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TOS episode #22 - Return of the Archons

 
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:13 am    Post subject: TOS episode #22 - Return of the Archons Reply with quote

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_____ Classic Star Trek: The Return of the Archons


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ABOVE: Sulu is about to get cornered by a Lawgiver and then absorbed into 'The Body' - Paradise!

This episode does present some deep and sophisticated concepts, quite sophisticated even for this show. However, the drawback was an unexciting narrative, even a drab pace, and a lackluster conclusion. The Enterprise had already arrived at a planet before the episode begins, on one of those investigative searches for a lost Federation ship from a century prior (see also A Taste of Armageddon, where-in a ship was lost half-a-century prior).

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This planet's inhabitants all seem to be in a perpetual state of vapid, almost mindless contentment, walking about in a happy daze on the streets of a pleasant town. Well, perpetual, that is, until the big clock strikes a certain hour — the Red Hour — then everyone goes crazy raping & pillaging.

I wonder who cleans up these messes afterward?

This 'festival' as it's called is depicted in a manner which nowadays draws derisive laughter, I'm afraid. It was meant to be disturbing, offering a stark comparison between civilized, calm citizens and ones who are berserk a moment later. As of this decade, it calls to mind such films as 28 Days Later, also depicting crazed citizens, with obviously a more realistic, more savage tone.

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The people here are no more than wind up toys, following the telepathic command of a hidden ruler named Landru. Landru's will is enforced by mysterious robed figures, Lawgivers, who employ strange staves.

We can surmise that, perhaps, this was a veiled attack on communism back in the sixties, showing the inherent dangers of collectivism. The science fiction premise, that of the 'group-mind,' has been prevalent in sci-fi, especially in the sixties.

In such a state, there are no real individuals left, only a 'body' composed of many cells, each cell pretty much the same as the next one. This story proposes that when free will becomes too intoxicating and mankind nearly destroys itself (i.e. self-induced holocaust), then something may step in to regulate our will to avoid extinction — a cosmic Gandhi turned benign dictator, if you will. Therefore, this could be a commentary on rampant capitalism and democracy as well — so the story wants to have it both ways.

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However, as with every "body", be it physical or mental, there inevitably appear certain strains or viruses attacking from within. The rebels here work in groups of 3 and are apparently resistant to the absorption techniques imposed by Landru.

It's interesting that these rebels are all old men (Harry Townes, Jon Lormer), perhaps having developed some immunity over time. But they don't behave so much as rebels as just crying for some saviors to come — like the 'Archons' from a 100 years ago.

Kirk has to coerce these guys into helping him find this mysterious Landru, all the while avoiding being absorbed.

My favorite scene lets actor De Kelley show what a good actor he was, after McCoy gets absorbed into the body. No one else was able to capture that self-satisfied contentment as well as he did. And it was all the more unsettling when, after pointing an accusatory finger, he attacked Kirk in rage ("You're NOT of the BODY!"). You can't pay for better entertainment sometimes.

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The 4th act, unfortunately, is anti-climactic, with the use of anti-machine logic by Kirk to get some circuits sputtering (see later episodes such as The Ultimate Computer and The Changeling, which also suffered in depicting conveniently very vulnerable, faulty machinery).

I did appreciate the guest turn by actor Torin Thatcher, who appears late in the episode. I'll always remember him from the best Sinbad movie, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).

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Now we come to the real crux of this story — the disregard of the Prime Directive, that supposedly unyielding law which governs the ethics of the Federation. It states that such Federation envoys as the Enterprise crew may never interfere with or change another culture.

Now, it wasn't a COMPLETE disregard: Spock does remind Kirk of the directive towards the 4th act. Kirk dismisses this rule with a couple of sentences, that it only refers to a growing culture, which this isn't.

Oh, really? I wasn't aware that such distinctions could be made.

