Podcast Enterprise: S2E17 Piece of the Action

Space, the final frontier. These are the podcasts of the Podcast Enterprise. Its only mission: to explore story structures, to analyze our favorite characters and plotlines, to boldly talk what everyone has seen before

We will analyze all episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series or TOS for short using the following guiding structure:

1. Synopsis or summary of the episode
2. Story structure
3. Character analysis
4. Our likes and dislikes

The synopsis: When this episode begins, the USS Enterprise is in orbit around Sigma Iotia II. They’ve arrived at this planet in response to a radio signal from the Horizon, a ship that visited Sigma Iotia II about a hundred years ago. The Horizon, lacking the non-interference directive that later became Starfleet policy, inadvertently contaminated the culture on Sigma Iotia II. The Enterprise’s mission is to check on the planet and its civilization, assessing the impact of this contamination.

Upon approaching the planet, the crew receives an invitation from a character named Bela Okmyx (or Oxmyx, as the pronunciation varies). He refers to himself as “Boss” and requests a meeting with Captain Kirk. Amused, Kirk decides to investigate and beams down to Sigma Iotia II with Spock and McCoy. Upon arrival, they find a world that looks strikingly like Chicago of the 1920s, complete with people dressed in suits, women in frocks, and a gangster-like atmosphere. Almost immediately, they are accosted by gangsters claiming to be henchmen of Okmyx.

The gangsters take them to a large building where they find Okmyx playing pool. He speaks to Kirk in a half-polite, somewhat friendly manner. Spock soon discovers the source of the cultural contamination left by the Horizon—a book about the Chicago mobs of the 1920s. The Iotians, being highly intelligent and imitative, adopted this book as a sort of holy guide, shaping their entire culture around it and turning themselves into gangsters.

Okmyx becomes a problem for Kirk when he demands that Kirk supply him with weapons—specifically, the phasers he calls “heaters.” He wants these weapons to wage war against rival gang leaders and unite all the gangs on Sigma Iotia II under his rule. Naturally, Kirk refuses, leading Okmyx to imprison him. However, Kirk manages to escape by inventing a nonsensical card game called Fizzbin. Despite escaping, Kirk is promptly captured by a rival mob boss, who has similar demands—wanting weapons and control of the Enterprise.

Kirk finds himself in a precarious situation, needing to use all his wits to prevent these gangs from destroying each other and to instill some semblance of unity. There are several memorable scenes, including Kirk’s attempt to drive a car, which adds a humorous touch. Eventually, Kirk manages to bring the two gang bosses, along with others, into one place. He demonstrates the power of the Enterprise, which helps him get their attention. Adopting a gangster persona himself, Kirk talks about cuts and profits, appealing to their interests, even though it’s against Starfleet regulations. Despite the chaos, he succeeds in uniting the gangs.

Finally, the crew of the Enterprise, including Kirk, is released by the gang bosses, and they return to the ship. However, the episode ends with a twist—McCoy realizes he left something very important behind on Sigma Iotia II, which hints at potential future problems.

That brings us to the end of this episode. Thank you for listening to the Podcast Enterprise. Please do share your reviews with us and please share this podcast with any of your writing friends or trekkies. Live long and prosper!

Stay tuned in for our next episode! Enjoy!

Acknowledgements

1. Intro music: Music from anchor.fm
2. Descript for editing the podcast
3. References: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/