The Galileo Seven by: Oliver Crawford and S. Bar-David, from a story by: Oliver Crawford, and directed by: Robert Gist

 

“The Galileo Seven” is written by Oliver Crawford and S. Bar-David, a pseudonym for Shimon Wincelberg, from a story by Oliver Crawford, and is directed by Robert Gist.  It was filmed under production code 14, was the 16^th episode of Star Trek Season 1, and was broadcast on January 5, 1967.

 

There have been episodes of Star Trek which excel at exploring human drama and that’s exactly what makes “The Galileo Seven” work.  Penned by Shimon Wincelberg writing as S. Bar-David, who contributed “Dagger of the Mind”, and Oliver Crawford, a prolific writer for television, it feels like an outsider from the previous 15 episodes of the series since it isn’t one that’s exploring a science fiction scenario.  It’s shockingly modern in the way it places character over plot, the plot seeing Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and four other crewmembers stranded in the shuttlecraft Galileo at the center of Murasaki 312, a quasar formation that has blocked communication with the Enterprise.  Luckily this planet has an atmosphere to support life, so it’s just a matter of time for Kirk and company to come and rescue them, or it would be if the Enterprise hadn’t been on the way Markus III with medical supplies for plague victims and this planet is inhabited by giant ape-like creatures who are out for blood.  The plague victims create a countdown clock to the point where the Enterprisie has to leave, managed by Commissioner Ferris, played by John Crawford, consistently reminding Kirk that they have to leave at this exact time and he will be taking command away from Kirk.  Crawford’s performance is earnest and genuinely interesting to watch, but it’s also a character who really doesn’t need to be there.  He creates an outright antagonist where the episode would have been better served having the decision be Kirk’s.  William Shatner as Kirk doesn’t have many scenes, but when he’s on screen here there is this intense contemplation that would only have been enhanced if he was the one to make the call and didn’t have someone taking command away.  It would have also added impact when time ran out and Kirk clawed onto leaving as slowly as possible, in the vain hope that his missing crew had survived.

 

The actual plot on the planet is simple: it’s one of desperation as Spock logically deduces any possible way to leave the planet and get everybody back to the Enterprise.  Star Trek has meticulously set up Spock’s adherence to logic over his more human side incredibly well in previous episodes and the script in this one is excellent at giving subtle bits of humanity to Spock.  This is the first time Spock has full command of a team of people and Nimoy’s performance is perfect from the beginning, showing the character’s very human flaws throughout.  There is this subtle wish for approval and belonging along with everyone else, McCoy being there to convince him to make more human decisions.  When the ape creatures start killing the crew and not acting logically, Spock essentially freezes.  Nimoy plays it as a man clearly affected by the death but suppressing that beneath the fact that he was wrong and that led to someone’s death.  Spock as a character throughout this episode should be making all the right decisions, but they each go wrong.  His final act which saves them is one of desperation when there is genuinely nothing left to do, playing it ambiguous as if it’s his human heritage showing through (as the final shot implies) or if he genuinely had no other options and was going to die with everyone else anyway.  Robert Gist’s direction also should be praised for avoiding showing the creatures in full for the majority of the episode.  Yes, they are clearly men in furry costumes, but they are rarely fully seen in the shot with their weapons seen and they are shot from behind allowing the audience to build the terror themselves.

 

Overall, “The Galileo Seven” is another more atypical episode of Star Trek which not only breaks up the monotony of the episodes in the season but also really allows several characters outside of Kirk a time in the spotlight.  It works because it’s a character drama at its core and the science fiction elements are just the trappings, something that Shimon Wincelberg did in his previous script, making this genuinely a great episode and probably overlooked since it doesn’t have any famous Star Trek imagery.  9/10.