Everything Is Horrible

Everything Is Horrible

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Everything Is Horrible
Everything Is Horrible
Star Trek TOS S1E21: The Return of the Archons
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Star Trek TOS S1E21: The Return of the Archons

Vietnam-era Kirk doesn't have much respect for indigenous rebels.

Noah Berlatsky's avatar
Noah Berlatsky
Mar 30, 2023
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Everything Is Horrible
Everything Is Horrible
Star Trek TOS S1E21: The Return of the Archons
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See the Star Trek TOS Rewatch Index page for links to all the episodes covered so far.

“RETURN OF THE ARCHONS” Rating: 6.0

“Return of the Archons” is a pleasingly shambolic outer space version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with 19th century dress and, somehow, even more blatant anticommunism. There’s a touch of horror, a dash of totalitarian dystopia, and more than a bit of farce.

Watching the episode this time, though, I was most struck by how the Vietnam-era plot portrays local resistance forces. The on-the-ground knowledge of resistors is vital, and our heroes would be dead and/or assimilated without them. Nonetheless, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) treats his local helpers with steadily consistent contempt. By doing so, he inadvertently calls into question his own status as heroic liberator.

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