Perhaps now we understand the attraction of going off into space as a starship captain — you get to play God on occasion. Not a bad way to spend one's time — as we remember in The Apple and A Taste of Armageddon.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

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Extra Trek Trivia:

~ In a rare instance, Spock employs his fist rather than his famed nerve pinch in this episode — perhaps he was concerned the pinch wouldn't work well on the zombie-like robed Lawgivers.

~ Also uncharacteristically, Kirk referred to McCoy as 'Doc' in this episode, not the usual 'Bones.'

~ Jon Lormer would also play an old man in For The World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky and portrayed an old illusion in the first pilot, The Cage.

~ Landru (Charles Macaulay, who would return in Wolf in the Fold) created his mechanical talisman 6,000 years ago; advanced aliens began training special Earth agents 6,000 years ago (Assignment: Earth). Is there a connection?



BoG
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trivia for "Return of the Archons" } Earlier titles for this episode were : "The Perfect World," "Paradise XML," Landru's Paradise.''

This story was considered as the pilot for Star Trek.

Archon means ruler in Greek.

Early on Landru was going to be a robot. Wonder if Robby was interested in the role?

The clock tower was constructed for this episode.

Leonard Nimoy came up with the idea of having Mr.Spock sleep with his eyes open.

The script for ROTA was nominated for a Writer Guild Award as Best Screenplay for a One Hour Drama.

Always enjoyed this episode. We get to see a fair amount of Desilu's famous 40-Acres back lot city street.

It would be reused again in "Miri,'' and "The City on the Edge of Forever.''

"The Green Hornet,'' "Mission:Impossible,'' and "Batman"were just a few of the TV shows that would film on this back lot. The most famous being "The Andy Griffith Show''which utilized the town for Mayberry.

Although a fine episode,I was always very disappointed when they revealed the Landru master computer. Its design was meh.

Generally ST:TOS artistic team came up with wonderful models,props,and sets.

Nomad ("The Changeling"),the alien obelisk ("The Paradise Syndrome"),M-5 ("The Ultimate Computer'') were all terrific examples of studio built props.

But Landru came off as very cheesy & drab in appearance.

Bud, I can agree with your analogy of this society being similar to communistic.

However, it also came off to me as a smack against organized religion.

The vapid smiles,the constant "Peace be with you,"and "Are you of the body?"certainly reflected that for me.

Not to mention the hostility if the citizens Beta III discovered if you were not one of 'em put me in mind of many churches back then and today.

The looking to Landru as a god that provided and took care of them,as well as being unforgiving and punishing rebels certainly fits many denominations.

The hooded "Lawgivers"could also be seen as priests or ministers who interpret Landru's doctrine and who act as its enforcers.

Salem Witch Trials anyone?

The high tech conversion room where individuals are made into loyal Landru slaves via light beams or nanotechnology can also be seen as a form of brainwashing which religions can employ.

Gene Roddenberry was an atheist as many sci~fi writers are in life.

I'm guessing he knew that 60s television would not dare touch religious issues for fear of alienating some viewers.
So if NBC Practices & Standards questioned the script's content as possibly being anti-religious,GR might have substituted communism as the villain of the piece.

America was rabidly against communism at that time,so any digs at it on US TV would have been welcome.

I believe that ROTA was both anti-communist and anti-religious at the same time.

Who says you can't take on two boogie men simultaneously?
Not Gene Roddenberry I'm sure.


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Pow, I know that all the members enjoy your interesting posts like the one above. Please keep up the good work. All Sci-Fi appreciates you! Very Happy


Pow wrote:
Bud, I can agree with your analogy of this society being similar to communistic.

However, it also came off to me as a smack against organized religion.

Small correction, Pow. I did not write the above post that started this thread. Very Happy

It was written by the late Andrew Bogdan (Bogmeister), who was my co-site admin here on All Sci-Fi from 2008 until 2014.

Andrew's post was copied (pictures and all) from his own sci-fi message board — the Galactic Base of Science Fiction — and re-posted by me on All Sci-Fi under Bogmeister's name.

