Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series)

"Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series)"

"Arena" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is a first season episode, #18, production #19, first broadcast January 19, 1967 and repeated on July 6, 1967. It was written by Gene L. Coon, based on a short story of the same name by Fredric Brown, and directed by Joseph Pevney. The episode introduces the Gorn. While pursuing an unknown enemy for an apparently unprovoked attack, Captain Kirk is forced by powerful entities to battle the opposing captain unarmed.

Plot

On stardate 3045.6, the starship USS Enterprise, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, arrives at the Cestus III Outpost, where Kirk is invited to a dinner engagement with Commodore Travers, a man renowned for his hospitality and friendship. Upon beaming down to the planet, the landing party, consisting of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, McCoy and three crewmembers (Kelowitz, Lang, and O'Herlihy), find the outpost nearly obliterated. A lone survivor is located, and he tells them the outpost came under heavy attack, bombarded by an unknown enemy. Suddenly, the landing team itself comes under fire, and Lang and O'Herlihy are killed.

Simultaneously, in orbit, the Enterprise comes under attack by an alien warship of unknown origin. The Enterprise raises its shields which prevents the landing party from returning. Kirk manages to locate the outpost's arsenal and retrieves a photon grenade launcher, which he uses to drive off the alien attackers.

The aliens also break off their orbital attack, giving the Enterprise a moment to drop shields and beam Kirk and the survivors back to the ship. They soon give chase to the alien warship at Warp factor 5, leading them into an unexplored sector of space, gradually (and dangerously) increasing speed. Before Kirk is able to destroy the aliens, both the Enterprise and the alien craft are scanned and suddenly both ships are incapacitated.

The Enterprise is then contacted by forces who identify themselves as the Metrons, omnipotent beings who zealously guard themselves against intrusion. The Metrons force Kirk to a "trial by combat", a one-on-one duel with the captain of the alien vessel (identified as the reptilian Gorn). The purpose of the fight is to solve their dispute, and the loser of the match will be destroyed while the winner goes free.

Before he can even reply, Kirk and the Gorn captain are simultaneously teleported to an unknown desert planet somewhere nearby. The terrain of the planet is harsh and rugged, and the two are completely stranded without communication with their ships. However, the Metrons tell them that the planet's surface has sufficient raw materials to build a weapon. The only things Kirk and the Gorn are equipped with are recording devices, meant to provide a play-by-play commentary on the fight. Kirk begins to chronicle his situation with the device. Unbeknownst to him, the device is sending the translated audio of Kirk's words to his Gorn adversary who learns not only where Kirk is, but what he's planning.

The Gorn tracks Kirk down, but the alien's hissing noises alerts Kirk that his opponent is coming closer and he prepares an ambush. Kirk manages to push over a large boulder which rolls down an embankment and strikes the Gorn. To Kirk's surprise, however, the alien is unharmed. Kirk observes that the Gorn may be physically strong; however, it moves rather slowly. Kirk makes a run for it, but ends up caught in a rope trap set by the Gorn. He is able to make an escape, but he injures his leg in the process.

Back on the Enterprise, Spock and the rest of the bridge crew get a camera view of the action via the bridge monitor. Unable to help their captain, all they can do is watch and hope the captain survives.

The Gorn finally communicates with Kirk by using the translation device and offers to put Kirk out of his misery. Kirk accuses the Gorn of being butchers but the alien defends their attack on Cestus III, stating the outpost had been built in what the Gorn considered to be their territory. They viewed the Federation's presence in this part of space as an intrusion and a possible prelude to full-scale invasion. This exchange prompts the watching Enterprise bridge crew to wonder if the Federation may be in the wrong. McCoy states that the Gorn may have been only trying to protect themselves.

Kirk soon discovers that there are plenty of natural resources lying about to craft a weapon. He finds elements needed to make some gunpowder. Then he finds a bamboo-like plant and cuts a portion of the wood to form a makeshift gun barrel. He also finds diamond-like shards of crystal to use for the projectile.

Kirk lies in wait for the Gorn and when he shows up, he points the weapon at him and fires, which quickly takes his menace down. Kirk decides against finishing off his enemy.

