Bread and Circuses by: Gene L. Coon and Gene Roddenberry and directed by: Ralph Senensky

 

“Bread and Circuses” is written by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon and is directed by Ralph Senensky.  It was filmed under production code 43, was the 25^th episode of Star Trek Season 2, the 54^th episode of Star Trek, and was broadcast on March 15, 1968.

 

There are a lot of angles to look at “Bread and Circuses”.  When watching it, not long after the opening credits I mused to myself that it feels like a Star Trek episode distilled down to its most basic parts: there is a problem on the planet reflecting a previous era of the planet Earth so the production team can reuse sets and costumes from previous productions, and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are sent down to investigate, make contact with the local population in the form of an underground resistance group, and eventually have to take down the regime in some way before moving on.  This is perhaps because “Bread and Circuses” is written by Gene L. Coon, the script editor and showrunner for much of the first two seasons, and series creator Gene Roddenberry in a rare collaboration.  This is the last episode to be credited outright to Coon, his contributions to the third season being credited under the pseudonym Lee Cronin, and you can tell that Coon is writing to a formula of an outlandish idea.  What if the Roman Empire survived into the 20^th century?  What would that look like?  What would gladiatorial games look like on television?  What about the Roman system of slavery?  How would our crew react to such a barbaric past?  And “Bread and Circuses” largely delivers on these questions in largely interesting ways, it’s the reason that of the three “the Enterprise discovers a parallel Earth” episodes of this second season (the others being “Patterns of Force” and “A Piece of the Action”), “Bread and Circuses” is certainly the most interesting to watch.

 

The Roman society as presented in the episode is also technologically equivalent with the then present day of 1968, the arena which is first seen on the Enterprise view screen looks like a 1960s TV studio set because it in fact is a 1960s TV studio set.  There are studio cameras broadcasting and the roaring crowds are done largely by an on-set sound mixer which is a wonderful image for much of the episode.  The episode itself is also filtering the Roman Empire through the lens of actors, writers, and creatives from 1968, which means that there are several half-truths and misconceptions abound, though luckily much of the darker side of the Empire, like the fact that it was an Empire, is brought to the front.  Roddenberry and Coon have setup Kirk especially to be the one wishing peace, resolved to not interfere with this society even as Spock and McCoy are sent into the arena as gladiators themselves.  The callousness of the Empire is represented by Proconsul Claudius Marcus, played by Logan Ramsey, playing this cat and mouse game with Kirk in an attempt to bring down the rest of the Enterprise crew integrated as slaves.

 

This aspect of the episode gives a cruel, but human villain to fight, as well as a resolution to the episode where the non-interference does not leave the planet better.  For an optimistic, but very 1960s ending, there is the musing that Christianity is going to cause the fall of the Roman Empire.  It’s an ending that largely undercuts what could have been a very powerful ending where the crew can’t always save the day, something that would largely reflect the progressive message of Star Trek.  There’s also a section in the middle where Kirk is seduced by a slave woman intentionally sent which just takes up time and feels like Roddenberry eye candy and general mistreatment of women.  This is in an episode where Kirk is paralleled with a second ship’s captain who attempted to hold out against this society and eventually had to integrate, having his own character arc of redemption, saving Kirk at his televised execution.  What makes up for this largely are some lovely character moments when the episode doesn’t focus on Kirk.  Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley perhaps share their best scene together deconstructing Spock’s human side and James Doohan as Scotty taking command of the Enterprise has some especially over-the-top moments.

 

Overall, “Bread and Circuses” is the formula of Star Trek distilled down into the exact beats at the exact time so late in the second season, at points feeling as if Roddenberry is venting his own frustrations at the show (the television studio feels as if he is fed up with the executive interference and potential of an impending cancellation).  Much of the episode is tempered by Gene L. Coon understanding what makes Star Trek work and reining in Roddenberry’s personal tendencies, with Ralph Senensky’s direction being slightly unsure of how to pull out properly to show a television studio.  It’s a great, fun watch overall that has Star Trek written all over it for better and for worse.  7/10.