Review - Star Trek: The Trouble with Tribbles (1967) & Trials and Tribble-ations (1996)

      Hey guys, Chuck here. This year marks the sixty year anniversary of the sci-fi franchise Star Trek. So, I decided to do something fun and discuss two of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: one from The Original Series and one from Deep Space Nine. 

      The episode I want to start with is the 1967 TOS episode The Trouble with Tribbles. In the episode, the Enterprise is summoned on a priority call to Deep Space Station K7, where undersecretary Nilz Baris, who needs Captain James T. Kirk to help protect a shipment of hypergrain being shipped to a Federation colony planet. Annoyed by the wasted use of the priority distress call by Baris, Kirk decides to use the opportunity to allow the crew of the Enterprise some shore leave. 

      It's here where both Ensign Chekov and Lt. Uhura meet a dealer named Cyrano Jones, who is showing off a small furry creature called a tribble. And, of course, Uhura is taken in by how adorable the tribble is, and is soothed by its cooing and purring. However, the tribble begins to reproduce, and multiple tribbles start popping up around both K7 and the Enterprise. However, many of the crew are drawn in by the tribbles soothing noises, including the typically stoic Spock. 

      Around this time, a Klingon ship under the command of Captain Koloth arrives, and Kirk allows Koloth's crew to enjoy their own shore leave on K7. However, there are a few issues, including how the Klingons are disgusted by the tribbles, which make a loud shrieking sound in the presence of Klingons. Also, the Klingons being hurling insults towards Kirk and his crew, much to Chekov's anger. Scotty, who does his best to keep things peaceful, punches out a Klingon for saying that "The Enterprise should be hauled away AS garbage," leading to a bar fight. Upon asking who started the fight, Chekov and the others claim to not know, and Kirk dismisses them back to quarters. Alone, Kirk confronts Scotty, who admits to throwing the first punch, simply as a matter of pride towards the Enterprise. Kirk, grateful to Scotty for his candor, confines Scotty to quarters. 

      Unfortunately, the tribbles have been reproducing out of control both on the Enterprise and on K7, even to consuming ALL of the hypergrain. Baris looks to hold Kirk responsible for the incident, while Spock realizes many of the tribbles have died somehow. Kirk then calls for Cyrano Jones to be summoned, along with Koloth and one of his men. In this meeting, a tribble shrieks in the presence of Baris' aide Arne Darvin, ousting him as a Klingon altered to appear human. Making matters worse, Darvin poisoned the hypergrain with a virus, and he is arrested. Koloth is given an apology, and Kirk asks him and his crew to leave. 

       Wrapping things up, Kirk has Cyrano Jones clear ALL the tribbles off of K7, or face criminal charges for transporting dangerous life forms. Back aboard the Enterprise, Scotty reveals that he cleared out the tribbles on the ship by transporting them all into the engine room of the Klingon ship, leading to everyone having a laugh. 

      So, The Trouble with Tribbles is a very fun, humorous episode of TOS. With such guests as William Schallert as Baris, William Campbell as Koloth, Charlie Brill as Darvin, and Stanley Adams as Cyrano Jones, this episode had a really fun premise that started as something mundane. Kirk and his crew protecting grain? Not very interesting. But, throw in tensions involving Klingons, and the rapidly reproducing critters known as tribbles, and the end result is pretty funny. And, of course, the lead cast, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, and Nichelle Nichols, were fantastic. Definitely a fun watch for any Trek fan. 

       Released as part of the thirtieth anniversary of Star Trek, the 1996 DS9 episode Trials and Tribble-ations is one of my favorite time travel episodes of Star Trek. 

       The episode opens on Deep Space Nine, where two agents of Temporal Investigations, Dulmur and Lucsly (an obvious nod to Mulder and Scully from The X-Files), meet with Captain Benjamin Sisko in regards to a recent temporal incident involving himself and the crew of the Defiant. Sisko insists that it was accidental, and not a pre-destination paradox. Sisko then recounts the events in question. 

        Sisko and the crew of the Defiant, which included Chief O'Brien, Dr. Bashir, Lt. Jadzia Dax, Worf, Odo, and Major Kira, were summoned to Cardassia to pick up a Bajoran Orb, which the Cardassians sought to have returned to the Bajorans as a gesture of goodwill. However, they also pick up a passenger named Barry Waddle, who had been stuck in Cardassian space for some time. While traveling from Cardassia to Bajor, the Orb is activated and the Defiant is flung back in time, coming face-to-face with the Enterprise. 

      Dulmer and Lucsly ask for clarification as to which Enterprise, given that there had been six of them, and Sisko reveals it was the original Enterprise. This leads the two agents to remark "HIS ship." "James T. Kirk," and they recount how the man had the largest record of temporal violations, seventeen violations overall, of any Starfleet captain, referring to him as "a menace." Sisko then reveals how far back they were sent, to the time of the events of the episode The Trouble with Tribbles. And, they pretty much figure out that Barry Waddle activated the Orb, which was the Orb of Time, and Waddle turned out to be an older, disgraced Arne Darvin. The crew of the Defiant believe Darvin plans to change history, either warning him of his eventual exposure at Kirk's hands or possibly to kill Kirk. But, Sisko says that they need to prevent that from happening, and must don 23rd Century attire to blend in. And, to see Sisko, Dax, Bashir, and O'Brien in TOS era Starfleet uniforms is pretty awesome. 

