Star Trek Review: THE GALILEO SEVEN

Director Robert Gist's, "THE GALILEO SEVEN," is one of the weaker Classic "Trek" episodes. This is the only "Trek" episode Gist directed.

An Enterprise shuttlecraft, with Spock in charge, approaches the planet, Taurus II. It crash lands.

Spock and gang encounter huge, caveman-like aliens. Spock attempts to deal with their situation in a logical way, with dire results.

Spock and McCoy bicker a lot in this episode. It's ultimately more irritating than amusing, however.

Spock's actions on the planet, as leader of the shuttlecraft mission on the planet, Taurus II, seem out of character. In the interest of "logic," Spock gives commands that result in the deaths of several expedition members, turning the surviving expedition group members against him. Spock has been in command before, including on the bridge of the Enterprise, but rarely have his actions seemed so at odds with the survival of others.

The scenes of "huge" cavemen, dropping boulders on the shuttlecraft, are rather silly. It's more in the style of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" than Classic "Trek". Oliver Crawford ("The Cloud Minders," "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield") and S. Bar-David ("Dagger of the Mind") are responsible for the less than classic script.

Late in the episode, Spock commits the illogical act of using the remaining shuttle fuel, to signal the Enterprise, though the odds of this "flare" being noticed are extremely remote. Why the logical Vulcan should take such action is unclear.

"THE GALILEO SEVEN" may be somewhat watchable for some Sci-Fi viewers.

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