77. The Cloud MindersFORMULA: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield + Patterns of Force + Day of the Dove + The Enterprise Incident
WHY WE LIKE IT: A good take on the struggle of the lower classes, and an interesting venue to do it in.
WHY WE DON'T: Spock's sappy romantic interest in Droxine.
REVIEW: The Cloud Minders has everything required to be a Star Trek classic. It takes a 20th-century issue, and puts it through the 23rd-century filter to discuss it more openly. It's got alien environments, a planet in danger, Kirk breaking the Prime Directive in the name of individual freedoms, a couple of saucy gals and a cave set. It's unfortunate that it still manages to miss the mark.
There are still a lot of well-realized elements, not the least of which is Stratos, a city that features a large number of art pieces. The costumes are good too. The Troglites look like red versions of the Mole Man from Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, and while I'm not a big fan of the cut on Droxine's outfit, the material looks really fabulous. In good science-fiction fashion, putting the priviledged class up in the clouds and the lower classes underground does Metropolis one better, and really creates a divide. The Troglites are kept down by the very substance they are made to mine, giving more reason for the Stratos dwellers to keep them there, so it's not entirely black and white.
Kirk is back in his prime in this one, going right after Plasus as one of those bureaucrats he can't stand (shades of Nilz Baris). His final solution is a good one, and well played by all involved. Vanna comes off as a credible rebel leader, and the Stratos dwellers are real hypocrites. Though it works fine in an SF context, I'm worried that class struggle as presented is largely a non-issue today, or even in the 60s. A pretty easy target that hasn't been controversial since the 1930s (as presented, since there's a very different, and slyly subtle, class divide at work today).
Spock creates a few problems for me in The Cloud Minders, one of which is our hearing his inner voice early in the episode, explaining the issues, etc. This is the first time I've felt the creators were talking down to me in the entire run of the series. Some messages have been hammered home pretty stiffly, but this interior monologue seems totally unnecessary and redundant. And then there's his relationship with Droxine, a subplot that nearly ruins the entire episode for me. Much like Kirk in Requiem for Methuselah, Spock in love at first sight is a little hard to swallow. While an intellectual attraction is certainly possible there, I can't believe he would spill the beans about the super-private concept of pon farr. The romance between the two is almost creepy, and often sounds like it wanted to cater to all of Spock's female fans. It's less graphic, but no less torrid than most fan fiction on the subject. Perhaps part of the problem is that Droxine is so boring and obvious a character. On the one hand, it makes her seem more alien and aristocratic. On the other, it makes it that much harder to believe Spock would show an interest. I certainly don't believe she'll really take up mining. A Siskoid Special Edition Cut would leave her almost entirely on the cutting room floor.
LESSON: Even what's invisible can kill you. Like ratings.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Despite the Spock/Droxine fiasco, The Cloud Minders has some good ideas, and plays on the great Star Trek themes of personal freedom and universal equality rather well.
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