode had been produced the way David Gerrold wrote the script - IE, about a three way class struggle/war, it never would have been aired. Especially with the subtle hints to Spock's illogical attraction to a Stratosian Woman, which he himself is bothered by. But I believe that Spock is not immune to meeting that one person who affects him physically, everyone meets a person like this at one time or another and as Spock is half human, he must have been having a lot of trouble with this in this episode. On the Vulcanian side, Pon-Farr only erupts every seven years, but being half human it would be rational to believe that Spock could "perform" out of that Vulcanian "limit"- If in fact, Vulcanians are strictly limited to Pon Farr for gratification and do not engage in any casual "multiplicative proclivities." Who knows, Theodore Sturgeon never mentions this in "Amok Time."

Most of the hits this episode took were regarding Mr. Spock, apparently openly talking about his biology to "Droxine" (Diana Ewing)- Which we know, is a private issue which "Vulcanians" (later called "Vulcans") are loathe to discuss outside of their Species- It is one of the most Private Issues of Vulcans. So how can Spock, who carefully guarded this issue in "Amok Time"- Discuss it so apparently freely with a woman he does not even know? I explain it as follows:

In fact Mr Spock himself excuses this - He openly admits admiration of aesthetic beauty, and that beautiful women, women of a certain type, Droxine's type - disturb him. He is obviously disturbed by Droxine, obviously attracted to her despite being half-Vulcanian, and I accept that if Spock were Biologically and Aesthetically attracted to a woman of Droxine's type, he would probably discuss it, but only with her, as she is the object of it (He would have to if wants to, Er, "do it"). This is as close Spock gets in any Original Series or later story, of being attracted to a woman on sight. It is illogical, he knows this. In fact this episode is one of the only Original Series episodes that have Spock talking about this in his "Log" which is a voice-over at the very beginning of the episode- In it, he muses about the attractiveness of Droxine, her sheltered lifestyle, and how she would react if she were introduced to the Class Struggle which is even now developing under her feet. A musing that will be answered, as this very thing happens, as she reveals an almost racist bigotry against the "Troglytes" which live to mine the "Zenite" in the caves below, the Zenite which makes the cloud city Stratos rich, and that wealth is denied to the workers who mine it.

The issue of Class Struggle never really gets swept under and excused as the result of "Zenite Gas" - The Issue of Zenite Gas merely allows the issue of the missing Zenite delivery to come to a quick resolution. Part of the Class Struggle of the planet Ardana is the false belief by the Stratos dwellers that the Troglyte Miners are somehow genetically inferior and cannot understand certain concepts, in fact Kirk finds this to be false. So his job is to prove to leaders of the sky city AND the miners why this is so.

The issue is not resolved in the time period this episode encompasses, it is merely brought out into the open, and we can leave the Episode knowing that it will be dealt with, just not within the scope what we see here. We also see Spock having deal with his "love on sight" issue, or, How he can be attracted to a woman who is so beautiful but has such an ugly belief in her? But this is solved by Droxine herself, finally understanding why what she had been raised to believe was so wrong.

I saw this when I was 10 years old, I didn't care about any of these issues when I was that age, I didn't even know about them. I was agog by the images of Stratos, shocked when the Troglyte "Disruptor" flung himself from the city, and of course I was also attracted to Droxine - Although at 10 years old I did not know why yet.

This was one of those episodes that I loved when I was 10, and can appreciate now, now that I know about these issues.

Enterprise visits the planet Ardana to acquire a mineral needed to cure a plague.

This is an enjoyable episode with a great central premise and some decent moments for Captain Kirk.

There is much of the plot to admire, such as the 'Metropolis' tributes, the portrayal of class divides and the forceful way Kirk interferes given what is at stake outside the planet. However, it's advisable not to read about David Gerrold's original outline for the story as it sounds much better than what was actually produced in this episode.

