TOS - 2.20 - A Piece Of The Action

"A Piece Of The Action" is very much a companion to "Bread and Circuses" in which the Enterprise visited a planet that just happened to be modelled on ancient Rome. Here, we get a planet whose society is based on 1920s Chicago, complete with zoot suits, tommy guns and gangster warfare. At least this time, the similarities are explained through cultural contamination and an earlier starship visiting and leaving behind a book with the somewhat on the nose title "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties". Whilst this does raise a whole host of questions (What on Sigma Iotia II was the starship crew doing taking such a book down to an alien planet? How have things developed so rapidly in only one hundred years?), this is enough of an explanation and it also gives Kirk a stake in the events of the planet since he is motivated to sort out this mess (given that it has been caused by the Federation), rather than just escape.

The plotting of the episode isn't that sophisticated, and it does get somewhat repetitive with Kirk, Spock and McCoy (in various combinations) alternately being captured and escaping from various mob bosses. However, it isn't really the plot that is important here since the script has a lot of fun playing with the gangster cliches. After some rather dull and tepid recent episodes, it is nice to see the show embracing humour again and this being done in a way that doesn't completely undermine the drama. This is helped by Anthony Caruso, who puts in a great performance as mob boss Bela Okmyx who is charming and likeable but still a very real threat. Caruso compares very favourable with Vic Tayback who plays rival boss Jojo Krako mainly by growling.

There's some lovely moments throughout the episode including Kirk's invention of the card game fizzbin (and Spock's reaction) and Kirk's attempts to drive a car (and Spock's reaction). But it is in the last act when Spock and Kirk get into period costume that things really come alive. Kirk's plan to play the gangsters at their own game by pretending that the the Federation is a bigger fish keen to take over the planet is actually quite a clever way of getting the various mob bosses to work together, and Shatner's performance in gangster mode is joyful. There is further amusement in these scenes from Spock's best attempts to also play along, and Scotty's utter bemusement as to what his captain his talking about. There are clearly some gaps in terms of what happens next when Kirk's plan is successful, and I'm not sure that it was entirely wise for the script to point this out in the tag scene. I'm also not keen on the revelation in this scene that McCoy has left his communicator back on the planet. Given the consequences of the last bit of cultural contamination and the fact that the Prime Directive is now in place, the treatment of this as a bit of a joke does seem somewhat irresponsible...

Planetary Gazetteer

Sigma Iotia II: A planet inhabited by an intelligent and imitative race of humanoids that was contaminated by an earlier visit from a Federation starship that left behind a book about gangsters in 1920s Chicago that has since been used as the basis for society. There is no single government; instead individual bosses with control around 12 separate territories, with constant disputes between them.

Beta Antares IV: A planet where, according to Kirk, they play the card game "fizzbin". From Spock's reaction, this appears to be a real planet (well, in the Star Trek universe anyway), even if the game is Kirk;s invention.

Starship Spotting

The mess on Sigma Iotia II was caused by the visit of the Horizon some 100 years prior to the events of the episode, prior to the establishment of the Prime Directive. The Horizon was lost with all hands on leaving the planet, although news of this has only just reached the Federation. There is never any explanation as to what has caused the destruction of the ship.

General Observations

• No Stardates are given in the episode.
• George Takei is still away filming "The Green Berets" so Sulu does not appear; I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever return!
• The Enterprise crew member played by regular supporting artist William Blackburn is finally named as Lt Hadley in this episode.
• McCoy is called "sawbones" by Kirk in this episode, referring to an archaic term for a doctor. Until this moment, I had never twigged that this was where his nickname "Bones" comes from!