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The Omega Glory (episode)

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This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
"The Omega Glory"
TOS, Episode 2x25
Production number: 60354
First aired: 1 March 1968
Remastered version aired: 30 June 2007
← 55th of 80 produced in TOS →
← 52nd of 80 released in TOS →
← 36th of 80 released in TOS Remastered →
← 52nd of 726 released in all →
Written By
Gene Roddenberry

Directed By
Vincent McEveety
Unknown (2268)
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The Enterprise discovers the derelict starship Exeter drifting in space, its entire crew killed by an unknown plague.

Contents

[edit] Summary

The USS Enterprise discovers the starship USS Exeter in orbit around the planet Omega IV. When Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Lieutenant Galloway beam over to the ship to investigate, they discover the ship to be seemingly abandoned... only uniforms and some crystals remain.

"Captain’s log. Aboard the USS Exeter, commanded by Ron Tracey, one of the most experienced captains in the Starfleet. What could have happened to him, and the over 400 men and women who were on this ship?"

McCoy's analysis finds the crystals to be what was left of the crew with all the water removed. A tape left by the Exeter's ship's surgeon reveals the crew was killed by a virus which was brought up to the ship by the landing party; only Captain Ronald Tracey remained alive by staying on the planet's surface.

(Log entry made by medical officer of the USS Exeter) "If you've come aboard this ship... you're dead men. Don't go back to your own ship. You have one chance. Get down there. Get down there fast. Captain Tracey is..."

Kirk orders the landing party to beam down to the planet at once.

Once on the planet, Captain Tracey informs them there is a natural immunity offered by the planet's environment – they will stay alive only as long as they remain on Omega IV. Captain Tracey lives among the Kohms, an iron-age people engaged in a war with the Yangs, a seemingly primitive, savage and fierce tribal culture – one of whose leaders has just been taken captive. Kirk learns that Tracey has been using Federation technology to assist the Kohms in their fight and has become something of a leader of the group, a clear violation of Starfleet's Prime Directive of non-interference with developing civilizations.

"Captain’s log, supplemental. The Enterprise has left the Exeter and has moved into close planet orbit. Although it appears the infection may strand us here the rest of our lives, I face an even more difficult problem – a growing belief that Captain Tracey has been interfering with the evolution of life on this planet. It seems impossible. A star captain's most solemn oath is that he will give his life, even his entire crew, rather than violate the Prime Directive."

Tracey explains that his goal was mere survival, but Kirk soon learns that he has an ulterior motive. The Kohm people have no record of any kind of disease but possess extremely long lifespans, well over 1,000 Earth years. He wishes to use the resources of the Enterprise to isolate the cause for this "super-immunity", cure themselves and share the agent with the Federation. To do this, he must keep the Yangs at bay, and asks for additional phasers to slaughter the remaining Yang force. When Kirk refuses to assist him, Tracey confiscates the landing party's phasers, takes the party prisoner and throws Kirk into a cell with the Yang "savage" while he plans a massive assault against the Yang armies. After a fight, however, Kirk comes to realize that the Yangs worship concepts such as freedom and bear remarkable similarities to the native peoples of North America – the "North American Natives" – and helps the Yang prisoner escape. McCoy, in the meantime, learns that both the super-immunity enjoyed by the Omega IV inhabitants – and the plague which killed the Exeter's crew – came as a result of biological warfare experiments similar to those researched by Earth in the late twentieth century. He discovers that the longer a person stays on the planet, the more well-established the immunity; if the Exeter landing party had stayed on the planet just a few hours longer, no one would have died. Tracey's Kohm force is routed by the Yangs and he realizes that Kirk freed the Yang prisoner to warn the others of the attack. He escapes to confront Kirk, only to learn the truth about the planet; still hoping to isolate a bargaining chip to counter any charges against him, Tracey fights Kirk, only to have both taken prisoner by the Yangs. Kirk and Spock eventually realize that Omega IV's culture was an extremely close parallel of Earth's ("Yangs" is a mispronunciation of "Yankees", while "Kohms" originally were "Communists") except the Omegans fought the war Earth managed to avoid, and the Kohms took over the planet. The Yangs have been fighting to regain their land ever since; this is confirmed when the victorious Yangs bring in their battle standard – an ancient, tattered "stars and stripes" US flag.