Unfortunately, Bogmeister's board is essentially dead, because only eleven people joined it between 2010 and 2015 — after which it was impossible to join, because its sole site administrator (Andrew) had passed away and could no long activate the new members who registered! Sad

I didn't even know Andrew's board existed until Eadie sent me a PM with a link to a sci-fi message board she'd discovered! I was amazed that it had hundreds of reviews like the ones above — none of which Andrew had bothered to add to All Sci-Fi . . . a board he was a site admin for! Shocked

I hate to say it, but poor Andrew wasted five years adding hundreds of posts to a message board very people even bothered to join. For that reason, I've tried to rescue his "lost" reviews and post them here so that our members can enjoy them. Smile

I just wanted to clarify the fact that I can take no credit for the comments on the initial post above.

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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I somehow see alot of Archons in The Purge films, not sure why? Wink
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My apologies, Bud. That's what comes from reading too quickly some of these posts. My bad.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I'm sorry too, sir. The only reason I launched into that lecture is because I want people to understand how unfortunate it was that the late Andrew Bogdan worked so hard to make All Sci-Fi successful by posting hundreds of reviews (on the old board that vanished in 2014) along with the invaluable contribution of the first Alphabetic Indexes he designed and installed!

When this boards was started I recreated and expanded them, knowing that we were the only board in existence that has that unique and extremely useful feature. Cool

I'll never understand why Bogmeister didn't try to promote the Galactic Base of Science Fiction right here on All Sci-Fi. He never even told us about it! Shocked

So, my reply above is intended to explain to folks how and why I'm literally saving Bogmeister's work from being lost forever. Eventually his board's "free forum" web host will delete his website, because it's had no activity since Bogmeister's last post . . . which, ironically enough, was an obituary for Christorpher Lee in 2015, about a week before Andrew passed away. Sad

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always enjoyed Andrew's posts. They were intelligent, deep, and well written. Sometimes I agreed with him, other times I did not.

I miss his posts to this day and sometimes go back and re-read them.

R.I.P. amigo.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Return of the Archons" Trivia.

Gene Roddenberry had originally envisioned using an outdoor village set for the town instead of Desilu's 40 Acres backlot early Americana town set.

I'm curious as to what Gene had in mind regarding an outdoor village set?

I assumed he knew that he had to utilize the 40 Acres backlot in order to shoot on location for this episode.

So just what was Desilu's outdoor set specifically?

I thought I read that 40 Acres had an Arabian backlot that would have been comprised of buildings designed like the Mid-East.

Would that have been it? The Arabian backlot would be featured prominently in the episode "Errand of Mercy" as the planet Organia's simple village.

I think 40 Acres also had---as all Hollywood backlots at that time---a Western Town street.

I can't imagine that Gene thought that their budget would allow for the construction of a new backlot outdoor village.

The early Americana town, aka Mayberry, seems to work just fine. I always thought it was cleverly deceptive by Landru to have such an older looking city house a super-computer that could control an entire planet's population.

Landru also gave the Federation & the Enterprise a run for their money too.

The Lawgivers were to have had a triple-barreled optical beam-shooting device to blast people.

This was downgraded as a budget saving measure to a simple looking hollow staff.

Again, a cost cutting measure actually works for the benefit of the script.

When Mr.Spock examines one of these staff contraptions he remarks with amazement that it has no apparent mechanisms on or within it.

I felt that made the episode more mysterious. Scary too, because who could design such powerful weapons that displayed no sign of technology!

The original script called for Landru/computer to disintegrate.

As yet another cost saving measure it was decided to simply have the computer spew out smoke and sparks as it breaks down.

Originally a magnetic force weapon on Beta III was to have locked onto the Enterprise and attempted to bring it down to the planet's surface. Just as had been done to the Federation star ship Archon over one hundred years earlier.

The magnetic beam idea was changed to some kind of heat beam weapon instead as it seemed to be a fresher concept.

Stan Robertson who was the liaison between NBC & Gene Roddenberry was pleased with the premise of the script.

Stan thought it was reminiscent of George Orwell's "1984" and Romain Rolland's "The Revolt of the Machines."

