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TOS season 3 episode 21 - The Cloud Minders
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:10 pm    Post subject: TOS season 3 episode 21 - The Cloud Minders Reply with quote

________________________________

As this great series was approaching its sad cancellation, this episode gave us a fine example of just how good the show was. The enhanced FX pack a real punch when it comes to selling the gorgeous premise.

The original FX is on the left, the enhanced one is on the right.








The plot deals with heavy-weight social issues like labor laws and racial bigotry.

And these weighty matters aren't disguised by science fiction trappings like many of the controversial issues TOS addressed. The touchy subjects are allowed to stand right out in plain sight.

The episode starts right off with a fairly long and impressive shot of the Enterprise cruising along while Kirk makes his opening Captain's log entry. The angle is something different: we're gazing up at the ship while the stars streak by, and the camera slowly trucks in closer and closer.

It's plum regal. This jpeg doesn't do it justice. Very Happy






The setting for the story is perhaps the most impressive in the whole series — a gravity defying city which appears to sit atop a cloud. Even Kirk and Spock gawk at it.





The city is inhabited by an elite intellectual class whose chief occupation is art. But the working class toils on the planet below, mining a rare mineral called zenite. Profits from the sale of the mineral allow the citizens in the city above to live in luxury.

The new FX of the floating city are marvelous, as well as the sets for the interiors.








Every story needs a conflict, and this one is a doozy. The Enterprise has come to pick up a shipment of zenite needed to save the entire ecosystem of a heavily populated planet whose vegetation is threatened by an agricultural blight. The Enterprise needs to transport a shipment of zenite (the mineral being mined on the planet) to the blight-stricken world so it's vegetation can be treated.

But there's trouble in paradise! :shock;

The city dwellers are convinced that the miners aren't civilized and intelligent enough to appreciate the beautiful art, architecture, and luxurious lifestyle. They think the miners are innately violent and unintelligent, so they only allow a few "trained" individuals to work as servants in the greatest "high rise" community in history.

The worker class of miners are called troglodyts, but oddly enough they look like normal people, not like cavemen. In fact, a rather attractive female miner tries to abduct Kirk and use him as a hostage to force the city dwellers to negotiate with them.

Kirk objects to the hi-tech torture to which the bigoted city administrator submits the captured woman. He and the city administrator lock horns over his treatment of the miners.






Meanwhile, the administrator's lovely daughter has a thing for Spock! There's an interesting scene in which Spock tells her that the Vulcan mating ritual occurs "only once every seven years" and that it's biological in nature. He seems to be indicating that he can't choose to mate any time he gets the urge. I've read conflicting discusses about that subject.







The young lady's character is called Droxine — but I think a more fitting name would be . . . Anorexia. Smile





The episode's interesting story becomes more complex when Dr. McCoy determines that the workers are just as smart as the snooty city folks, but a gas created by the mineral they mine makes them hostile and less intelligent. However, it only affects them while they're exposed to it. It's not a permanent condition.

McCoy develops a filter mask that will protect them, but when Kirk tries to demonstrate one to the miners and prove it can help, they take him prisoner.






They remove Kirk's mask and force him to start digging for zenite with his bare hands. Pretty soon Kirk himself goes postal from the gas — which gives the writers the perfect excuse to let the suddenly vicious Kirk break a boatload of Starfleet rules by ordering Scotty to beam the bigoted city administrator right into the mine and give him a taste of the gas that makes the "inferior" troglodyts act hostile and less intelligent.

Needless to say, Kirk and company eventually help the miners get a fair shake from the "upper class" (pun intended Very Happy ), and they depart with the zenite shipment needed to save the endangered planet.






This is definitely one of my favorite TOS episodes, a much better story than Requiem from Methuselah. Cool
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting story but a foolish finale, Bud.

Hey everyone, we have masks that will protect you from the dumb inducing gases, so you all can happily do backbreaking labor in the mines.

