The Enterprise Incident

This episode should be viewed in context. To 21st century audiences the sexism is thick as bugs on a bumper. But at the time casting a woman in the role of a starship commander was at least somewhat revolutionary. Remember that it would be more than two more decades before the United States would send a female astronaut into space.

With no explanation, an unnaturally irritable Captain Kirk suddenly begins issuing illegal orders. He sends the Enterprise into Romulan territory, where several enemy vessels suddenly de-cloak and surround the ship.

The commander of the Romulan flotilla (or spacetilla or whatever they’re called) turns out to be a woman (Joanne Linville). She agrees to let the captain and his first officer beam aboard the Romulan flagship and try to offer some kind of explanation for the intrusion before she orders the Enterprise blown out of the sky.

What happens next is a remarkable deviation from the series’ usual pattern. As a woman on Star Trek, the commander is pretty much fated to fall for one of the regular cast members. But rather than develop an infatuation for interstellar poon god Kirk, she falls for Spock. Must’ve been the ears.

Rapidly recovering from his loss, Kirk fakes death and is beamed back to the Enterprise while Spock takes advantage of the Romulan’s I-may-be-a-vicious-tyrant-but-I’m-also-a-woman woo pitching to learn the location of the secret new cloaking generator. Armed with this information, Kirk has himself made up to look like a Romulan (tacky short pants and all), sneaks back aboard the enemy ship and makes off with the generator.

His plot uncovered, Spock is forced to face Romulan justice. By drawing out his admission of guilt, he buys Scotty enough time to wire the generator into the Enterprise’s circuits. They beam Spock back on board, though the Romulan commander sees what’s happening and grabs him before he makes good his escape, succeeding in getting herself beamed away with him. Fleeing for their lives, the Enterprise crew activates the device and slips away scot free with the commander as prisoner.

The honor of “highlight of the episode” is a tie between the usual starship battle stuff and the rare sight of Spock pretending that he’s interested in a woman.

Episode rating:

Stardate: 5031.3

Episode type: Starship battle

Written by: D.C. Fontana

Original air date: September 27, 1968

Spock's Brain / The Paradise Syndrome

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