Robertson cautioned Roddenberry about letting the story become too cerebral.

Sad that American television seemed bent on producing shows for the lowest common denominator. Let's avoid hot topics, intelligence, and anything that will challenge or make our audience the least bit uncomfortable.

After all, we have beer, cars, cigarettes, and laundry soap to sell.

Torin Thatcher is one of my favorite actors. He always had a very commanding presence in his roles.

So I was disappointed that he did not have more to do on this episode.

Charles Macauley who plays Landru would return to Star Trek as Jaris in "Wolf in the Fold."

Familiar character actor Jon Lormer who played Tamar would also appear (as different characters) in the very first Star Trek pilot "The Cage" and as the elderly man in "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky."

Director Joseph Pevney found that the script called for Mr.Spock to administer his famous Vulcan Neck Pinch in the scene set in the dungeon.

Due to the blocking of the scene which Pevney felt would make it difficult for Leonard Nimoy to position himself properly for the pinch, and the fact that Spock had already done the pinch earlier, he had Spock throw an old fashioned fist punch.

The cost for the animated phaser beams was $8,000.

Total cost for the episode would be $210,793 making it one of the more expensive episodes for the first season.

This was due to location work, extra set construction, and dozens of extra performers, and the requirement of an extra day for filming.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2020 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Due to the blocking of the scene which Pevney felt would make it difficult for Leonard Nimoy to position himself properly for the pinch, and the fact that Spock had already done the pinch earlier, he had Spock throw an old fashioned fist punch.

Sir, I'll have you know that was NOT an "old fashioned fist punch"! That was the rarely seen Vulcan Fist Punch — much more effective than the Vulcan Nerve Pinch!

It was so effective in fact that when it was first developed it literally wiped out professional prize fighting on Vulcan overnight! Shocked

Fights no long lasted several rounds, because the first fighter to land a Vulcan Fist Punch laid out the other guy quicker than you can say "Fascinating"!

As a result, prize fighting vanished as a sport, and the reigning heavy weight champion was never again challenged.

By the way, the Vulcan Heavy Weight Champion was Sarak, Spock's father. In the fact, the reason Spock and Sarak didn't speak to each other for years was because Spock lost a heavy bet he'd placed on the other fighter. . . whose name (ironically) was Sock.
Confused
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicker's Guide for "Return of the Archons".

Landru makes the claim that under his aegis his world is without conflict or disease.

Yet during the Red Hour festival we see men and women smashing shop windows, stores plundered, and men carrying off screaming women.

Wouldn't that qualify as conflict?

After the festival, Kirk tells Reger not to worry because Dr. McCoy is going to give Reger's daughter who was assaulted earlier at the festival a shot.

Reger acts like he knows what the definition of a shot is. If there is no disease just why would Reger know what a shot is? History books from the planet's past pre-Landru era if such books are even allowed?

Kirk and his landing party materialize smack dab in broad daylight into the Beta III city. While it is true that they are all wearing proper clothes that reflect the current culture of the Beta III residents, isn't this rather conspicuous if you are following the Federation of Planet's Prime Directive?

In the episode "Bread and Circuses", Kirk made sure to have his landing party transport to the planet's surface out of sight and in the country.

Did Kirk think it simply didn't matter since he had Sulu beamed up in an emergency in front of the Lawgivers in the beginning of this episode?

Speaking of poor Sulu, he gets zapped by the rod of the Lawgivers' seconds prior to being beamed back to the Enterprise and becomes one of the followers of Landru.

So how come the Lawgivers did not zap the rest of the captured landing party later on when they were imprisoned in the dungeon? Instead, they escort the landing party members one-by-one to the absorption chamber in order for them to be converted to the will of Landru.

After blowing a whole in the wall of the Hall of Audience, Kirk and Spock train their phasers on the super computer Landru.

The computer then proceeds to neutralize both of the phasers. Wonder why Landru did not neutralize the phasers before they blasted away his wall?

Of course then we couldn't have the big revelation that Landru was an A.I. and not a being.

