An earth observation outpost on Sestus 3 has been devastated by attack, almost all there left dead, only wreckage, the black of fire, and smoke remaining as a dark reminder of what once was."Disrupter" bombs start bombarding the remains of the outpost leaving little room for Kirk and his away team to protect themselves. Meanwhile, the Enterprise does battle with an enemy ship returning fire of phasers. Moving out of orbit so as to protect "Kirk's ship", the away team will have to somehow survive non-stop assault as the Enterprise engages in combat with an unknown enemy. Backing off after Kirk shoots a bomb into a mountain where creatures were dropping their own disrupters, beaming back aboard, the Enterprise will pursue the enemy ship as it leaves the area.
Prepared to settle the score with the Gorn hostiles whose starship has entered high warp, heading for an uncharted solar system, Kirk and the Enterprise plan to intercept them, before they can reach their home world and plan a possible invasion. Within this uncharted solar system is a yet unnamed species known as the Metrons scanning both the Enterprise and Gorn ships, stopping them dead in space, soon forcing the captains of both vessels to fight to the death on a planet suitable to breathe. This planet has mineral deposits and natural "weapons" needed for battle and while Kirk acknowledges his advantages in agility and brains, he admits that the Gorn Captain (who has lizard-like features, making a slurping sound when it breathes and talks) has greater strength and stamina, seemingly impervious to hand-to-hand combative techniques. Ingenuity will have to be what Kirk relies on, taking what the planet provides (coal, diamonds, rope, sulfur, and bamboo) in order to use as a suitable weapon against the Gorn warrior who has fashioned itself a stave carved from stone.
What this episode does extremely well is a number of things. First, it shows the capabilities of Kirk when faced when insurmountable odds in a fight for his life with a creature savage enough to offer quite a difficult battle. Second, it calls into question who are necessarily the "invaders" when the motives behind the attack on Sestus 3 are provided. Third, Kirk's readiness to follow the Gorn ship with plans to destroy it, placing the Enterprise in jeopardy as he stretches warp capability, risking the lives of his crew just so he can catch the enemy and destroy them in retaliation puts him at odds with Spock who questions such rash actions. And the battle on the ground actually establishes Kirk's compassion when contemplating the Gorn's actions for attacking Sestus 3 allows the Metrons to see humans as more than just primitive savages with little regard for life. There are lessons learned here by all and Kirk's homemade cannon is quite a concoction that definitely proves to be quite a weapon with some kick.
The opening attack on Sestus 3 produces plenty of explosions, destruction, and evasive maneuvers as Kirk and Spock try to determine the best move to counter the bombardments, quite an impressive way to kick off the episode...it sets the stage for the later battle, where phasers and superior weaponry are not available, two lifeforms having to use what the planet provides to try and kill each other.
Prepared to settle the score with the Gorn hostiles whose starship has entered high warp, heading for an uncharted solar system, Kirk and the Enterprise plan to intercept them, before they can reach their home world and plan a possible invasion. Within this uncharted solar system is a yet unnamed species known as the Metrons scanning both the Enterprise and Gorn ships, stopping them dead in space, soon forcing the captains of both vessels to fight to the death on a planet suitable to breathe. This planet has mineral deposits and natural "weapons" needed for battle and while Kirk acknowledges his advantages in agility and brains, he admits that the Gorn Captain (who has lizard-like features, making a slurping sound when it breathes and talks) has greater strength and stamina, seemingly impervious to hand-to-hand combative techniques. Ingenuity will have to be what Kirk relies on, taking what the planet provides (coal, diamonds, rope, sulfur, and bamboo) in order to use as a suitable weapon against the Gorn warrior who has fashioned itself a stave carved from stone.
What this episode does extremely well is a number of things. First, it shows the capabilities of Kirk when faced when insurmountable odds in a fight for his life with a creature savage enough to offer quite a difficult battle. Second, it calls into question who are necessarily the "invaders" when the motives behind the attack on Sestus 3 are provided. Third, Kirk's readiness to follow the Gorn ship with plans to destroy it, placing the Enterprise in jeopardy as he stretches warp capability, risking the lives of his crew just so he can catch the enemy and destroy them in retaliation puts him at odds with Spock who questions such rash actions. And the battle on the ground actually establishes Kirk's compassion when contemplating the Gorn's actions for attacking Sestus 3 allows the Metrons to see humans as more than just primitive savages with little regard for life. There are lessons learned here by all and Kirk's homemade cannon is quite a concoction that definitely proves to be quite a weapon with some kick.
The opening attack on Sestus 3 produces plenty of explosions, destruction, and evasive maneuvers as Kirk and Spock try to determine the best move to counter the bombardments, quite an impressive way to kick off the episode...it sets the stage for the later battle, where phasers and superior weaponry are not available, two lifeforms having to use what the planet provides to try and kill each other.