TOS - 2.09 - The Apple

The Enterprise is investigating Gamma Trianguli VI, an apparently idyllic planet that is not quite as welcoming as it seems after members of Kirk’s landing party are killed and even the starship affected and giving Scotty a race against time to prevent it from crashing into the planet. The secret to the planet is that it is being controlled some sort of machine, known as Vaal by the native inhabitants. Vaal maintains the conditions on the planet, and has also prevented the natives from advancing and developing – or even reproducing – since they never age.

“The Apple” is probably the very definition of an uneven episode. It’s based on a clever idea in terms of being a metaphor for the Biblical Garden of Eden with the Enterprise and its crew acting as the apple which brings knowledge to the People of Vaal and leads to the collapse of their paradise. This is all quite clear as the subtext, so it is something of a shame that the script choses to point this out in the final scene. The episode also features some lovely dialogue and character scenes – particular highlights being Kirk threatening to fire Soctty if he doesn’t save the Enterprise from destruction, and a whole scene in which the landing party wonder whether the People of Vaal know how to reproduce which is cleverly scripted in terms of getting its point across within the constraints of 1960s network television. The premise of the episode also gives us the first example of a proper debate about the Prime Directive (here just referred to as the Non-Interference Directive) and whether our crew should interfere in the development of an alien society. This is effectively shown through the prism of our regular characters, as Kirk and McCoy think that it is wrong that the native tribe has been held back whereas Spock takes the opposite position. Unfortunately, the episode doesn’t really follow through on the moral ambiguity of such a decision since the fact that Vaal is posing a direct threat to the Enterprise means that Kirk must attempt to defeat Vaal to save himself and his crew, regardless of the impact on the local society.

On the negative side, the episode does take a very long time to get to its premise with endless scenes of the landing party moving through the jungle whilst various Red Shirts get killed in various ways. The studio bound interior of the planet is effective, but unfortunately the appearance of the People of Vaal is somewhat comical – they look uncomfortable like overgrown Oompa Loompas with their orange skin and white bouffant wigs. The People of Vaal are pretty much the typical primitive alien species that people think of as a common Star Trek trope, even down to their ignorance of love and Kirk having to explain it to them. This means that one has to make a particular effort to think about “The Apple” in context and the fact that it is probably this episode that pretty much originated this cliché.

The portrayal of Vaal in the episode is somewhat disappointing. It is the antagonist for everything that happens, but it is portrayed just as a cave in the form of a snake’s head (more Biblical imagery) with flashing eyes. The natives do go inside the cave to feed it (with fruit, which is interesting since is apparently a machine) but we never see what is inside. And Vaal never actually says anything itself, so we never understand its motivation. Even when it has been destroyed, there is no explanation as to where it has come from, or how this strange society came into existence. I guess that this is not the point of the story, which instead is concentrating on the consequences of what Vaal is doing (and this is clear from the fact that this is a computer controlled world is revealed fairly early on, rather than being a big plot twist), but it would have been nice to have had a line or two to provide some background.

The subplot about the crew introducing love and s** to the People of Vaal works well within the context of the episode by itself, but is somewhat clumsy when viewing Star Trek as a continuing series due to the sudden introduction of Yeoman Martha Landon, who appears to be Chekov’s girlfriend. She hasn’t been seen before and I assume will never be seen again, and so she is clearly just there to give some substance to the discussion of love. However, Celeste Yarnall is charming in the role. She doesn’t get a lot to do, but it is refreshing that Yeoman Landen gets to take part in the climatic fight sequence and is seen to be just as successful in beating her opponents as the male crew members.

Planetary Gazetteer

Gamma Trianguli VI: The planet on which the episode is set. Vaal maintains its temperature at a constant 76 degrees, even at the poles, as well as operating a powerful planetary defence system that is able to affect orbiting starships, as well as people on the surface.

General Observations

• Two Stardates are given in the episode – 3715.3 and 3715.6.
• Neither Nichelle Nichols nor George Takei appear in the episode; Sulu’s position at the helm is taken by Lt Kyle (John Winston’s 8th appearance as the character). 
• Chekov is called “Pav” by Yeoman Landen – the first indication of his first name (Pavel).
• The landing party features no fewer than four red-shirted security officers (Kaplan, Marple, Hendorff and Mallory) – all of whom perish in various ways while on the planet (Hendorff by a dart firing plant, Kaplan is struck by lightning, Mallory by an exploding rock and Marple by the natives). Mallory is given some background since Kirk mentions that he knows his family, with Kaplan’s father having helped him get into Starfleet Academy.
• Spock is something of a fall guy in the episode – getting shot with darts from a poisonous plant and then hit by lightning. Fortunately, he appears to suffer no ill effects from this (unlike the unfortunate Hendorff and Kaplan).
• Kirk and McCoy joke with Spock about him looking like Satan. This is presumably a reference to some of the concerns that the network chiefs had about the character when the first saw “The Cage”, with the production team now feeling sufficiently confident to poke fun at their bosses given that Spock had by now proved to be immensely popular.