       Now appropriately dressed for the 23rd Century, Dax, Sisko, Bashir, and O'Brien beam aboard the Enterprise, while Worf and Odo beam aboard K7, with all six searching for the Darvin of the 24th Century. When attempting to order a drink of Raktajino (Klingon coffee) at the bar on K7, the waitress reveals to Odo that someone else tried to order the same drink, which the bar doesn't have. As an alternative, Odo orders a Tarkalian tea, and observes as Cyrano Jones shows Uhura and Chekov a tribble, even getting one himself. Worf, recognizing the creature, reveals some things that occurred. For instance, the Klingon armada destroyed the tribble home world, and the species had been eradicated by the end of the 23rd Century. 

      And, of course, the events as showcased in The Trouble with Tribbles play out as expected. Koloth and the Klingons arrive, Kirk allows them on K7 in small groups, Scotty throws the first punch that starts a bar fight, which Odo, O'Brien, Worf, and Bashir get involved in, while Odo and Worf apprehend the elder Darvin and return him to the Defiant, where he reveals that he hid a bomb inside of a tribble, as a kind of poetic revenge for Kirk using the tribbles to oust him as an altered Klingon during The Trouble with Tribbles. 

      Unfortunately, Sisko and Dax are unable to locate the rigged tribble on the Enterprise, but when they overhear a mention of the storage compartments on K7, they figure out exactly where the rigged tribble is. Using the tricorder to scan every tribble in the storage compartment, just as Kirk opens it to be showered in tribbles, Sisko locates the rigged one, and has Major Kira beam it into space, where it detonates safely, allowing history to continue uninterrupted. However, before using the Orb of Time to return to the 24th Century, Sisko has one last thing to do: meet Kirk face-to-face and remark "Before I leave, I just wanted to say it's been an honor serving with you, sir." 

       Back in the present, Sisko remarks that if the Temporal Investigations agents want to reprimand him for doing so, "then go ahead." However, they see no harm has been done to the timeline, and merely leave Sisko with a warning, implying that their report won't be too damaging. However, shortly after they leave, Odo calls Sisko and Dax to the promenade to see what's to be done, as tribbles are now all over Quark's Bar, much to Quark's slight annoyance. And, to see a tribble make a cooing sound around Quark, who is a Ferengi, is pretty funny. 

        Trials and Tribble-ations is easily one of my favorite episodes of DS9. Seeing the cast of DS9 get worked in to archived footage from The Trouble with Tribbles, with new sets built to resemble the one used for both the Enterprise and K7. However, due to the fact that many of the cast of DS9 were unable to use the classic TOS era communicators and tricorders due to the changes in design used in shows like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, the production crew sought the aide of TOS actor Walter Koenig to show the DS9 cast how to use the TOS era gear. 

       A part of the fun of the episode was the novelty of seeing the cast of DS9 in TOS era Starfleet uniforms. Seeing Sisko in the classic Starfleet Command gold, Bashir in the classic Starfleet Science blue, and both O'Brien and Dax in the classic Starfleet Engineering red was neat, especially seeing how much things changed in terms of the kind of attire worn by women in Starfleet between the TOS era and the 24th Century. 

      Speaking of which, Dax easily had some fun character beats throughout the episode, relating to past hosts and their encounters with characters from The Trouble with Tribbles. For example, Dax mentions that her past host Emony, who was on Earth to judge a gymnastics competition, met Dr. McCoy while he was a student at Ole Miss. And, while Dax wants to be able to interact more with the 23rd Century due to past experiences with previous hosts of the Dax symbiont, Sisko has to repeatedly keep her on task, which leads to some very humorous moments. 

       And, what a get for the crew of DS9 to bring back Charlie Brill as an older Arne Darvin, who takes the Defiant back in time to get his revenge on Kirk for the events of The Trouble with Tribbles. While he only had a handful of on-screen scenes, his scenes definitely made an impact, and they helped establish how the plot ties in to the events of the classic episode. And, the older Darvin's motivation, kill Kirk before his younger self is ousted as a Klingon, is actually brilliant, and a great way to work in the cast of DS9 into the events of The Trouble with Tribbles. 

       As for which of the two episodes I enjoyed the most, it's a bit of a toss up. But, to be honest, there's a lot in both episodes that I find thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable, and funny. And, I find that both are best enjoyed together, as it's fun to see the original episode, and then watch the DS9 episode to see where the cast of DS9 were fit into scenes from The Original Series episode. So, check out both and enjoy. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and as for Star Trek, we're just getting started, as we'll be looking as some of the different Star Trek movies and projects all throughout the year, leading up to the review of my personal favorite Trek movie.