When I was younger and first saw this episode I was watching a lot of "Hogan's Heroes", catching "Tobruk" and "Guns of Navvarone" every now and then, and a number of other films and TV shows that had Nazis as the bad guy dujour. I drew American tanks and planes and all other manner of things kicking the crap out of Nazi this and Nazi that. Cool huh? And when you see Kirk and crew take on the space Nazis, it just drives home the point that much more.
"Patterns of Force" explores the notion that fascism itself was not the lead cause of the diabolical industrialized slaughter of a people that had done nothing but to help a weakened Germany develop. It offers to the audience that it was not the leadership of the national socialist party that lead them to murderous policies, but the centralization of power that could not be checked nor questioned by anyone. True.
The episode parallels the formula that lead Germany to war under the Nazi regime, and also parallels the policy of mass killing of the Zaeons by the Ekosian military leadership. The episode suggests that under the proper leadership things could get done, and for the benefit of all, but, when the wrong leadership gets into power, even those who are benign but are surrounded by "self seeking adventurers" like Melakon (probably a sociopath), things go awry, and common people, people who are too busy putting bread on the table to think about national policy, will blindly follow that twisting of leadership.
True, but under the condition that the people in question know not enough to question the leadership's roles and policies. But, that's what the ceremony of the Nazi regime is designed to do; unify the super- majority of the masses into a cohesive unit that trumps and dominates all.
Kirk reminds the characters and professor who and what the Nazis were, and where he doesn't destroy the Nazi regime, he helps remove the cancer within, and steer a totalitarian state towards a more moderate existence. Good? I have my doubts, but there's only so much a starship captain can do.
Me, I'm a little tired of hearing about Nazis in movies, TV shows, comic books, radio, novels and even on the net. My personal commentary is that maybe we should move beyond obsessing about Nazis, and learn to avoid unchecked power structures. I think that was missed in this episode of Trek, for even though Kirk sets things aright, things could go wrong once again. But, is that a result of the power structure or the power base? Is is the supporters who fail to check their own social order to correct and remove malefactors, or is it really an unsolvable problem with that kind of social regime?
Me, I really don't care to dedicate too many brain cells to the problem, but, needless to say, Kirk and Spock have yet to come across a corrupt parallel of the United States of America ("The Omega Glory" not withstanding).
Well acted, so-so typical 1960's era Trek SFX, some outstanding thesping (as usual from the series), with a great plot but iffy execution. I'm tempted to call it hackneyed because of the use of Nazis, but that's the 2013 person speaking here, and not the younger 1968 viewer.
Give it a shot.
"Patterns of Force" explores the notion that fascism itself was not the lead cause of the diabolical industrialized slaughter of a people that had done nothing but to help a weakened Germany develop. It offers to the audience that it was not the leadership of the national socialist party that lead them to murderous policies, but the centralization of power that could not be checked nor questioned by anyone. True.
The episode parallels the formula that lead Germany to war under the Nazi regime, and also parallels the policy of mass killing of the Zaeons by the Ekosian military leadership. The episode suggests that under the proper leadership things could get done, and for the benefit of all, but, when the wrong leadership gets into power, even those who are benign but are surrounded by "self seeking adventurers" like Melakon (probably a sociopath), things go awry, and common people, people who are too busy putting bread on the table to think about national policy, will blindly follow that twisting of leadership.
True, but under the condition that the people in question know not enough to question the leadership's roles and policies. But, that's what the ceremony of the Nazi regime is designed to do; unify the super- majority of the masses into a cohesive unit that trumps and dominates all.
Kirk reminds the characters and professor who and what the Nazis were, and where he doesn't destroy the Nazi regime, he helps remove the cancer within, and steer a totalitarian state towards a more moderate existence. Good? I have my doubts, but there's only so much a starship captain can do.
Me, I'm a little tired of hearing about Nazis in movies, TV shows, comic books, radio, novels and even on the net. My personal commentary is that maybe we should move beyond obsessing about Nazis, and learn to avoid unchecked power structures. I think that was missed in this episode of Trek, for even though Kirk sets things aright, things could go wrong once again. But, is that a result of the power structure or the power base? Is is the supporters who fail to check their own social order to correct and remove malefactors, or is it really an unsolvable problem with that kind of social regime?
Me, I really don't care to dedicate too many brain cells to the problem, but, needless to say, Kirk and Spock have yet to come across a corrupt parallel of the United States of America ("The Omega Glory" not withstanding).
Well acted, so-so typical 1960's era Trek SFX, some outstanding thesping (as usual from the series), with a great plot but iffy execution. I'm tempted to call it hackneyed because of the use of Nazis, but that's the 2013 person speaking here, and not the younger 1968 viewer.
Give it a shot.