And the beautiful daughter of the fella in charge of the incredible sky city will be the first to go in the mines with others of her ilk to follow.

Yeah, right.

And how come these advanced civilizations who can place an entire metropolis suspended in the sky have no mining tools that are equally sophisticated?
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Charlene Polite as Vana over Diana Ewing as Droxine anyday! Laughing

I can't see the upper classes of Stratos going down into the mines no more than I could see our 'beloved' leaders actually working for a living either! Sad
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Hey everyone, we have masks that will protect you from the dumb inducing gases, so you all can happily do backbreaking labor in the mines.

And how come these advanced civilizations who can place an entire metropolis suspended in the sky have no mining tools that are equally sophisticated?

Well, as for your last comment about the "mining tools" (I assume you mean hi-tech machinery that would make the mining of the zenite more efficient), I'm sure the story was simplified a bit for the sake of the budget (because FX showing big mining machines would be expensive) and for the sake of the moral message (a parable for the way the rich Southern plantation owners were living high on the hog while the African Americans were picking the cotton).

Concerning this statement —

"Hey everyone, we have masks that will protect you from the dumb inducing gases, so you all can happily do backbreaking labor in the mines"

— I think you missed an important point.

The mine workers just wanted the city people to stop exploiting them. They wanted to be treated better and paid a lot more for their work in the mines. They also wanted the right to NOT be miners if they chose. Some of them had the same dream the The Jeffersons did! The lyrics to their theme song is startlingly apropos! Very Happy

Well we're movin on UP,
To the east side!
To a deluxe apartment in the SKY!


So, the story isn't about making the sissy city folk work in the mines, it's about the miners getting filthy stinking rich selling zenite . . . so they can buy the floating city, and throw all those highbrow bigots out the nearest window! Very Happy

Okay, I'm just kidding about that last part. Laughing

But bear in mind that the troglodyts are actually holding all the cards! I don't know why the miners even need the city folks. They're the ones in possession of the mines, and they're the ones who are willing and able to mine the priceless zenite!

Once they start wearing those masks and get smart, they'll tell the city folks to go jump off a ledge! They can make a deal with the Federation, sell the zenite to the highest bidders, buy a few specially equipped starships, and BEAM the damn stuff right up into the ships' cargo holds!

What a great sequel that would make!

The miners are in a great position to take control of their own destiny. Those guys are literally sitting on a gold mine! It would be just like what would happen if the Southern slaves were suddenly able to somehow sell the cotton they picked, keep the profits, and eventually buy the plantation so they could run those lazy white folks right outta town! Very Happy

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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The effects of the Zenite gas left the Troglodytes subservient to their Cloud City masters so they couldn't sort of refuse to work, that is until the long term effects left the Trogs with an axe to grind and a taste for revenge upon the rich and idle up in Stratos city! Anyone remember Blue Stratos? A man's aftershave from years back?
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon May 13, 2019 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Oh my God! My ex-wife gave me that stuff for my birthday several years ago, and until I used it up I was subservient and couldn't refuse to work whenever she wanted things done around the house!

Jeez, I just thought I was just henpecked! Shocked


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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

____________

On the downside, this episode would have scored at least a couple of places higher had it adhered to the complex social problems presented. As others have pointed out, an ending to such a story should be ambiguous, since solutions to such cultural problems only happen, if they do, over a long span of time.

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 simplistic escapist sci-fi fare, away from the potentially insightful commentary on cultural inequality.

__

The original version of the city of Stratos (above) was significantly altered in the remastered version of the episode. Though it retained the basic structure, much more detail was added and some of the archaic 'castle-like' configurations were removed.

__

Extra Trek Trivia:

~ The original version of the episode was written by David Gerrold, in which the ending was not so simple and upbeat. It was rewritten by Margaret Armen.

~ Jeff Corey was also an acting teacher. One of his students was Nimoy.

~ Fred Williamson, pro-footballer, has a small role as one of the Troglytes. He went on to a movie career in the seventies.

