Friday's Child (''Star Trek: The Original Series'')

"Friday's Child"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 11
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Written by D. C. Fontana
Featured music Gerald Fried
Cinematography by Jerry Finnerman
Production code 032
Original air date December 1, 1967 (1967-12-01)
Guest appearance(s)

"Friday's Child" is a second season episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. It is episode #40, production #32, and was broadcast December 1, 1967. It was written by D.C. Fontana, and directed by Joseph Pevney.

In the episode, the crew of the Enterprise become entangled in a planet's tribal power struggle. Captain Kirk, along with fellow crew members Spock and McCoy, must find a way to bring peace to a race of aliens whose lives revolve around a dichotomy of honesty and savagery. Adding to their difficulty is the presence of the Klingons, whose sole desire is obtaining what they need through guile and/or violence.

The episode's title is derived from a traditional English poem, known as "Monday's Child". The reference is to a line in the poem: "Friday's child is full of woe". Within the episode, the significance is in the unborn child of the planet's murdered ruler, whose prospects of being born depend upon the outcome of Captain Kirk's mission.

Plot

The Federation starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, arrives at Capella IV to negotiate a mining contract for topeline, a valuable mineral. The Capellans are violent and warlike, but scrupulously honest. Kirk beams down to the planet with Dr. McCoy, First Officer Spock and a security officer; they find that Kras, a Klingon emissary, is already present. The Capellans order Kirk and his party to hand over their weapons as the Klingon had done, and despite killing Kirk's security escort for drawing a weapon on the Klingon, treat the party as honored guests.

The Capellans' leader, Akaar, favors the Federation's offer over that of the Klingons. However, another Capellan named Maab challenges his leadership. Fighting breaks out among the Capellans and Maab kills Akaar, winning the title of Teer for himself. He orders the death of Eleen, Akaar's pregnant wife. Kirk and McCoy intervene and manage to escape with Eleen and Spock into some nearby hills. While a party of Capellans pursue them, McCoy is determined to assist with Eleen's pregnancy, despite her culture's prohibition against physical contact with a Teer's wife. He succeeds in winning her cooperation, but she cannot reconcile herself to bearing the child, who in her culture would belong to no one. McCoy tells her to repeat the words "the child is mine", but she misinterprets this, thinking McCoy is claiming the child as his own. The delivery is successful, but Kirk is unable to reach the Enterprise using their communicators because the starship has been drawn away by a false distress call.

The Capellans arrive and Eleen escapes to surrender to Maab, claiming that she killed the humans. When Kras questions her story, he pulls out a Federation phaser that he had retrieved earlier and threatens everyone. Maab sacrifices himself to draw Kras's fire, and a Capellan warrior kills the Klingon. At this point, a team from the Enterprise appears and prevents further violence. Back on the Enterprise, it is revealed that Eleen, acting as her son's regent, has authorized the mining agreement with the Federation and that the child has been named Leonard James Akaar. Spock is nonplussed that Kirk and McCoy will be insufferably pleased with themselves.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.