Arena by: Gene L. Coon, from a story by: Frederic Brown, and directed by: Joseph Pevney

 

“Arena” is written by Gene L. Coon, from a story by Fredric Brown, and is directed by Joseph Pevney.  It was filmed under production code 19, was the 18^th episode of Star Trek Season 1, and was broadcast on January 19, 1967.

 

“Arena” is perhaps the episode of Star Trek that has lasted the longest in terms of pop culture.  Often referenced and parodied is the main thrust of the episode, Captain Kirk fighting the reptilian Gorn on Vasquez Rocks.  The Gorn is a man in a rubber suit obviously, but this certainly isn’t a bad thing as it isn’t a cheap looking rubber suit.  Okay, perhaps the skin is a bit smooth and there isn’t really an attempt to emulate the scales or skin of a reptile, but it’s certainly more interesting than the standard Star Trek alien to just be a human with forehead ridges or special eyebrows and ears.  It’s also more than just a simple monster, the species is intelligent and a species of hunters in general which is used by the episode to explore a lot of ideas of colonialism in a world that is clearly set up to be after humanity has left behind their colonial ways.  The actual sequence of Kirk and the Gorn fighting is only the back half of the episode, after the Enterprise has found a destroyed outpost and pursues a ship that had been firing down on Kirk and company along with the Enterprise.  The fight to the death is set up by the Metrons, another of the seemingly many advanced godlike races that Star Trek has to offer.

 

This is an episode that builds itself up on the genuinely great twist that it ends with, the fact that Kirk and humanity are really the villains of the piece due to humanity’s often violent history.  Frederic Brown gets a story credit on this episode due to Gene L. Coon adapting Brown’s science fiction short story of the same name from 1944.  The original short story reflects the height of World War II which is something that Coon’s script does an excellent job at updating for the Cold War of the late 1960s, continuing to uphold the general idea that Star Trek is a good vehicle to subtly criticize the state of the world.  This has produced Star Trek’s best episodes of its first season and “Arena” is really a script that should be seen as such.  There are some issues, Joseph Pevney makes his Star Trek debut in the director’s chair and will come back for a further thirteen episodes across the original series, but sadly the actual fight between Kirk and the Gorn often feels lacking.  It’s an action sequence that often involves more lingering shot and a slower pace, even slow by the standards for fight choreography of the time when the script is working overtime to portray the situation as one of extreme desperation.  The idea is that Kirk is about to fall into committing genuinely monstrous acts and while he is not the one to kill the Gorn in the end, the episode does end with the Gorn and its ship completely destroyed.  The messaging gets muddled because of the format of Star Trek but this is a genuinely dark ending with the reveal that humanity were the invaders, something not in the original short story (at least based on the summary of the short story on Wikipedia).  The first half of the episode is also perfectly acted and directed, splitting between the Enterprise and destroyed colony which is the only point in the episode where the supporting cast, especially Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols, get the chance tot shine.

 

Overall, “Arena” is an episode whose reputation as rather camp due to the special effects is blocking a genuinely dramatic and harrowing episode that geos into some very dark and interesting places without losing sight of its main goal.  William Shatner is the one who ties the episode together and Pevney’s ability to reign in the lead actor is marvelous.  The ending doesn’t quite work with its message, but it’s one of those episodes that deserves to be in the public consciousness.  9/10.