This week, in 1967, NBC aired "This Side of Paradise,"
one of our favorite Star Trek episodes.
On the surface, this episode appears to be mostly a Spock-story. And a wonderful one at that, as we see Mr. Spock fall in love and be happy for the first time in his life. But, as designed by Gene Roddenberry, all Star Trek stories were primarily about the series' protagonist -- Captain Kirk.
For the script, Dorothy Fontana had written a hell of a scene for William Shatner to play. She learned well from Roddenberry and understood the character of Kirk. She knew he would be the last to give in to the spores. He was too driven, too content with his life to turn himself over to drink, or drugs, or women (in the long term), or spores. He would first have to be broken. And being so alone on the ship he loves, discovering that it is an empty love without the people who share the vessel with him, very nearly does break him.
For the Final Draft screenplay, Fontana, with a little finessing from Coon, wrote of Kirk:
For the script, Dorothy Fontana had written a hell of a scene for William Shatner to play. She learned well from Roddenberry and understood the character of Kirk. She knew he would be the last to give in to the spores. He was too driven, too content with his life to turn himself over to drink, or drugs, or women (in the long term), or spores. He would first have to be broken. And being so alone on the ship he loves, discovering that it is an empty love without the people who share the vessel with him, very nearly does break him.
For the Final Draft screenplay, Fontana, with a little finessing from Coon, wrote of Kirk:
He needs people. And there ain’t nobody there but those damn computers.... Kirk moves down to his command chair, folds into it. He holds a moment, listening to the monotonous HUM and CHATTER of the instruments around him, then he abruptly flips a switch on his panel.
Kirk says, “Engineering... Scotty?... Biochemistry lab?... Security?... This is the Captain. Is there anyone aboard?” |
The descriptive passage continues:
He waits. He didn’t expect an answer.... He sinks, slumped and defeated.... As Kirk sits, head down, the pod plants erupt suddenly beside him. The drift of spores settles around Kirk.... A moment, and there seems to be no effect. Then Kirk raises his head slowly. CAMERA MOVES IN TO CLOSER SHOT. Kirk’s face has an infinite peace and tranquility. He has been taken over.
Director Senensky said, “The scene with Shatner alone on the bridge -- he’s wonderful!” (155-6) |
Fontana knew Kirk couldn’t really leave the Enterprise. He would die first. For the next scene, she wrote:
Beneath the peace imposed upon him by the spores is a surging, driving need to keep this job of his ... this life ... this self-made hell of command.
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As Kirk makes his way to the transporter room, in a brief scene cut from the episode, Fontana wrote how he moves through the corridor, “every foot of it beloved by him ... the great ship ... empty, deserted ... but his one love.”
In the transporter room, the script reads:
In the transporter room, the script reads:
Conflict within him now ... against the building transporter SOUND and LIGHTS. He should enter the chamber, but he cannot. Instead he turns off the console quickly, the LIGHTS and SOUND DYING.
Kirk shouts his next lines: “No! ... I ... can’t ... leave ... you!” |
Gene Coon changed this last part, just slightly, feeling it rang too much like Kirk’s confession of “Never lose you,” from “The Naked Time.” But whether one reads Fontana’s final handling of the script or Coon’s polish, “This Side of Paradise” is stirring. This script, like so many others from the original Star Trek, is in a league of its own. A comparison with the writing of other contemporaneous series -- or with later series, for that matter -- helps to explain the enduring popularity of Star Trek for nearly a half century (and counting). These scripts, based on a strong original series concept and well-drawn characters, were among the best writing television has ever known.
Read all about the writing and filming of “This Side of Paradise” in These Are the Voyages, TOS: Season One, by Marc Cushman, and experience the original Star Trek like you never have before.