A Look at Errand of Mercy (Star Trek)

Opinionated Star Trek Episode Guide returns with another classic series villain being introduced, in this case, the Klingons. They conquer a world, enslave its people, threaten them, and then have some executed. The locals don't seem to mind.

[@kevinramsey417]

The way Kor says "It would have been GLORIOUS" planted the seeds for how all Klingons would later be portrayed. John Colicos was such an underrated actor. Dude was born to play a Klingon.

[@lynngreen7978]

More accurately, his portrayal informed how all Klingons would be portrayed.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

He makes a good villain, too. He later played Baltar on the original Battlestar Galactica, though a bit more self interested than Kor.

[@lynngreen7978]

@@ShadowWingTronix I recall. and I much preferred him to the pretty boy of the remake.

[@BufordTGleason]

@@ShadowWingTronixBy your Command

[@SirManfly]

@@ShadowWingTronix Or as Mad magazine called him...."Baldstar"

[@pauldeegan6652]

One of my favourite moments in this episode occurs when Spock joins Kirk in the council chamber after his inquisitive scout around the settlement. He proceeds to deliver his dialogue about the culture being ‘totally stagnant’ and displaying no signs of developing towards a more advanced culture. But, while he is saying this, the doors behind him are elegantly closing - apparently of their own accord, and in perfect synch too. No one touches those double doors; they just close silently. This subtle foreshadowing is a fascinating hint to the keen viewer, that some unseen technology or controlling force, is very much in effect on Organia.

[@daleantila4711]

Your short assessment of these episodes, (which are 45 minutes long) is a great way to re-experience the history of StarTrek in a synopsis. It makes me want to re-watch some of these individual episodes of StarTrek (all series) again. They are great; please keep them coming including equal representation of all versions of the Official Cannon.

[@myriadmediamusings]

Up there with Balance of Terror as one of those that has a MASSIVE impact for the whole franchise 50+ years later. I can only imagine how those on initial and later syndicated viewing must’ve felt upon seeing this Kor dude and these Klingons and witnessing how they would reappear, change and be fleshed out.

[@Swiftbow]

Well, in theme maybe, but the Organians vanished as a galactic power after this episode, save for a mention in Trouble with Tribbles and I think one or two other episodes. They certainly aren't considered to be an issue when war is being plotted in Star Trek VI. Or when the Klingons attempt to steal Genesis. Or when numerous other wars with similar powers break out. Or when the Dominion War or the Borg... you get my point. They did cameo in one episode of Enterprise, but it also doesn't explain their future absence.

[@jamesabernethy7896]

TOS episodes have so much character. Fun to watch and fun to review.

[@cambiata]

"I don't trust people who smile too much" reminds me of the general attitude towards Americans in Slavic countries - that we smile too much and it's strange and unnerving. Fits in well later with how the Klingons are obviously a stand in for the Russians.

[@charlesvan13]

A piece of trivia: John Colicose is wearing the sash that Michael Dorn wore on the first season of TNG.

[@stevena488]

Man, Kirk met a LOT of Space Gods when you think about it

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

I wonder how he would have dealt with Q?

[@stevena488]

​@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 Prrrroooooobably the same way he dealt with Trelane, where he would have just waited for his parents to come along and then get the space Gods apologising that their super powered god child decided to play with the Enterprise.

[@accidentalmadness1708]

@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812he’d probably be more annoyed but less violent than sisko.

[@Henni63]

One day Chuck will review The Tholian Web and then i can rest easily.

[@MrVenona]

Thumbs up on this, even though this episode deserves at least at 8, or maybe a 9.

[@earnestbrown6524]

There is a TOS book that follows up on the "peace" imposed by the Organians where the Federation and Klingons are have a farming competition over who gets a planet. It has a Klingon farmer who views him keeping his crop healthy as his honorable battle. "If at the end of the day I look over my fields and see no blight I have won that day."

[@nitePhyyre]

That's the premise of The Trouble With Tribbles.

[@brianalambert1192]

I feel like Kor from this episode is what modern day villains try to capture and yet so rarely do. A villain who isn't screaming and shouting but instead holds great respect for his adversaries and yet is still a true villain

[@schemax]

It's interesting how ToS and early TNG portrays humanity kind of having evolved towards the Organians internally in a way, as for example humans no longer wage wars among themselves.

[@mikegates8993]

I would love to hear what "legitimate grievances" the Klingons claim to have against the Federation. Especially with the extra context of all the things that have been added to their culture and history over the years.