This episode puts me in mind of the terrific sci~fi movie "Colossus: The Forbin Project."

In that film we see the super A.I. Colossus link up with its USSR counterpart Guardian. Both A.I.'s then ruthlessly take over the Earth in order to run it because humans are just making a mess of everything.

I'm wondering though how many humans would actually see that Colossus & Guardian make a compelling case and could remedy many of the ills created by humans lust for power, greed, corruption, and inhumane treatment of one another?

Could such a scenario occur on some distant alien world where they'd welcome just such a mechanical takeover?

And what if it actually worked for the betterment of humanity?

What if an A.I. could eliminate all war, all poverty, and reverse global warming that is killing a planet?

Always found that scene where the Beta III population silently pick up rocks and clubs and slowly walk towards Kirk and his landing party very creepy and frightening.

Mr. Spock refers to Landru as a 'remarkable feat of engineering.'

I suppose it is and yet it is woefully inadequate for the population of Beta III if you think about it.

Yes, it has eradicated war, poverty and other evils of civilization. However, the beings on this planet are as zonked out as the human colonists that were affected by the spores in "This Side of Paradise."

So I'm assuming that the Beta III society is not truly advancing in any productive way.

The citizens don't have any dreams or goals they want to achieve; no grand vision for their world as a whole. They really are in no meaningful way a growing or thriving culture

They're content to take their fishing poles and go to the watering hole with Andy and Opie; nothing more.

To that end, Landru has staggeringly failed but cannot see it.
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Landru makes the claim that under his aegis his world is without conflict or disease.

Yet during the Red Hour festival we see men and women smashing shop windows, stores plundered, and men carrying off screaming women.

Wouldn't that qualify as conflict?

More like a periodic "letting off steam" for twelve hours, so everyone can be placid and zombified the rest of the time. Incidentally, we're never told how frequently this "festival" takes place. Monthly? Bimonthly? Quarterly? Semiannually?

Pow wrote:
I'm wondering though how many humans would actually see that Colossus & Guardian make a compelling case and could remedy many of the ills created by humans lust for power, greed, corruption, and inhumane treatment of one another?

Could such a scenario occur on some distant alien world where they'd welcome just such a mechanical takeover?

As the Talosian Keeper said in the original Star Trek pilot: "The customs and history of your race show a unique hatred of captivity. Even when it's pleasant and benevolent, you prefer death." Humans would never submit to being ruled by a machine, even if it meant the end of war, crime, poverty, and all the other ills that plague mankind. A dictator is still a dictator, whether flesh and blood or silicon.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is also an indictment against humans that they desire their free will even if it kills off their entire civilization.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
________________________________

~ Contains the first mention of the Prime Directive of noninterference, which the plot brings up only so that Kirk can violate it.

Note from me: Apparently the Secondary Directive is "Rules are meant to be broken."

~ All the regulars on the show were quitting smoking at the same time, so, many chewed gum instead. Director Joseph Pevney was becoming increasingly upset, because he had to cut to remind the cast not to chew gum during the shoots.

As a prank for a large scene, William Shatner went around handing out bubble gum to the cast, crew and 60-80 extras, and had everyone blow a bubble right after the director hollered "Action".

Sid Haig reported the director "almost passed out". (Source: Sid Haig's phone interview with "The Shlocky Horror Picture Show" for a television airing of Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967).)


Note from me: Does anybody know if that outtake is on the gag reel?

~ This episode marks one of four times Kirk is able to "talk a computer to death". This skill is also used in Star Trek: The Original Series: The Changeling (1967), Star Trek: The Original Series: I, Mudd (1967), and Star Trek: The Original Series: The Ultimate Computer (1968) (with an honourable mention going to Star Trek: The Original Series: What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966), in which Kirk's arguments get Ruk the android so riled up he suicidally attacks Korby).

Note from me: I'll bet they eventually starting having classes at Starfleet Academy to teach cadets how deactivate computers with clever verbal arguments. Laughing

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