Cloud William badly mangles the Pledge of Allegiance
Cloud William badly mangles the Pledge of Allegiance

The Yang prisoner is Cloud William, their chief, and the "holy words" (which only a chief may speak) are a badly slurred version of the Pledge of Allegiance. Kirk interprets the Pledge and speaks the words himself, and begins to explain where he is from, but Tracey picks up on the theme and tries to turn the Yangs against Kirk by declaring he was "cast out of heaven" – pointing to Spock's appearance as similar to the appearance of "the evil one". To test Kirk, Cloud William reads from the "greatest of holies" and challenges Kirk to translate. Unable to initially translate, Kirk counters that their sacred legends promise that good is stronger than evil, and fights Tracey man-to-man to prove it. As Kirk defeats Tracey, a landing party of volunteers from the Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Sulu, beams down to take control of the situation. Seeing this, Cloud William believes Kirk to be God's servant. Kirk informs the Yangs that the "holy words" were not merely written for chiefs, but for everyone, even the Kohms. He reads the "greatest of holies" – the preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, and tells Cloud William the words must apply to everyone or they are meaningless. When Spock asks Kirk if his actions do not also violate the Prime Directive, Kirk explains he was simply explaining the meaning of what they were fighting for... as all the Yangs read the Constitution.

[edit] Memorable quotes

"A star captain's most solemn oath is that he will give his life, his entire crew... rather than violate the Prime Directive."

- Excerpt from Kirk's log


"Wu – tell Captain Kirk your age."
"Age? I have seen forty-two Years of the Red Bird. My eldest brother–"
"Their Year of the Red Bird comes once every eleven years, which he's seen forty-two times. Multiply it... Wu is 462 years old. His father is well over a thousand."

- Tracey and Wu


"I've got only one lead; the infection resembles one of those developed by Earth during its biological warfare experiments during 1990s... hard to believe we were once foolish enough to play around with that."

- McCoy, on biological warfare experiments


"They sacrificed hundreds just to get us out into the open. And then they came – and they came! We drained four phasers and they still came... we killed thousands and they still came!"

- Tracey, describing the rout of the Kohm force


"There's no serum! There are no miracles! There's no immortality here! All this is for nothing!"
"Explain it to him, doctor!"
"Leave medicine to medical men, Captain Tracey; you found no Fountain of Youth here. People live here longer now because it's natural for them to!"

- Kirk, Tracey, and McCoy


"Outside...our I'll burn down both your friends!"

-Captain Tracey


"The situation... is not immediately desperate. Have the volunteers stand by; Kirk out." (closes communicator and shrugs)
"You have a well-trained bridge crew, captain; my compliments."

- Kirk and Tracey, after failing to secure more phasers


"The American Indian... Yangs... Yanks... Spock – Yankees!"
"Kohms... Communists. The parallel is almost too close, captain. It would mean that these people fought the war your Earth avoided, and, in this case, the Asiatics won and took over this planet."
"But, if that's so... all these generations of Yangs fighting to regain their land..."
"You're a romantic, Jim."

- Kirk, Spock, and McCoy


"That which is ours is ours again; it will never be taken from us again... I am Cloud William – chief. Also son of chief. Guardian of the Holies, Speaker of the Holy Words, Leader of Warriors. Many have died, but this is the last of the Kohm places; what is ours is ours again!"

- Cloud William


"I plegleia neptum flagumm; to pec, liforstand–"
"–and to the republic for which it stands; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

- Cloud William and Kirk, as Kirk translates the Yang version of the Pledge of Allegiance


"E Plebmnista; norcom, forcom, perfectumum."

- Yang version of We the People...


"The fight is done when one is dead."

- Cloud William


"No – no! Only the eyes of a chief may see the E Plebmnista!"
 "This was not written for chiefs."

- Yang Scholar and Kirk


"These words, and the words that follow, were not just written for the Yangs, but for the Kohms as well!"
"But the Kohms–"
"They must apply to everyone, or they mean nothing! Do you understand?"
"I... do not fully understand, one named Kirk... but the Holy Words will be obeyed; I swear it!"

- Kirk and Cloud William


"There is no question of his [Tracey's] guilt, captain; but does our involvement here also constitute a violation of the Prime Directive?"
"We merely showed them the meaning of what they were fighting for; liberty and freedom have to be more than just words."

- Spock and Kirk

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Story and script

  • This episode was written by Roddenberry after he had been to Washington, DC. Apparently, he was so moved by the US Constitution, as well as other artifacts from early American history, he wanted an episode to reflect American pride, yet at the same time look at how things could have turned out if the Cold War, which was still going on at the time, had gone badly for the world.
    (citation needed • edit)
  • This was one of three draft stories considered for the second pilot of the series, first draft 7 June 1965. The other unchosen draft was "Mudd's Women". "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the script eventually picked. "The Omega Glory" was filmed in middle and late December 1967.
  • A letter reprinted in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story reveals that Roddenberry personally submitted his teleplay for consideration for an Emmy Award.
  • Another McCoy-Spock debate was filmed for this episode, but edited. Just before the landing party left the Yangs' flag room, Kirk cut short an argument which seems to be about nothing. The reason McCoy and Spock were in an argument was cut from the episode. The dialog excised from the final print was as follows (taken from the final draft shooting script for the episode):
    • McCoy: Jim, the parallel's too close. They seem so completely Human. Is it possible that... ?
    • Kirk: The result of Earth's early space race?
    • Spock: Quite possible, Captain. They are aggressive enough to be Human.
    • McCoy: Now listen, Spock, you...
  • A fairly lengthy scene from the final shooting script was edited from the final print of this episode. Soon after the landing party arrived on Omega IV, Kirk directly confronted Tracey about the possibility of his having violated the Prime Directive and Tracey attempted to defend his actions. Tracey also displayed open hostility towards Spock during this scene, revealing his dislike of Vulcans. James Blish does write up the scene in his adaptation of the episode in Star Trek 10.