Kirk for me is good in most scenes as this is an example of him interfering in the balance of a society, largely because of his own mission. William Shatner plays it with trademark charisma, charm, a bit of force and does not go too far over-the-top. He has some good exchanges with Jeff Corey and the especially good Charlene Polite. The dialogue is not particularly subtle and is quite simplistic at times so their performances have to rescue it.

Spock is presented rather differently to usual in his interactions with the character Droxine. It just about feels logical that she would be drawn to him, but it depends on how interesting you find the scenes. Personally I'm not a huge fan of him departing from his usual character in this way, but it's not done badly.

The production design is strong, particularly the cloud city and zenite mines. The intercutting of scenes between Kirk/Vanna and Spock/Droxine is very good. The suicidal troglyte was quite impactful. I also like the costumes and props, as always.

I would have scored higher had I not learned the original plan for the story as, for me, it feels like a missed opportunity.

This is a pretty good episode that nearly merits a score of 8. The Enterprise arrives at a strange planet in search of dilithium crystals. The rulers of the planet live in a lovely city sitting in the clouds and they spend most of their days relaxing and thinking noble thoughts. The rest of the planet must live in the caves and work as miners and their lives totally suck. The dichotomy and basic unfairness of this isn't an issue to the people in the clouds (no big surprise) but the miners are sick of their lot in life. Plus, although no one knows it, inside the mines is Zenite gas, that makes the miners more angry and hostile. But, mediating the rebellion that erupts is something that seems impossible for the crew--especially since the cloud people are major jerks and the miners behave, when around the gas, like they are crazy. So, the Kirk-Meister, who is desperately in need of the crystals, creates an effective solution that isn't exactly in sync with the prime directive!!! All in all, an interesting episode that is quite thought-provoking.

By the way, it really was pretty cool for once to see the "hot babe" go for Spock and not Kirk!! For once, there's a woman who wants a smart and not a studly man!

The Enterprise arrives at the planet Ardana to obtain zenite, a rare mineral which they need to combat a botanical plague on another world. Kirk & Spock beam down but find themselves caught in the middle of a class struggle between the intellectual rulers dwelling in a city in the clouds, sustained by some anti-gravity technology, and Troglytes, the miners who mostly dwell in the caves on the surface of the planet, where such items like zenite are obtained. This is essentially a reworking of the elite class vs. the worker class story penned by H.G.Wells in his famous novel "The Time Machine" (filmed in 1960 and later versions). Extrapolating from such a premise of basic inequality, where-in the elites get all the benefits through the sweat of the workers, it proposes that, some time in the past, one race experienced an extreme branching off separation into two, though, scientifically, they are still all the same race. Kirk & Spock see them as the same, simply a division of the rich vs. the poor, but the egotistical intellectuals of Stratos, the hovering city, have come to see themselves, over the centuries, as a different, superior race.

All of this is sort of summed up by Spock's voice-over as he sits in meditation in his guest room on Stratos, as images of various characters from both sides of the issue are transposed over his form. This sequence also kind of reminded me of scenes and voice-overs from the film "Dune"(84) - another variation on depicting royalty vs. poverty in a futuristic setting. It's a fairly exciting episode from the 3rd season, especially when I saw this as a kid, with several hand-to-hand struggles, and perhaps with even an increase to the usually-lackluster budget for 3rd season episodes. The episode also does a good job of contrasting the desperate stance and attitudes of the Troglytes (variation of 'troglodyte') when compared to the superior attitudes of the elites on Stratos. On the downside, this episode would have rated at least a couple of stars higher had it adhered to the complex social problems presented. Instead, it's revealed that a gas, released when digging for zenite, causes a retardation to the brains of the Troglytes. This problem is solved with the introduction of gas masks by Kirk, which will, in turn, the conclusion suggests, eradicate the inequality on Ardana. This plot turn devolves the episode to simple escapist sf fare, away from the potentially insightful commentary on cultural inequality.