"Plato's Stepchildren," Ep. 67 - Kirk, Spock and McCoy suffer humiliating experiences via an alien with telekinetic abilities. This episode also features the first interracial kiss on network television. "Wink of an Eye," ... more »Ep. 68 - A Scalosian queen sabotages the U.S.S. Enterprise and makes Kirk her love-slave, planning to use him to help repopulate her planet. Can Kirk escape her charms and save his crew?« less
PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN
This is famous, believe it or not, for having the first *famous "interracial kiss" (There were actually other ones, but this is the one that is always credited) Yep, Kirk kisses Uhura... and it is awesome.
Other than that cool little tidbit... it is a really fun episode. I LOVE the Little Person Alexander. The episodes moral message is "It doesn't matter your size, shape, or color." So I like the social commentary element A LOT.
Also has the ABSOLUTELY HYSTERICAL "Dancing Kirk and Spock Scene." I nearly fall off the couch laughing everytime I watch it. And there is so much more... you haven't LIVED until you've heard Spock sing, or seen Kirk act like a Horse, or see Kirk hit himself, and try to eat his tongue. It is the funniest episode. I don't know how they kept a straight face through it.
Definitely on the "You MUST see it if you want to know ANYTHING about Star Trek" list.
WINK OF AN EYE
Kind of an interesting story-line. Mainly I think they wanted to play with their camera's slow-motion ability. Not a terribly exciting episode, but it is ok for an entertaining evening.
Actually has a fairly risque' scene. Kirk and lady... alone in bedroom. Scene shifts elsewhere. We return to see... Kirk put on his boot! GASP!
Movie Reviews
A classic that's one of my favorites!
09/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Plato's Stepchildren is one of my top four favorite episodes, along with Space Seed, the City on the Edge of Forever, and Mirror Mirror. I've been waiting a long time for it to be released on DVD and am very happy that it will be soon. It also has historic value in the fact that the first inter-racial kiss on national television took place in that episode. Don't let overly sarcastic commentary spoil your fun!"
2 more good TOS episodes
McHenry John | McHenry, Illinois United States | 10/26/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Plato's Stepchildren Aliens with ESP powers control the TOS crew. It is somewhat unfair...I never got to kiss Uhura.
Wink of an Eye...We know Kirk likes fast women. This time he gets one in hyperacceleration."
One of the best Star Treks!
Kate Spencer | Ontario, Canada | 04/02/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I absolutely love this episode! Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that I'm a huge Spock fan, and love to see him act more human, which is rare. But there are also a lot of other great things about this episode. It's really fun, although you should probably watch it twice if you want to experience the fun in the silliness as much as possible, since you're worrying too much the first time about whether they'll ever get out! And, of course, the show itself took great strides with the showing of the first inter-racial kiss, between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols, not to mention the one shared by Leonard Nimoy and Majel Barrett! But that's really what Star Trek is all about, isn't it? "To go where no one has gone before' and in this episode, they did that with a lot of fun involved."
Interracial Space Sex!
Bruce Rux | Aurora, CO | 08/25/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Both of these episodes share one thing in common: they boldly went where no network program had gone before, in terms of ... bypassing the censors. "Wink of an Eye" is the one in which comely Kathie Brown (the real-life Mrs. Darren McGavin) is seen brushing her hair beside William Shatner while Shatner sits on the edge of his bed pulling on his boot, and "Plato's Stepchildren" had T.V.'s first interracial kiss (William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols). Neither of these things may seem like that big of a deal today, but in 1968, let me tell you...!"Wink" is an episode that makes little sense, but is thoroughly enjoyable. The entire race of the planet Scalos seems to have disappeared, without explanation. All that remains there is an occasional odd insect buzzing - which follows the landing party back to the Enterprise, after which Captain Kirk suddenly disappears from the bridge, in full view of the crew. What's really happened to him is the same thing that happened to the Scalosians, several of whom are now on board - he's speeded-up a thousand times, now moving too fast to be detected by anyone not accelerated at the same rate. Alien leader Kathie Brown, like all alien women, has taken a fancy to the charismatic Kirk, and intends to keep him with her after freezing the entire Enterprise crew and stealing his starship to move on to greener pastures. Forgetting the built-in logic problem of how matter accelerated to such an impossible speed keeps from falling apart by intense friction, this is still a pretty good little story, fascinating to watch, and Kathie Brown is a knockout, in addition to being a decent actress."Plato's Stepchildren" is a great episode, written by one of Outer Limits' best contributors, Meyer Dolinsky. The Enterprise finds itself summoned to a previously believed to be uninhabited planet, populated by beautiful people affecting ancient Greek costume and architecture. They call themselves Plato's Stepchildren, supposedly devoted to nothing but lofty philosophy - but in reality, they are telekinetic demigods, whose seeming immortality and incredible power has dragged them down into sadistic decadence. Their power and immortality does have one terrible price - it makes them hemophiliacs, and their medical knowledge is dreadfully inadequate, so Dr. McCoy is commanded to remain behind with them. When he refuses, Plato's Stepchildren force several of the Enterprise crew into cruelly degrading situations, and unleash the full force of their fury.The story is great, and so are the scenery and the guest stars. Liam Sullivan is the Caligula-like Parmin, head of the planet, with the always sexy Barbara Babcock as his aristocratically sadistic mate. Best of all is famous dwarf actor Michael Dunn as the planet's whipping-boy, who helps the Enterprise defeat the evil Platonians. Dunn - best known as Dr. Loveless in The Wild, Wild West - had a phenomenal singing voice, and usually got to use it in his numerous 1960s guest appearances, as he does here in fine style."