[@Jokie155]

Kruge seemed to fear the Federation's mass expansionist strategy, which they achieved through diplomacy rather than conquest. I can see the Klingons as a whole being suspicious of that. After all, that's exactly how the Gorn saw the Federation when they attacked in 'Arena'.

[@tarvoc746]

Kirk and Kor: "How DARE you Organians use your advanced powers and technologies to interfere with our fight over your bronze age planet?!?!"

[@drockjr]

It's always a good day when chuck uploads. Even if its a reup. I can't believe I have been listening to you for over a decade. Welp, heres to a few more. Yikes. This blunt is for you chuck.

[@fredfungalspore]

One the top 3 episodes of the original Star Trek series 🖖

[@cambiata]

I just wanted to note a revelation I had about a decade ago. As a kid I would see the Organians in their long robes as taking their cues from older, less technological earth cultures and how they would dress (ex: togas). But with the advent of certain products in the 21st century, I realized that in fact the Organians are walking around in snuggies. IE, they dress how they want and don't give a fuck.

[@AlmostEthical]

I would give this one a 9

[@captianmorgan7627]

And Shatner thought that day at acting school where everything was lava was going to be a waste of time.

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

TOS eps are a mind trip. First watched them all earlier this summer. Up til now I had only known the original crew from the 80s. The original small-screen series was a world away from that lol. Never had watched at TOS ep before so wasn't sure what to expect. Lemme tell you it was quite the experience. I may never be the same lmfao They make me want to drop acid and all the other trappings of the 60s 😂 This ep was one of my favorites tho. I'd have to re-watch it to be sure but I didn't feel there were any weak parts. Strongly enjoyed all of it.

[@CT-uv8os]

Grew up watching this. You had to be there to experience it first hand 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@benives254]

The Dahar master! *reverance*

[@seanlavoie2]

It’s interesting how the episode seems to end on “War bad, me smarter-er” not, but still has a message of hate for passivity. Either the episode is trying to have it both ways or it’s more of an open exploration of war with what seems like a ham fisted moral added at the end. Honestly didn’t mind the episode when I watched it, but I wasn’t viewing it as an allegory for the Cold War.

[@CT-uv8os]

Did you live in the Cold War. I did and yeah the Klingons did represent the Soviet Union as Americans were led to believe at the time and still are. Putin Putin Putin.

[@BS-nw1qr]

You know... You wouldnt need to hold the other person to punch them in the face or knee them in the honor and glory.

[@jlev1028]

Remember when Klingons used to look like Chinese stereotypes instead of Mongolian stereotypes?

[@samwill7259]

Overwatch's healer picks up some milk and bread after work

[@MrChupacabra555]

As much as I dislike how Discovery has re-written the 'Future History' of TOS Trek, I can see one thing: Maybe the Organians saw the violence of the First Klingon/Federation war (in Discovery), and decided to keep an eye on both parties, maybe even setting up this planet to test them both, years after the end of the war and their so-called 'peace', before rendering their judgment.

[@KiltedCritic]

Doesn't track as different universes.

[@MrChupacabra555]

@@KiltedCritic That's what we fans all say, but, like it or not (NOT 😅), the Official stance is that Discovery (and all of P+ Trek) exists in the same 'Universe' as the Original Series. Even that one episode of Strange New Worlds that posited that Khan's rise to power has been delayed due to Romulan mucking with the time stream, its still in the 'Canon Universe'

[@TimLynchNZ]

I was visiting Moscow in the Soviet Union in 1986, I was standing in a long queue in our hotel waiting and waiting for 'Intourist' to sort out everyones travel arrangements and then I looked around me and there was Spock standing behind me. I turned to him and introduced myself. I then told him that we can beat the Communist system of having to stand in queues. He said you can? I said sure, it's easy. He said well tell me more? I said we bring our own transporter room with us. He laughed - he thought that was a great idea. I then asked him about an important episode l liked - in which he and Captain Kirk were on a planet and that they came across, what Spock thought were beings that because they had no industry or technology - that they were suffering from 'arrested' development. I said it was on the planet Organia. He looked at me saying - he remembered that episode well and said it was called Errand of Mercy. As Spock would say today ... Interesting ... pure thought. 💫

[@lynngreen7978]

I take it there was a beaming through shields thing that had just happened, or just been reviewed?

