How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth? by: Russell Bates and David Wise and directed by: Bill Reed

 

“How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” is written by: Russell Bates and David Wise and is directed by: Bill Reed.  It was produced under production code 22022, was the 5^th episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 2, was the 21^st episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, and was broadcast on October 5, 1974.

 

Godlike aliens are nothing new to Star Trek, they’re incredibly common throughout the original series and by extension Star Trek: The Animated Series.  “Who Mourns for Adonais?” specifically featured Greek gods as aliens in an episode that posed questions that it really wasn’t interested in examining or answering.  “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” is Star Trek: The Animated Series taking a stab at the ancient Earth gods as aliens concept, though interestingly from a writer closer to the original culture the god featured is meant to be from.  It isn’t a perfect representation, “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” does attempt to claim that one singular alien is responsible for multiple gods, across multiple cultures, across multiple continents, across multiple time periods and as such equates many cultures to a single alien influence, but it is representation and there is almost a subversion.  Instead of just having ancient aliens the episode posits that nearly every culture had some help from this alien.  Author Russell Bates was Native American, a Kiowa, and was inspired by his own heritage in writing this episode with David Wise, a writer who would have a long career in both live action and animated television, both Bates and Wise writing this near the beginning of their respective careers.

 

Bates in addition to centering “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth?” around Kukulkan, drawing on Maya myth, includes a Native American supporting character Walking Bear, the animation team even avoiding a stereotypical native design as there is no red skin or feathers.  He is sadly voiced by James Doohan who is voicing the entire non-recurring supporting cast in this episode sadly, but at least there is some representation that attempts to present Native characters and beliefs as not primitive.  It also helps that “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” is an episode that is particularly well constructed.  The intent is to balance action with exploration and Bates and Wise do an excellent job of showing both.  The animation team is allowed to be let loose on designing Kukulkan and combining several cultures into the city on which he resides.  Kukulkan is also presented as nearly a fully fledged character, surprised that humanity has changed over the course of history and given up the fear of those more powerful than itself.  The episode is largely a rejection of the need to worship a god in line generally with Star Trek’s vision of the future as a post-religious society (despite several episodes wishing to raise Christianity above others due to being made in the 1960s and 1970s).  This allows “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth?” to be an episode which ends without violence and peaceful resolution   Bates and Wise also do a really good job of blending the myth with the science fiction, likely Wise’s influence based on his later career in science fiction television programs.  Instead of fully rejecting religion, the episode ends with the idea of humanity and Kukulkan on equal playing fields, humanity doesn’t need guidance so the god ends the episode by leaving.

 

Overall, “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth?” is one of those episodes that really shows off the potential for Star Trek: The Animated Series, and despite being an episode that draws on previous episode’s themes of the original series, it is an episode that actually examines the ideas that previous episodes didn’t do.  Bates and Wise balance the script wonderfully, and despite not being perfect representation and certain actors dropping the ball on pronunciations (hi Shatner), it's an episode that if Star Trek: The Animated Series had been producing more often, it would be a much stronger series.  8/10.