Star Trek: The Omega Glory Rewatch

July 18, 2015 10:02 AM - Season 2, Episode 23

Responding to a distress signal on planet Omega IV, Kirk finds Captain Ron Tracey of the U.S.S. Exeter violating the prime directive and interfering in a war between the Yangs and the Kohms to find the secret of their longevity.

"The Omega Glory" was first broadcast March 1, 1968, and repeated July 26, 1968. It is episode #52, production #54, written by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Vincent McEveety. The story was one of three outlines submitted for selection as the second pilot of Star Trek, the others being "Mudd's Women" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before".[1]

In this episode, Captain Kirk must find the cure to a deadly disease and put an end to another Starfleet captain's cultural interference.


Memory Alpha Link

Trek Today Review

Trek Movie's not so positive review.

The episode can be viewed on Netflix and YouTube.

posted by Benway (5 comments total)

I had absolutely no memory of having seen this episode before. I can't imagine how I would have managed to skip one back when I first got caught up in Trek fandom back in high school in the 80's, I was so obsessed I used to know when Shatner & Nimoy's birthdays were. But, now that I think about it, I have no idea how I watched the show. It was before DVD - I must have just been watching it in TV syndication? I wasn't recording it on the vcr for myself though (oh, my lords of obsolete technology, auto-correct doesn't recognize vhs or vcr as real words).

What an odd episode. I think Trek Movie's review is actually pretty positive, all things considered. Trek Today's is the snarkier one "Because of the last fifteen minutes, "The Omega Glory" must be classed as one of the worst Star Trek episodes ever, but until it falls completely apart, it's rather enjoyable in a campy, superficial way. This is the only episode I can think of where Kirk gets knocked out not once but twice and by both sides of the conflict, and William Shatner plays his scenes with a sour, grumpy expression as if Kirk has a headache throughout, even before the dialogue has degenerated into the nonsense at the end when Kirk attempts to make a case for truth, justice and the American way. Tracey's character is written as so over-the-top crazy that Shatner can emote to his heart's content and Kirk still seems calm and rational." Hee.
posted by oh yeah! at 11:52 AM on July 19, 2015

So HOW name analogues of Earth did they run into? So many that a popular fan theory was that some attached alien race was preserving snippets of various Earth cultures as sociological laboratories.
posted by happyroach at 3:50 PM on July 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think this and the Roman planet are the only times they don't explain any particular reason for the similarity. (The book on the gangster planet, the historian on the Nazi planet, the various times that Earth elements are re-created based on human memories.) And with the Roman planet, they try to justify it with appeal to "Hodgkin's Law."
posted by RobotHero at 7:29 PM on July 23, 2015

Aw, man. I had no memory of this one for the first half hour. Infection by biological weapon pathogen makes the surviving people live longer. Renegade Captain breaks rules to study the phenomenon in order to benefit mankind, except he isn't a scientist and doesn't understand that the cure isn't real. I thought this sounded kind of like.... OK science fiction?

And then it all exploded!
posted by acrasis at 3:28 PM on April 9, 2021

Man, American cultural imperialism is so strong it projects hundreds of years into the future and after the start of a unified one world government and the Federation of Planets.

As a 90s kid growing up on TNG, it was always a bit confusing as to why a ship on a peaceful mission of exploration had strict military rank and so many weapons. The Enterprise is part wagon train, part diplomatic envoy, part hospital, and part cavalry. It's too many roles and conflicting goals for Kirk and for the Federation.

It's clear now this construction is mostly a bit of self-assurance: America's military power and dominance can be good, as long as we have peaceful intents and advocate self-determination. And as long as Kirk means well, the Prime Directive is more of a Prime Suggestion. As long as Kirk doesn't shoot first, antimatter bombs on board are peaceful. Plus starships have captains, and space battles are cool I guess? Or at least expected. So it totally makes sense then that this episode, a potential pilot episode script, ends with a recitation of the pledge of allegiance, even though it doesn't make any sense, and barely works as a metaphor for the Vietnam war.

The structure here is somewhat inherited from previous influences. Wagon Train purportedly, but also the film Wagon Master before it. I've not seen either, but the Wikipedia synopsis on the film suggests the source material more directly grappled with pacifism and didn't feature a military chain of command. Seems like the TV series had a "Major" in charge, and I guess Roddenberry used his WW2 and police experience to emebellish.
posted by pwnguin at 9:09 PM on December 22, 2023