[edit] Continuity

  • In this episode, the USS Enterprise visits another world possessing an Earth-based culture. Other such examples include "Miri", "A Piece of the Action", "Patterns of Force", and "Bread and Circuses".
  • This is the second of three times the Enterprise encounters another Constitution-class starship with the entire crew dead. The other two were in "The Doomsday Machine" and "The Tholian Web".
  • It is learned that the Exeter had a standard complement of four shuttlecraft. During the search for survivors, Galloway informed Kirk that "all four of the craft" were still on the hangar deck. Whether all Constitution-class vessels were equipped with that number of shuttles is not made clear.
  • This is the first time the chief medical officer of another Federation starship, Dr. Carter, is seen. Although he is sitting in the command chair on the bridge, it is unclear if he is in command of the Exeter or is merely recording his warning. Not until Dr. Crusher was placed in command of the USS Enterprise-D in "Descent, Part II" would a doctor clearly be in command of a starship. (Dr. Crusher was technically in command in "Remember Me" when she was the only crewmember left; however, since it wasn't the real Enterprise, it cannot be counted.)
  • While analyzing the crystals into which the Exeter's crew have dissolved, McCoy says that we are all about 96% water. The actual figure is closer to 70%.

[edit] Production

  • Roy Jenson's voice was electronically altered for this episode. The preview for the episode contains unaltered dialog for Cloud William which doesn't have the "slowed down" effect.
  • Fred Steiner arranged the "Star-Spangled Banner" motifs for this episode.
  • Identical female screams are heard in this episode and in "A Private Little War" and "The Gamesters of Triskelion".

[edit] Cast and characters

  • James Doohan (Scotty) and Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov) do not appear in this episode.
  • Despite Lt. Galloway's demise in this episode, David L. Ross returned as Lt. Johnson in a third season episode, and then he returned again reprising the role of Galloway. No explanation was given for the resurrection. According to Ross in the unauthorized biography of William Shatner, Gene Roddenberry wanted him to appear regularly in the series, but Ross was not interested in this much acting.
  • Ed McCready makes yet another appearance on Star Trek as the ill-fated Dr. Carter. McCready appeared numerous times in all three seasons of the show in short bit roles. Dr. Carter was originally going to be shown dissolving on camera.
    (citation needed • edit)
  • The Kohm guarding Dr. McCoy can be seen in green coveralls in "The Man Trap", both in the corridor and in the turbolift, and as one of the miners in "The Devil in the Dark". He can also be seen extensively as a background character in many episodes of Kung Fu and Hawaii Five-O.

[edit] Other information

  • This was the first of five Star Trek projects to be adapted into View-Master reels.

[edit] Production timeline

[edit] Remastered Information

The original version of the Enterprise encounter with USS Exeter

The Enterprise encounter with Exeter, after remastering

Omega IV remastered as more Earth-like

The remastered version of "The Omega Glory" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of 30 June 2007. The episode included dramatic new effects shots of the Enterprise and the Exeter in orbit of a more Earth-like, computer-generated Omega IV. Among the fine details inserted into the show, a small glimpse of the Exeter appears on the Enterprise viewscreen as it approaches the planet at the start of the episode. [1]

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Starring

[edit] Also starring

And

[edit] Guest star

[edit] Also starring

[edit] Uncredited co-stars

[edit] Stunts

[edit] References

American Indian; Asiatic; axe; bow; calcium; carbon; chief; common cold; Communist; Exeter, USS; Fountain of Youth; God; hangar deck; Holy Word; Kohm; lance; mortar; Omega IV; Omega IV virus; Omega IV native; phosphorus; potassium; Prime Directive; red bird; shuttlecraft; Starfleet Regulation 6; United States Constitution; United States of America; Yang; Yankee; Year of the Red Bird

[edit] External links


Previous episode produced:
"The Ultimate Computer" 		Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 2 		Next episode produced:
"Assignment: Earth"
Previous episode aired:
"By Any Other Name" 		Next episode aired:
"The Ultimate Computer"
Previous remastered episode aired:
"Plato's Stepchildren" 		TOS Remastered Next remastered episode aired:
"Return to Tomorrow"
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