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- A Christmas Carol. If that Data scene is the figgy pudding for fans of both Trek and Charles Dickens, the roast beast would be the USA version starring Patrick Stewart.
- Devil’s Due (TNG) You probably saw this one coming. “Devil’s Due” starts with Data playing Scrooge on the holodeck in a re-creation of A Christmas Carol.
- Generations. While not one of the more celebrated entries in the film franchise, Generationsfeatures the only instance in Trek canon of people actually celebrating Christmas
- Silicon Avatar (TNG) We’re stretching here, but the antagonist of this episode is described as a “giant snowflake,” and what would Christmas be without a little snow?
- Et in Arcadia Ego (Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, Episode 10) Though it might be hard to watch as a standalone episode, given the single-story nature of "Star Trek: Picard," this double-length final episode of the show's first season saw a bitter sweet end to the story, as Picard fought to save a colony of artificial life forms from extinction at the hands of the Romulans.
- New Eden (Star Trek: Discovery, Season 2, Episode 2) This episode has Burnham wrestling with her vision of an angel, as Stamets grapples with his own visions of his dead husband.
- Carbon Creek (Star Trek: Enterprise, Season 2, Episode 2) "Carbon Creek" touches on themes of understanding, tolerance, acceptance and keeping an open mind to those who are different.
- Terra Nova (Star Trek: Enterprise, Season 1, Episode 6) A fascinating tale of family and acceptance begins with Archer and the Enterprise visiting a lost colony called Terra Nova, settled by humans almost 75 years earlier, but which lost contact with Earth shortly after its founding.
May 25, 2024 · The original Star Trek episode “Errand of Mercy” is considered a classic, and now 57 years later, its epic consequences are still being felt. The episode introduced both the Klingons and the Organians, two species that have played a large role in the franchise’s god war. T’Lir, the last of the Organians, tells their origin in Star Trek ...
- Overview
- Summary
- Log entries
- Memorable quotes
- Background information
- Links and references
Kirk and Spock try to protect the planet Organia from the Klingons, but the natives don't want the Federation's help.
Teaser
Coded orders from Starfleet Command to the USS Enterprise disclose that negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of collapse and that Starfleet expects a surprise attack. The Enterprise is ordered to Organia, a peaceful, Class M planet in the disputed area, to prevent the Klingons from using it as a base of operations. En route, a Klingon vessel suddenly attacks the Enterprise with magnetic pulses. Kirk orders the phaser banks to lock on and return fire. After a brief weapons exchange, the Enterprise destroys the Klingon ship with a proximity blast set at a 100% dispersal pattern. Lieutenant Uhura receives a Code One alert from Starfleet: War with the Klingons has begun and Captain Kirk resolves to reach Organia "before the hammer falls", as the trigger has now been pulled.
Act One
Assuming orbit, Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet, leaving Lieutenant Sulu in charge, with specific duties "to the Enterprise, not to us" and, if outnumbered, to avoid combat and immediately warn Starfleet. Upon beaming down to the surface of Organia, Kirk and Spock find a primitive, agrarian society whose people seem curiously unconcerned about visitors materializing within their midst — which makes Kirk wonder " Do they have people beaming down every day?" Ayelborne welcomes them, but tells Kirk "We don't have anyone in authority." But, as Chairman of the Council of Elders, he invites them to the Council chambers. Ayelborne agrees to Spock's request to look around the village so he may get some tricorder readings. However, the councilors tell Kirk they have no need of protection nor defenses; they do not believe the Klingon invasion poses any threat to their people or their culture or way of life. While they recess to discuss Kirk's offer, Spock discloses that the culture has not advanced for as far back as his tricorder can measure; Organia is "an arrested culture." The Council's discussions result in no change, and they can see no benefit to affiliation with the Federation. Then the Klingon fleet of D7-class battle cruisers arrives – a fact Councilor Trefayne somehow seems aware of before even Spock can confirm it with his tricorder, surprising him and Kirk. The Enterprise is forced to leave, stranding Kirk and Spock amid a Klingon occupation army, led by Kor.
Act Two
The Organians provide Kirk and Spock with native clothing, but take their weapons. Kirk is now Baroner, a leading Organian citizen, while Spock is a Vulcan merchant dealing in kevas and trillium. But Kor considers Spock a spy, since Vulcans are members of the Federation, and takes him in for questioning. When Kirk protests, Kor decides that Kirk is "a man I can deal with" as his liaison to the civil population. The examination, performed with the mind scanner, does not pierce Spock's pretense, and he is released. Kirk has been instructed in his duties as liaison, and both men are released to go about their business. Formulating a plan to fight against the Klingons, Kirk and Spock destroy a Klingon ammo dump – and find that the Organians are appalled by the mere thought of violence. Kirk tells Ayelborne that the Organians can resist a military dictatorship, but Ayelborne replies that Kirk simply doesn't understand them. Unfortunately, Kor has the Council chamber under surveillance and hears everything.
•Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2267
"War. We didn't want it, but we've got it."
"Curious how often you Humans manage to obtain that which you do not want."
- Kirk and Spock, as the Federation-Klingon War starts
"I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I can only tell you the truth."
- Kirk, to the Organian Council of Elders
"This is the ruling council?"
Story and script
•This episode marks the first appearance of the Klingons. Story editor Dorothy Fontana thought the Klingons were made the regular adversaries of the series because they didn't need any special (and expensive) make-up like the Romulans, whom she thought to be much more interesting. •Ayelborne mentions that in the future, the Federation and the Klingons would be friends and work together, both of which become true. •The episode title comes from The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens: "It is an errand of mercy which brings me here. Pray, let me discharge it." •In the script, the Klingons were described simply as "Oriental, hard-faced." •According to the script, the Organian village was to be modeled on old English villages, with thatched huts and muddy back alleys. •This is the first episode in which Sulu is shown sitting in the command chair, although he had previously commanded the bridge from the helm position in "Arena". Scott, who doesn't appear in this episode, had commanded the Enterprise in the absence of Kirk and Spock in "A Taste of Armageddon", in which Sulu didn't appear. The second season would establish Scott as senior to Sulu in the command structure.
Cast
•DeForest Kelley (McCoy) and James Doohan (Scott) do not appear in this episode. Along with "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "The Menagerie, Part II", this is one of only three episodes after the two pilots in which Kelley does not appear. This was also McCoy's last non-appearance in TOS. It was not until season 2 that the two encountered Klingons. •This was the first appearance of John Colicos as Kor. The character was also set to appear in "Day of the Dove" and "The Trouble with Tribbles", but Colicos was unavailable and other Klingon characters were written in. A script was written for Kor for the fourth season, but the show was canceled after the third season, and he never got his chance to appear again (Kor did appear in TAS: "The Time Trap", but was voiced by James Doohan). Colicos was also the person who gave the Klingons their dark-skinned, mustached look. He said he was going for the "Genghis Khan" look. Makeup artist Fred Phillips agreed on it, and conceived the Klingons in this fashion. He did eventually reprise his role in DS9: "Blood Oath", "The Sword of Kahless", and "Once More Unto the Breach". •Colicos was director John Newland's first and immediate choice for the role of Kor. He got the script only two hours before flying to Los Angeles from Toronto, and read it on the plane. •Victor Lundin played the tall Klingon lieutenant who returns Spock to Kor's office following the level 4 mind scan. Lundin's character can also be seen in Kor's office reporting the escape of prisoners Kirk and Spock. Victor also appears in a scene as the Klingon which Kirk chokes into submission with a belt cord; followed by Spock's administration of an incapacitating neck pinch. One of Lundin's most notable roles just prior to this timeframe was the part of Friday on the film, Robinson Crusoe on Mars. •The unknown actor usually portraying Bobby appears as one of the Klingon Guards outside Kor's office at the end of the episode.
Costumes
•The baldric that Kor wore was reused for Worf during TNG's first season. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 3rd ed., p. 20) When it was exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution as part of a Star Trek retrospective in the 1990s, the material could clearly be seen to be burlap sacking, painted gold. •The same exhibit showed that the buckles of the Klingon belts were pieces of bubble pack, with the bubbles painted silver to resemble metal studs.
Starring
•William Shatner as Capt. Kirk
Also starring
•Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
Guest stars
•John Abbott as Ayelborne •John Colicos as Kor
Errand of Mercy. " Errand of Mercy " is the twenty-sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by John Newland, it was first broadcast on March 23, 1967. It was the first episode in which the Klingons appeared. In the episode, with a war with the Klingons ...
Dec 24, 2023 · The Federation may not celebrate Christmas in Star Trek, but there's more holiday spirit in the sci-fi series than you think. Since its first entry “The Man Trap” aired on Sept. 8 1966, Star ...
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Sep 27, 2016 · For the sixth time this season alone, Star Trek brings up the concept of a super-powerful, Godlike alien race. For the second time, they are not only pacifists, but against the idea of others fighting as well. One might call them militant pacifists. The idea of interstellar war is not often dealt with in The Original Series, save in the ...
