Star Trek #19: Arena

The episode begins with the Enterprise finding a Federation colony under savage attack by an unknown species. Countless men, women, and children -- all civilians -- have been slaughtered. Kirk is enraged and chases the attacking vessel across space. Spock tries to talk some sense into Kirk but he will have none of it. He pushes his vessel past safe limits in an attempt to catch the aliens. When when the two ships travel into space claimed by the Metrons -- an advanced, pacifistic species -- the situation changes considerably.

Realizing that both the Enterprise and the aliens are running on pure adreneline and not thinking things out, the Metrons decide to let the two sides satisfy their thirst for violence through a one-on-one battle between the captain of each starship. Kirk and the captain of the alien ship are transported to the surface of a barren world where they are to engage in hand-to-hand combat to the death. To Kirk's horror, he finds that his opponent is from a species of incredibly strong reptiles named the Gorn. Kirk quickly discovers that he is physically outmatched.

What makes this episode so fascinating is how Kirk changes during the course of the conflict. At the start, he is openly hateful of the Gorn, even going so far to as to admit that he has a natural revulsion towards reptiles. He considers them lower lifeforms. However, he is aware of his prejudice against them and forces himself to remember that his opponent is every much his equal intellectually. Late in the battle, he communicates with the Gorn captain through the universal translator device and discovers that the Gorn attacked the Federation colony because they believed it was an invasion. For the first time, Kirk is able to see the situation from the other side. The Gorn were acting in (perceived) self-defense.

By the time that the battle has finally reached the final confrontation between the two, Kirk has come to the conclusion that he is not qualified to judge the action of this species nor dispense justice. His surprising resolution of the conflict impresses the Metrons, who have been overseeing the battle.

The ambition of this episode -- airing in the 60s and with a limited budget -- is staggering in retrospect. Shooting a battle between Kirk and a reptile running around in the desert is impressive enough. But the fact that Kirk, the quintessential hero, is able to admit that he may have been wrong is something that is rare even in today's popular TV shows and movies. This episode was well before its time.

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This one is based on a classic SCI fi short story that pits man against monster. In this case it's Kirk against the Gorn. He uses gun powder and a makeshift cannon; which by the way I find hard to believe he'd be able to do this in the desert. If you can forget that it's still nail biter of an episode. We see Kirk against a foe he can't stop with his fists so he has to blow him off the map. We see a wispy alien from above who is experimenting with humans to see how they react under the stress of getting killed by a dinosaur creature called the Gorn. It stands up to the repeated viewing test but I'd have to say you have to suspend your belief in the logic department.

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