Klingons are as much a part of the Star Trek universe as the USS Enterprise, and have featured in every series made, but it all started here. With the Cold War being on everybody’s mind back in the ‘60s a villain had to be created to represent an opposing force to the Federation, and the make-up for the Romulans was too expensive to recreate on a regular basis. Gene Coon created the Klingons, and with some quickly-applied shoe polish for make-up along with some cheap false moustaches, they arrived on the small screen with barbaric style.
Initially shown as being a brutal race, over time it became a matter of “Know thy enemy”. While their early appearances showed them to be hostile conquerors, even this early on they display typical Klingon facets of despising those who are weak and without honour, while admiring Kirk’s warrior spirit. Over the years these aspects would be built upon to the point of them arguably becoming even more popular with the fans than the Vulcans, their culture and language being richly enhanced. They may have started out as a quick and easy villain but over time they became exactly what the characters claimed: an empire…
Errand of Mercy – Summary: News has been received by the Enterprise that negotiations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire have crumbled and that war is innocent. Fearing that many neutral worlds will fall under Klingon domination, Kirk leads the Enterprise to Organia in order to sway them to join with the Federation. After a brief battle with a Klingon ship, Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet and meet with the world’s council of elders, who calmly insist nothing bad will happen to them and that they will remain neutral. Kirk pleads the Federation’s case, but the elders brush aside his offers of friendship. When a Klingon fleet arrives in orbit, the Enterprise withdraws from the area stranding Kirk and Spock on the planet.
Kirk assumes the disguise of a normal Organian, while Spock pretends to be a Vulcan merchant. The Organians offer no resistance to the Klingons, led by Commander Kor, who despises the placid nature of the local population. Kirk struggles to keep his anger against the Klingons in check but Kor takes a liking to him due to his rebellious streak, while Spock is taken for questioning. Spock survives their interrogation and is allowed to leave with Kirk, and together they set about using guerrilla tactics to destroy the Klingon’s munitions dump. Despite Kirk’s best arguments to the elders to resist they still maintain their neutrality, but Kirk is revealed to Kor as the saboteur.
The elders reveal the two as Starfleet officers to Kor, and Kirk and Spock are taken prisoner and interrogated. The Organians rescue Kirk and Spock with surprising ease, and hardly seem bothered when Kor orders the execution of local citizens. Both the Starfleet officers and the Klingons are confused, but in space the two opposing fleets are about to go to war. Kirk and Spock manage to capture Kor but finally the Organians act, revealing their true nature. The Organians are non-corporeal beings of immense power who were never under threat, and they instantly neutralise both sides throughout the galaxy, forcing them to forge a peace treaty. The Organians maintain that the two factions will become allies in the future, leaving Kirk and Kor somewhat disappointed that war has been avoided. As the Enterprise leaves orbit Kirk ponders humanity’s aggressive nature over peace, while Spock points out that all things take time.
The Alternative Factor – Summary: When the Enterprise is mapping an uninhabited planet near Starbase 200, it is suddenly rocked by an energy pulse and the planet appears to briefly disappear from existence. Spock suddenly gets reading of a living being that appeared at the same moment the effect hit. Kirk and Spock beam down with a security team and discover small one-man spacecraft. On a nearby cliff a bearded man appears, babbling wildly ab
In sickbay the bearded man, Lazarus, has awakened and describes his fanatical quest to stop a monster that killed his entire civilisation. Beaming down to the planet again, all evidence points to Lazarus being a liar, but Lazarus is suddenly caught in an energy wave where he struggles against an unknown being and is wounded. Everyone returns to the Enterprise, and Bones is astonished to discover that Lazarus’s head wound has healed in the blink of an eye, but Lazarus encounters another energy wave and when Kirk checks him out his wound has returned. When Spock discovers a tear in reality near Lazarus’s ship, Lazarus demands dilithium crystals so he can continue his quest, and when Kirk denies them to him he steals them. When questioned, Lazarus claims his enemy has taken them instead.out needing to stop someone before falling off the edge, and he is beamed to sickbay. Back on the bridge Kirk learns that the Enterprise’s dilithium crystals have become drained and the ship will lose power within 10 hours. A message arrives from Starfleet command stating that the effects of the energy pulse are affecting every quadrant of the galaxy. It is left up to the Enterprise to investigate the cause.
After a search on the planet for the missing dilithium crystals turns up nothing, Lazarus reluctantly confesses that he’s a time traveller and that craft is a dimensional timeship. His enemy is revealed to be another Lazarus from an antimatter universe, and if the two beings meet it could destroy both universes. When Lazarus activates his ship, Kirk enters the antimatter universe and meets the parallel Lazarus. This anti-Lazarus is sane and explains that Lazarus must be stopped before they meet again, and the ship is the key. By destroying it and trapping Lazarus in a dimensional portal both universes can be saved. As the Enterprise targets the timeship, the two Lazaruses begin to fight and become trapped together in a portal, struggling together for all eternity as the ship is destroyed. Afterwards Spock points out that the universe has been saved, but Kirk feels regret that Lazarus must suffer forever.
Errand of Mercy is one of the most underrated episodes in the history of Star Trek. After almost a whole season we finally get to see the Klingons, and they’re worth the wait. They may have the flat foreheads, but John Colicos as Kor is perfect. There’s some brilliant interplay between Kirk and Kor, and we learn that they’re really equals just on opposite sides of the fence. We also learn that Kirk and Spock have a bit of a reputation amongst the Klingons, something that would build as the series went on. This episode sets the Klingons up for the long run, with mention of the two factions being future allies striking home to the modern audience. It’s a well-told story with a great message behind it.
The Alternative Factor unfortunately is a complete loss. It’s a mess of an episode, despite the intriguing idea of a man chasing a parallel version of himself. Lazarus looks ridiculous, and the overblown acting doesn’t help. We feel no sympathy for the first Lazarus we meet, and it doesn’t take long to get bored with the whole episode. The dimension portal effects become repetitive, and look like something from the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey only even less colourful, and Kirk’s philosophical moment at the end is almost laughable. The Enterprise and her crew do little except beam back and forth, and nobody shines. What you’ve got here is a great episode and one that’s a complete misfire. But if you haven’t seen Errand of Mercy then you really should.
