‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘Friday’s Child’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Over the course of its three-season run, Star Trek accomplished a great deal storytelling wise. For not only did it offer up cerebral stories on a consistent basis, the kind that challenged our world and how we handle socio-political situations, it also broke barriers when it comes to diversity and the racial norms of the time, making it one of the most revolutionary science fiction tales to come out of the twentieth century. But while we all look upon these stories with fond memories and speak highly of them, I think we sometimes forget the fact that this series also knew how to just, let loose from time to time and indulge itself in humorous fashion or dive into action and adventure, the latter of which just so happened to be the focal point of its next episode.
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For ‘Friday’s Child’ saw the crew of the Enterprise beaming down to Capella IV to try and negotiate some mining rights with the native Capellans who were, savage even by today’s modern standards. Because this race believed in war and conflict, and the notion that only the strong survive served as their culture’s mantra and that, along with the surprise arrival of a Klingon, made the negotiations quite difficult for Kirk and his away team. Because while the Capellans liked some of what the Federation had to offer, the warlike stance of the Klingons also appealed to them and that split led to bedlam in this tale. Wherein Kirk and his friends found themselves on the run with the pregnant wife of a now fallen leader after revolution struck and this led to some wild and angry sequences.

Because the wife in question, Eleen, wanted nothing to do with help for her or her baby and while McCoy was quick to try and change that line of thinking, it became clear that this species felt that common sense was a waste of time. They simply craved conflict and that was just fascinating to see since there is normally some semblance of logic from the aliens the crew encounter. But this embracing of chaos led to some big time action for this show, and more violence than we are used to and I suppose while one can chalk it up to survive or perish, it was slightly jarring and unexpected to see, and this change was also extended to the sky above. For the Enterprise had to deal with a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the Klingons, since their sworn enemies were using fake distress signals to draw the ship away and it took Scotty’s cunning nature to keep the Klingons at bay.

Yet while this episode seemed like pure high octane with the amount of action present, it did find a way to try and inject more intelligent storytelling into the mix, and much of that came about during the finale of this tale. Because McCoy really did go the extra mile to show Eleen the value of life and the importance of being a good mother to her son, and it also explored the nature of trust. Because the Klingon in question, a warrior named Kras, was all about that treachery. For he swiped a phaser from one of the Capellans when given the opportunity and used it to take control when the time was right and truly, Kras was the embodiment of the age-old notion of ‘it’s too good to be true’. Since his promises of indulging the war-like tendencies of this species were designed to suck them in so the Empire could conquer this world.

In the end however, I really have to give this episode some serious credit. Because it set out to tell a tense tale filled with explosions and action and it accomplished those goals with minimal effort. Because the battles in this one are relentless and the explosions are pretty epic when they do happen and honestly, I have to admit that I really enjoyed this particular tale. For it really is just a good old time, one that you don’t have to think too deeply about and I suppose the only real complaint I have with this story is that it didn’t take the time to show the Enterprise getting a few shots in on the Klingon cruiser it tangled with, because you can never go wrong with a quality space battle. If anything, this story just adds diversity to season two, since thus far it has been about the hardcore science fiction and well, with this one in the books I simply cannot wait for another one-off tale that serves as the anthesis to this one and has some genuine fun. Until next time. 

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