BoG's Score: 8.5 out of 10



BoG
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Charlene Polite was married to Ramon Bieri back in the seventies and no, I haven't any explanation for that either! Confused
JB
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trivia about "The Cloud Minders." } Well known sci~fi writer David Gerrold created the story outline.

Original titles : "Castles in the Sky,'' and "Revolt.''

DG's inspiration was the affluent citizens of Beverly Hills who had low income servants do all the work around their estates.

DG said that there was a great bias against him due to his being only 23 years old.

Gene Roddenberry was not fond of Gerrold's first script for Star Trek : "The Trouble with Tribbles." GR did not care for the levity and large doses of humor.

Interestingly, although they were most certainly 2 very different producers, Irwin Allen wanted no humor in any of his productions either.

In the original teleplay Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, and Uhura are traveling to the sky city Aeros via shuttlecraft when they are struck by a missile and are forced to land in the "Undercity.''

DG was very displeased with the final script after it had been rewritten.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Fascinating facts, Pow. Thanks.

I did not know David Gerrold was in his early twenties at the time he wrote the scripts for Star Trek. Man, that luck son-of-a-gun! Very Happy

I wonder what the reason was for the Enterprise crewmen not transporting down to the cloud city. Plot-wise it was obviously to allow them to be shot down, but I'm sure that version of the story explained the use of the shuttle.

Perhaps the cloud city had a shield to protect it from the folks who shot down the shuttle. That's probably the most likely reason the transporter wasn't used.

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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Writer David Gerrold had the miners in his script for this episode referred to as 'Mannies" for manual laborers.

In the script there were two leaders that the Mannies were torn between. One leader was a peace advocate like Dr. Martin Luther King; the other leader was urged a violent revolution.

In DG's script the planet's surface was a harsh environment.

The air was denser, the pressure was higher, and there was noxious gas.

As previously noted before, Kirk, Spock, Dr.McCoy and Uhura were traveling in a shuttlecraft when they were downed by a missile from the Mannies who then take the star ship crew hostage.

They were in desperate need for dilithium crystals for the Enterprise and the planet Ardana is a huge supplier of the crystals.
So the gas zenite plot replaced the crystals as a plot device.

Uhura was injured in the shuttle crash which necessitated her being taken to a Mannie hospital.

Upon seeing the awful conditions at the hospital, Kirk becomes appalled and decides that he must force the Mannies and the sky dwellers to sit down together in order to begin negotiations to improve the Mannies lives.

At the conclusion of the episode Kirk pats himself on the back that the two opposing sides on Ardala are now headed in a more positive direction.

McCoy then comments "Yes, but how many children will die in the meantime?"

Gerrold wanted to leave both Kirk and the viewers uneasy.

None of this would fly with the producers who insisted on the cliche happy ending. The drastic revisions to DG's script left him unhappy as he felt his original story was more complex and had shades of gray to it.

DG's inspiration for the episode was the wealthy people of Beverly Hills who had their houses cleaned, gardens tended, trash taken out by the poor.

Others have thought that Fritz Lang's 1927 s-f classic film "Metropolis" might have also been an inspiration.

Fans found the scene where Mr.Spock discusses Vulcan mating rituals with Ardala resident Droxine inconsistent with the Vulcan culture.
In the episode "Amok Time" Spock tells Kirk that the Vulcan mating ritual is one that is intensely private. It is not ever discussed with non-Vulcans.

Actor Jeff Corey who portrayed Plasus leader of the Sky City was a highly respected actor & teacher.
Jeff was blacklisted for refusing to name alleged communists in the entertainment industry for the House Un-American Activities Committee.

In order to make a living he taught acting to many including Leonard Nimoy.

Look closely and you will see that the Stratos guards weapon is the same one used by the Scalosian's in the episode "Wink of an Eye."