With the duel over, the Gorn disappears and a white-robed Metron appears to "congratulate" Kirk not only for his victory, but also for displaying the advanced trait of mercy to his enemy. When Kirk turns down the offer to have the Gorn ship destroyed, the Metron is impressed enough to note, "You are still half savage, but there is hope".

Requesting that Kirk's people seek the Metrons out in a few thousand years, the entity returns the bewildered captain, with his injuries healed, to the Enterprise, which has been returned to a position near Cestus III.

Production

Vasquez Rocks

According to an account by Herbert Solow in the book Inside Star Trek, The Real Story, the relation to Brown's story may have been an unconscious inspiration. After Coon had written what he thought was an original script, Desilu's research department noted the similarity. It was therefore agreed that Desilu's Business Affairs office would call Brown and offer a fair price for the story, before it was shot and broadcast. Brown agreed without knowing that the story had already been written.

The episode was filmed in part on location at the Vasquez Rocks, which was subsequently used as a shooting location in other Star Trek episodes and films.

The Gorn captain's growls were provided by actor Ted Cassidy, who also appeared in person in the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and provided the menacing voice of Balok in another episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver". The Gorn was portrayed by Bobby Clark.

William Shatner recalls standing too close to a stage prop explosion during the filming of the episode, causing tinnitus which he has suffered with to this day.

40th anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006, and aired October 21, 2006 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded a week earlier by "I, Mudd", and followed a week later by "Catspaw". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

• Cestus III has been given a CGI makeover, appearing more realistic. The surface shot of the ruined base has been given an open mountain backdrop instead of an enclosed rock cliff.
• The explosion created by the grenade fired by Kirk on Cestus III was cleaned up.
• The Gorn ship can now be seen, though it is very small on the view screen.
• The Gorn's eyes have been animated to blink.
• The Metron's toga now has a shimmering effect.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A-' rating, noting the episode's influence and noting the use of a theme of Star Trek, the "uncertainty of exploration".

Cultural references

• Bill and Ted watch the episode sequence involving Vasquez Rocks in the movie Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey; they are then kidnapped by their evil robot duplicates and taken to Vasquez Rocks itself (roughly 60 miles from their home town) and hurled to their deaths.
• The Star Trek fans in Free Enterprise do re-enactments at Vasquez Rocks.
• In the movie Tropic Thunder, Tugg Speedman, portrayed by Ben Stiller, can be seen watching the fight between Captain Kirk and the Gorn on his iPod. Stiller previously mentioned the Gorn at the Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond tribute special.
• British comedian Justin Lee Collins' documentary Bring Back...Star Trek centers around his efforts to re-assemble as many of the original cast as possible in an effort to recreate the feel of the show. In the closing moments of the documentary, Collins and original Gorn actor Bobby Clark recreate the classic battle in a parody fashion, with Clark in a humorously fake Gorn costume.
• In the "Mini Myth Mayhem" episode of the popular science television series Mythbusters, experiments were performed to test whether or not Kirk's makeshift cannon would function as seen in "Arena". A real-life replica of Kirk's cannon failed in several respects. First, the crudely manufactured, unrefined gunpowder equivalent (made by grinding the individual ingredients together with rocks, as in "Arena") was not an effective explosive, burning and producing smoke but lacking the explosive force upon ignition to propel ammunition any significant distance. Second, when the replica cannon was loaded with a genuine gunpowder charge, the force of the explosion destroyed the barrel and the dummy standing in for Kirk was severely damaged; when a second replica, reinforced with plywood, was fired, the resulting damage to the dummy was even more severe. In all cases, the Gorn stand-in (a cardboard cut-out resembling the character) either emerged unscathed or sustained far less damage than the Kirk stand-in.[1]
• Within the first minute of the movie Coneheads, the radar operator is briefly distracted by Captain Kirk battling the Gorn captain, and is delayed in notifying Central Command of an incoming UFO.
• The Onion used a clip from the fight in the newscast: "Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as Fun, Watchable."
• In the movie Paul, they reenact the battle against the gorn, before running away because of people watching them.
• In the first three minutes of the cartoon "Family Guy" Episode "The Kiss Seen 'Round the World" released in 2001.

External links

• Template:StarTrek.com link
• Arena at IMDb
• Template:TV.com episode
• Arena at Memory Alpha
• Arena screenshots before and after remastering
• Arena short story and episode comparison
• Bobby Clark talks about playing the Gorn