Friday's Child (TOS episode)

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Star Trek: TOS episode
"Friday's Child"
Keel and the Capellans, Friday's Child.
Episode no.	40
Prod. code	60332
Airdate	December 1, 1967
Writer(s)	D.C. Fontana
Director	Joseph Pevney
Guest star(s)	Julie Newmar Michael Dante Tige Andrews Ben Gage Cal Bolder Robert Bralver Kirk Raymond Eddie Paskey William Blackburn Walter Edmiston
Year	2267
Stardate	3497.2
Episode chronology
Previous	"Journey to Babel"
Next	"The Deadly Years"

"Friday's Child" is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #32, and was broadcast December 1, 1967. It was written by D.C. Fontana, and directed by Joseph Pevney.

Quick Overview: The crew of the Enterprise become entangled in a planet's tribal power struggle.

On stardate 3497.2, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, arrives at Capella IV to negotiate a mining contact for topeline. The Capellan inhabitants are described by Dr. McCoy as strong, warlike, humanoids who average 7 feet in height. McCoy is familiar with the Capellans since he spent a few months of his Starfleet career stationed on their world. Kirk is also aware that the Capellans are known to have dealings with the Klingons, which may make the negotiations difficult.

Kirk beams down to the planet with Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock and a security officer, and leaves Mr. Scott in command. He warns him to keep alert for Klingon ships in the area, since they may try and interfere in the talks. Kirk's fear is already realized as soon as he arrives, finding Kras, a Klingon emissary, is already present.

Kirk's security officer reacts without thinking and tries to shoot the emissary with a phaser, but the officer is immediately killed by a Capellan guard with his kligat, (pronouced "Klee-got"),a weapon that is part boomerang and part dagger. The Capellans order Kirk and his party to hand over their weapons just as the Klingon had done. Despite the hostile greeting, the Capellans treat the party as honored guests.

Kirk is offered some food by a Capellan woman, but McCoy manages to restrain Kirk from physical contact with a small bulbous object that she is holding, for touching it mandates hand-to-hand combat with her closest male relative. McCoy explains that the Capellans consider such fights entertaining. Kirk's restraint actually annoys the woman's male relative, who was looking forward to a deadly duel with the Captain.

Kirk and the Klingon emissary meet with Teer Akaar, leader of the Ten Tribes, and the talks begin. While Akaar seems to favor the Federation's offer over the Klingons', Akaar's rivals seem to disagree, especially Maab, who challenges Akaar to a fight for leadership of the tribes. The fight ensues and Maab kills Akaar, thus winning the throne and becoming the new Teer. Kirk wisely takes this in stride, but the Klingon demands that the earthmen be killed. Maab begins to disparage the Klingon, who showed fear, and to respect the earthmen, who did not.

Maab orders the death of Eleen, Akaar's wife, for she is pregnant with Akaar's child, who was to be the next Teer in line of succession. As Eleen comes into the main tent expecting to be killed, Maab partly trips and partly shoves her with the flat of his sword, so that she falls against a lit torch and burns her arm. When Kirk and McCoy intervene, Maab becomes greatly angered by the break of tradition, and has Kirk and his party imprisoned along with Eleen, who herself is upset, claiming that she was prepared to die. Kras wickedly smirks, for the scales have tipped in favor of the Klingons' offer.

Meanwhile the Enterprise receives a distress call from the S.S. Deirdre. Mr. Scott takes the Enterprise out of orbit to find the ship, but when it arrives at the coordinates, he finds nothing. He notes the call strangely asked for the Enterprise by name, and no civilian ship would have direct knowledge of the Enterprise's whereabouts. Realizing he had been duped he races back to Capella IV, but receives another distress signal along the way, this time from the U.S.S. Carolina. Scotty ignores it saying "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me", which Chekov reports is an old Russian saying.

When the Enterprise shows up at Capella, Scotty finds a Klingon warship waiting for him. Now having to deal with a heavily armed adversary, the Enterprise is unable to help its captured crewmembers imprisoned on the planet.

Kirk and his party, along with Eleen manage to overpower their captors and escape into some nearby hills. Violating the taboo against touching a woman of such high status, McCoy treats Eleen's wounded arm, and discovers that she is ready to give birth at any time. He is concerned about his ability to deliver the child, since the Capellans are not human but humanoid, and he might not be able to handle complications. Eventually the party finds a cave to hide in. The way to the cave is steep and rocky, and Eleen insists McCoy help her up, where he comments "I'm a doctor, not an escalator". Kirk and Spock start a fire and begin to fashion primitive bows and arrows to defend themselves.

Maab and his warriors, now hot on their trail, are getting closer. Kirk and Spock use their communicators to create a frequency that will disrupt the rocks above them. They cause an avalanche which kills some of the Capellan pursuers. Kras uses this opportunity to obtain a Federation phaser weapon of his own from a fallen Capellan.

Meanwhile, McCoy delivers Eleen's baby. At first, Eleen is convinced she must kill the child, but as time passes McCoy encourages her to keep it. Thinking everything will be fine, McCoy nods off, just as Eleen knocks him unconscious with a rock, and heads out to surrender to Maab. When she meets him she claims she had killed the baby, as well as the humans, while they slept.

Kras steps forward, and with a weapon in hand, demands to see Kirk's dead body to verify Eleen's story, which is seen as a sign of extreme disrespect for the widow of a High Teer. ("Do you doubt my word, Klingon? I am the wife of a Teer. I will die in my own tent.") When one of the Capellans tries to kill Kras with a kligat, Kras vaporizes him with the phaser. Kras and the Capellans quickly discover that Kirk and Spock are still alive when arrows – a weapon unknown on Capella IV – begin to fly. One strikes Kras in the knee. Kras returns fire. An exchange of fire ensues between Kras, Kirk, Spock and the Capellans. Kras threatens to kill any Capellan who raises a weapon against him, but when he takes aim at Eleen, Maab takes defensive action, saying he will allow Eleen to live in exchange for his own death. Maab confronts Kras, and is vaporized. As arranged, a Capellan warrior takes advantage of the distraction and kills Kras. At this point, Mr. Scott and a squad of security officers show up and stop the fighting.

With the conflict over, McCoy reunites Eleen with her baby, using what Kirk refers to as "obscure Earth dialect" when McCoy goes "oochie-woochie-coochie-coo". The Capellans then hail their new infant leader. As allowed by custom until the newborn Teer comes of age, Eleen acts as her son's regent, naming him Leonard James Akaar, and authorizes the mining agreement with the Federation.

[edit] Trivia

• Although a Klingon ship appears on the Enterprise viewscreen in this episode, it appears as little more than a vague brightly lit animated shape. The recognizable Klingon starship design would not appear until the third season episode "The Enterprise Incident".

• The name of this episode appears to derive from the old children's rhyme, "Friday's Child" ('Friday's child is loving and giving').

• Because the episode involves the birth of a child and was aired originally in December, "Friday's Child" has been considered among Trekkers as Star Trek's Christmas episode.

• This episode is one of several to be filmed in part on location at Vasquez Rocks.

[edit] External links

• Friday's Child at StarTrek.com
• Friday's Child article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki.
• Five-Minute Friday's Child — Parody version

Last produced: "Metamorphosis"	Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 2	Next produced: "Who Mourns for Adonais?"
Last transmitted: "Journey to Babel"		Next transmitted: "The Deadly Years"