Star Trek: Enterprise Executive Producer Manny Coto said that if ST:E had gone to a fourth season that he wanted to do a prequel episode about Stratos.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

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

~ It is somewhat interesting that Jeff Corey was cast as Plasus, the leader of the privileged people on Stratos. For a number of years he had been blacklisted from working for being a Communist.

Note from me: The trials that Washington held to root out those "dangerous communist" were disgraceful. They ruined lot of lives.

~ According to John M. Dwyer (on the TOS season 2 DVD special features), the metal artwork and sculptures that appear throughout the city were mostly parts of metal furniture, like tables, etc. that he had rented from, "a guy up in Topanga Canyon" minus the glass tops, and much care had to be taken to return them in their original condition.

Note from me: What a novel idea. Turn furniture into wall decor.

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scotpens
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
As this great series was approaching its sad cancellation, this episode gave us a fine example of just how good the show was.

I have to respectfully disagree. "The Cloud Minders" may not be quite as heavy-handed as "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," but it still has a high preachiness factor. And like a lot of third-season episodes, it feels padded. Spock's strange voice-over interlude seems like it was written just to bring the running time to the required length.

Bogmeister wrote:
The original version of the city of Stratos (above) was significantly altered in the remastered version of the episode. Though it retained the basic structure, much more detail was added and some of the archaic 'castle-like' configurations were removed.

This is one rare instance where I feel the remastered effects are actually an improvement on the originals. The new Stratos city is visually impressive, with a Streamline Moderne esthetic and a definite Frank Lloyd Wright influence.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicks

The author for Nitpickers Guide observes that the future in the Star Trek Universe seems to have some really bad plagues.

He further states that he cannot think of any natural pestilence or disease that has ever threatened to destroy all life on our planet while planet extinction events scenarios pop up in the ST Universe.

Me: Dramatic license in order to create an incredible crisis that the Enterprise can solve.

Mr. Spock claims that Stratos is a completely intellectual society, that all forms of violence have been eliminated.

Later, we see Plasus torturing Vanna in order to obtain information regarding the rebellious Troglytes.

Isn't torture a form of violence?

The term Troglyte comes from ancient Earth. Why would members of an alien civilization use terminology from our world to name one of their races?

When Kirk decides to break Vanna out of her cell he beams directly into it. Kirk then flattens himself against a wall as a guard enters the cell. Many moments later, the guard turns and sees Kirk and Kirk stuns him with his phaser.

Why didn't Kirk stun the guard as he entered the cell instead of waiting so long? The guard would not have seen who it was that stunned him.

Then we see Kirk & Vanna go strolling through Stratos to find a transporter. how come Kirk did not call the Enterprise and have them transport him & Vanna?

The author found the idea that Droxine would want to go down to work in the mines absurd. She's been raised in the intellectual, genteel society of Stratos. A world flooded with art, music, deep thoughts, and beauty.

She will be screaming bloody murder five minutes after she is in one of those mines.

I agree.

Spock acts out of his usual normal Vulcan character on this episode when he meets the beautiful Droxine.

He offers several compliments to her; highly unusual for the stoic First Officer.

He proceeds to tell her about the Vulcan mating rituals.

So much for, "It is a thing no out-worlders may know," and "It is a deeply personal thing" — statements made by Mr. Spock when he spoke with Kirk on "Amok Time."

The mask that Kirk offers up to the Troglytes has only a single band to secure it to the face. The band travels up from the mask and over the head. Does this seem secure?
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:


Mr. Spock claims that Stratos is a completely intellectual society, that all forms of violence have been eliminated.

Later, we see Plasus torturing Vanna in order to obtain information regarding the rebellious Troglytes.

Isn't torture a form of violence?


Stratos may characterize it as forceful persuasion, or coercion. The torture instrument didn't appear to cause physical damage, so maybe they figure that gives them a pass on the charge of violence.

But then tyrants always have weasel words to justify their actions.

Years ago, pre internet, I read an article on how the TOS Federation acted more like a Confederacy, where the central government had little power over the member planets.

If so then Kirk's actions would land him in very hot water.

David.
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