From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: jphalt@gmail.com   
   Subject: Friday's Child: my review   
      
   A "Happy Thanksgiving" review.  Sorry it couldn't be a more positive   
   one.   
      
   FRIDAY'S CHILD: THE PLOT   
      
   The Enterprise comes to Cappella IV, a planet that is a major source   
   of an otherwise rare McGuffin. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the   
   planet to secure a mining agreement with the warrior-like inhabitants.   
   To their shock, the Klingons have beat them there, and seem to be but   
   one step away from an agreement with the ambitious Maab (Michael   
   Dante). When Maab makes his move, assassinating the Teer - the king,   
   essentially - and assuming the throne himself, Kirk and company find   
   themselves on the run with Eleen (Julie Newmar), the pregnant wife of   
   the murdered ruler.   
      
   Now hunted by Klingons and Cappellans alike, and carrying a   
   significant handicap to their mobility in the form of Eleen, it is up   
   to Kirk and Spock to find a way to not only survive the situation, but   
   to somehow still secure the mining rights. Meanwhile, McCoy finds   
   himself stuck with an urgent delivery to make...   
      
      
   CHARACTERS   
      
   Capt. Kirk: Still determined to do his duty, and still resourceful in   
   finding ways to turn defeat into victory when he becomes a hunted man.   
   Beyond that, nothing new here, though Shatner's easy interplay with   
   Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelly is always fun to watch.   
      
      
   McCoy: Gets a fair amount of focus in this episode, which may be the   
   best thing about the episode. DeForest Kelly is terrific, whether   
   playing with McCoy's familiarity with the Capellan culture (McCoy   
   artfully calling Kras a liar is a rare highlight), or mixing sternness   
   with compassion in his treatment of Eleen, Kelly brings the various   
   parts of McCoy's character to life.   
      
      
   Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Julie Newmar is Eleen, pregnant wife   
   of the old Teer, now under sentence of death. Eleen is very much a   
   product of her culture. She accepts that she must die in order for   
   Maab to secure his position, and clings very tightly to rules and   
   taboos (such as that, as wife of a Teer, no man may touch her). She is   
   extremely uncooperative when Kirk and Spock rescue her, but forms a   
   bond with McCoy - probably because McCoy shows "strength" by ignoring   
   those very taboos as soon as they get in the way of him doing his job   
   as a doctor.   
      
      
   Villains of the Week: Michael Dante is Maab, the ambitious Capellan   
   who murders his ruler in order to assume the throne himself. He   
   desires power and wealth, and has no qualms about murdering Eleen, or   
   Kirk and company, to secure his position. At the same time, he has the   
   same respect for his own culture and customs that Eleen has, making   
   him something other than a black & white villain.   
      
   That role is fulfilled by Kras (Tige Andrews), the Klingon who has   
   managed to gain Maab's trust. Kras oozes evil in his every scene. Kras   
   enters rooms evilly, delivers all lines evilly, and probably even   
   snores evilly, while dreaming evil dreams of evil. After John Colicos'   
   splendid, multi-dimensional Kor in Errand of Mercy, Kras is a big   
   comedown - a one note, comic book villain. You can practically hear   
   "boo's" and hisses every time he slithers on-screen. He also appears   
   to be quite stupid, given the manner in which he suicidally shows his   
   "true colors" at the end.   
      
      
   ZAP THE REDSHIRT!   
      
   The landing party is Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Grant. You can pretty   
   well fill in the blanks from there. Grant pulls his gun when he sees   
   the Klingon answer to Snidely Whiplash. A Cappellan instantly throws a   
   plastic knife with a funny sci-fi name at him, killing him instantly,   
   and providing the opening teaser with a "dramatic moment" to lead us   
   to credits.   
      
      
   THOUGHTS   
      
   Season 3's supposed to be the crappy one, right? I'm just checking   
   because, thus far, Season Two is so far below the standard of Season   
   One that the difference is staggering. None of the episodes has been   
   actively incompetent yet; and admittedly, I'm still a mere three   
   episodes into Season Two. But so far, it's been one dull, half-written   
   mishmash after another. With the Season One episodes, I approached the   
   DVD set with great confidence, knowing that I would probably see   
   something good, and at the very least get a reliable 50 minutes'   
   entertainment. With Season Two, thus far, I'm half-forcing myself to   
   watch the episodes. I'm hoping for an upturn in quality soon. As of   
   this writing, I'm alternating between both TOS and Enterprise   
   episodes... and for the first time since I started these reviews, TOS   
   is not looking like the better show.   
      
   Not that Friday's Child is a complete loss. Once the episode stumbles   
   its way through a very contrived set-up, we get the always-reliable   
   Most Dangerous Game riff. This creates some tension, as Kirk and Spock   
   puzzle out how to evade and defend against both the Capellans and the   
   Klingons, while McCoy works to save the not-terribly-cooperate Eleen.   
   Also, any episode that gives DeForest Kelly a turn in the spotlight   
   can't be all bad. Some of his scenes with Eleen are actually quite   
   amusing ("Say, 'The child is mine.' " "Yes, the child is yours"). But   
   even at its best, the episode feels like a by-the-numbers exercise.   
      
      
   Another exercise in mediocrity, serviceable without being at all   
   satisfying. I can, at least, see why some of these episodes were   
   buried well down the broadcast sequence, despite being produced first.   
   Given that the ratings were already far from outstanding in the first   
   season, leading off the second season with three weak episodes in a   
   row may well have killed the show before it got enough episodes under   
   its belt for syndication to rescue it a decade later.   
      
   Oh, and the Capellans' outfits are strikingly stupid-looking. Was I   
   the only one listening for carnival music when they first appeared   
   onscreen? As warriros, the outfits presumably to put enemies off their   
   guard. Our multi-colored, hooded warriors can murder their enemies by   
   the score while their hapless foes are still paralyzed, doubled-over   
   in laughter.   
      
      
   Rating: 4/10.   
   --- Synchronet 3.15a-Linux NewsLink 1.92-mlp   
    * Origin: http://groups.google.com (1:2320/105.97)   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Linux   
    * Origin: telnet & http://cco.ath.cx - Dial-Up: 502-875-8938 (1:2320/105.1)