[@stephendrummer1542]

One day will come when we humans will discover how insignificant we really are in the universe, just like Kirk and Korr did

[@CT-uv8os]

Would have paid good money to Watch Rand throwing things at Kor while he was chasing her around the table. You know they would have wrote that.😂😂😂😂😂

[@allengilliland972]

Not to be a pedantic ass about this doc, but this does kind of prove my point. These characters are never recognized as 'Gods', they're 'evolved humanoids', which is just another way of denouncing and claiming the power of divinity for yourself (basically you're just saying 'we can do that, it'll just take us millions of years for biology and society to reach that point"). Also, they easily fall into the category of 'useless jerks'. They fostered this conflict and allowed it to continue for no apparent personal gain to anyone, when they could have just bounced as soon as the Klingon's arrived. Yes, you can argue they were playing 4-D chess and planting the seeds of peace between the two factions, but they're doing it on such a micro-scale (and so much happens between this and the two factions finding peace) that, frankly, their own arguments apply "You will have peace, but only after the deaths of millions". I honestly can't look at this and not think that there had to be dozens, if not thousands of was this could have otherwise played out and been far more effective. To me, they're just Quantum Hippies, and, like most hippies, every conversation with them is just the slow, intense repetition of the same few phrases before they eventually get bored with the conversation and go to repack their bong.

[@Swiftbow]

What bugs me the most about the conclusion is that Kirk's primary arguments (which were brought up earlier in the episode) vanish completely at the end when the writer wants him to be in the wrong. That is, the Klingons have an empire of conquered worlds filled with people who are essentially chattel slaves to the empire. A conclusive war with the Federation, while obviously destructive, could potentially free those people. But, to a pacifist, a life in chains in preferable to a death for freedom. Which boils back down to why both Kor and Kirk abhor the Organians so much (or at least the people they pretend to be). They're not willing to die for ANYTHING, no matter how abhorrent that thing might be. Also, the Organian Peace Treaty, while referenced a couple more times, must have proved a bugaboo for the writers, because the Organians must have given up or vanished at some point to allow the Star Trek movies (notably Undiscovered Country), the Klingon Civil War, the Cardassian War, the Dominion War, the Borg... you get my point. I think some of the book writers attempted to address the issue, but I am not sure.

[@boobah5643]

@@Swiftbow _Star Fleet Battles_ pretty obviously had issues with ascended aliens preventing war, so they put in a few lines of fluff mentioning that the Organians had vanished. Promptly the General War broke out, which featured virtually every nation in that universe lining up on one side or the other, with the Federation v. Klingon scuffle at the center of it all.

[@Swiftbow]

@@boobah5643 Always thought they should have gone the Stargate route, where some race (like the Borg say) are underestimated by the Ascended types. Until those same "lowers" launch some weapon that just neutralizes the energy beings.

[@fredrikcarlstedt393]

In which we meet the self- appointed chairman of the Kirk Fan Club .

[@melvinfields3078]

I don’t believe the Angels will save us from our stupidity.

[@greggweber9967]

Remember that TOS Klingons are mutants or hybrids. Not real Klingons as seen in TNG.

[@hariman7727]

The characterization in original Trek was a cut above.

[@Robizoid]

Kor must really hate used car salesmen & clergymen, those guys a little too much.

[@sirequinox4874]

I dislike the rehabilitation of the Klingons into an "honorable" alien race. They should have remained villains. And it was pointless to put the tire-track ridges on their foreheads. They were invented to be antagonists for the Federation for the sake of plot and they should have been left that way. Having Jadzia Dax be friends with a ruthless mass murderer like Kor was absurd and ethically abhorrent.

[@Jokie155]

Cool story bro.

[@stuartwald2395]

The ridges go back to Mark Lenard leading his 3 K'tinga cruisers against V'Ger (without much success); you should look into why that was done there. Within TOS, while often enough the Klingons would remain purely nasty enemies (Elaaan of Troyius, Friday's Child), they would also often be shown as "honorable" in their own way, understandable, and able to work with the Federation (or at least keep the level of contest limited); this was especially true for the three performances of John Colicos (Errand of Mercy), William Campbell (The Trouble with Tribbles) and Michael Ansara (Day of the Dove). We like each of these three characters, and that makes them more than paper villains.

[@blagageorge3824]

oh, so you just wanted a villain so one dimensional they collapsed into a point. well, glad you never got to write on any trek show!

[@sirequinox4874]

That would have been a lot less boring and a lot less morally repugnant.@@blagageorge3824

[@boobah5643]

Except the Klingons _aren't_ an honorable warrior race. Honor is just an ideal that quietly, if firmly, is set to the side when it comes in conflict with practicality, because winning is more important to Klingons than honor. It's an impossible ideal for them... which is why it takes a complete outsider like Worf to actually become that ideal, and why Worf spends so much time banished from Klingon society. Most Klingons don't go as far as the Duras clan and more-or-less spit on honor, but it's pretty clear that most aren't willing to pay its price.