Story: David P. Harmon
Screenplay: David P. Harmon and Gene L. Coon
Director: James Komack
Producer: John Meredyth Lucas
During the period of Gene Coon's stewardship of Star Trek, there was an increase in what may be considered "comedy" episodes -- with "Trouble with Tribbles" of course serving as the high point of this sub genre. Unfortunately, Gene Roddenberry was somewhat dismayed by these episodes which he thought cheapened his "serious science fiction show". Roddenberry felt he was working to try and get sci-fi taken seriously as a genre that wasn't just for kids, and thought the comedy shows undermined that. Nevermind that they were generally fan favourites.
This conflict reached a head and Gene Coon, who had given so much to Star Trek, decided it wasn't worth it anymore and bailed. But he did leave behind this script, apparently too far along in the production process to be undone. And thank goodness, because "A Piece of the Action" is one of the funnest hours of the series. While I wouldn't want the show to be like this every episode, installments like this give us a break and let us enjoy the characters in a more carefree setting.
Of all the episodes that use "parallel Earth development" to justify using backlots and old props and costumes to save money, this episode perhaps justifies it the best. One hundred years ago, an Earth starship visiting a planet of highly intelligent and imitative people accidentally left behind a book about Chicago Mobs of the Twenties. So now, when the Enterprise returns to check up on them, the whole society is run by the mafia.
It's a ton of fun, but it really takes off once Kirk realizes that the only way to deal with the mob bosses is on their own terms, and so he dresses himself and Spock up in three piece suits, adopts a "mob boss" accent (whatever that is), starts waving around a Tommy gun and talking about how the Federation is moving in and taking over!
I've talked before about the series implication that Kirk could "go native" easier than many of the other crewmen, that as a character he is perhaps the closest to a "20th century man" despite McCoy's distrust of technology or Sulu's antiquarianism. But psychologically, he is perhaps the closest of the characters to an audience member. This episode takes that episode to its natural endpoint, with Kirk solving the "problem" by simply addressing the Iotians on their own terms.
While seeing the characters acting like old time gangsters, wearing suits and carrying tommy guns and driving cars (very poorly) is a lot of fun, it's the cleverness of embracing the Prime Directive that makes the episode work. The culture is contaminated, yes, but rather than fix it Kirk addresses it on its own terms and by expressing his ideas in "mafia" language, gets them to agree to join the Federation!
All in all, it's just a lot of fun, and sometimes you need that in a show.
Rating: 3.5 out of 4
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