Title

The Gamesters of Triskelion

Episode

Season 2
Episode 16

Air Date

January 5, 1968

Stardate

3211.7

Description

The Enterprises crew is abducted to participate in gladiatorial games for the amusement of super-intelligent, disembodied brains that gamble on the outcome.

Personal Rating

I like this episode just because the setting and circumstances are so grim and for the absence of civilization, although a civilization once existed on the planet. I also enjoy the way Kirk has to make a high stakes wager to secure the freedom of the gladiators and the Enterprise. At least the Providers have the decency to honor the terms of their wager.

The dark ambiance of this episode, which I find appealing, reminds me of that in The Conscience of the King. One of the "thralls" Kirk must fight at the end looks a lot like the antennaed green ambassador in Journey to Babel.

Favorite Quotations

Scotty, after the landing party is abducted: "Scott to bridge."

Spock: "Spock here."

Scotty: "Mr. Spock, the captain, Lieutenant Uhura, and Chekov ... they vanished. They got onto the transporter platform, and they just vanished."

Spock: "I presume you mean they vanished in a manner not consistent with the usual workings of the transporter, Mr. Scott."

Scotty, slightly exasperated: "Aye, of course I mean that. You think I'd call you if they just beamed down?"


McCoy, commenting on the search: "A negative attitude is no good to us. We can't just leave them out there, wherever they are."

Spock: "We shall continue sensor scans, Doctor. At the moment, that is all we can do, except hope for a rational explanation."

McCoy: "Hope? I always thought that was a human failing, Mr. Spock."

Spock: "True, Doctor. Constant exposure does result in a certain degree of contamination."


Spock, referring to the search progress: "They are not within the confines of this solar system."

Bones: "It's been nearly an hour. Can people live that long as disassembled atoms in a transporter beam?"

Spock: "I have never heard of a study being done, but it would be a fascinating project."

...

Spock, responding to McCoy's emotional plea: "I would welcome a suggestion, Doctor, even an emotional one, as to where to look."

McCoy, muttering: "First time you've ever asked me for anything, and it has to be an occasion like this."


McCoy, alarmed by Spock's decision to pursue a faint ion trail in search of the landing party: "You're going to leave here without them and run off on some wild goose chase halfway across the galaxy just because you found a discrepancy in a hydrogen cloud?"

Spock: "Doctor, I am chasing the captain, Lieutenant Uhura, and Ensign Chekov, not some wild aquatic fowl. This is the only lead we've had."


Kirk, to his "drill thrall": "Shahna, where were you born?."

Shahna: "Born?. I have been here always."

Kirk: "Your parents -- where are they? Your mother and father.."

Shahna: "She who bore me was killed in a freestyle match."


Kirk, in the process of wagering with the Providers: "Your ... Your terms are unfair."

Provider: "On the contrary, they're extremely fair, since your alternative is death."

Kirk, with pragmatic resignation: "Well, in that case, I'll accept your terms."