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Star Trek Review: THIS SIDE OF PARADISE
Director Ralph Senensky's, "THIS SIDE OF PARADISE," is a memorable, Sci-Fi adventure. Senensky also directed the classic "Trek" spisodes: "Obsession", "Return to Tomorrow" and "Bread and Circuses". His other credits include the TV movie, "Death Cruise" (1974).
The late Jill Ireland ("The Man From UNCLE", "Night Gallery") is breathtakingly beautiful as planetary colonist, Leila Kalomi. It's very understandable that Mr. Spock, under the influence of the spores, would fall in love with her.
This is one of the few episodes where Spock falls in love. An image of him laughing, hanging upside down from a tree limb, is one of the most striking of the series.
The Teleplay, (D.C. Fontana Story by Jerry Sohl and D.C. Fontana), is fun and sweet and sensitive. Fontana was a regular contributor to classic Trek, writing the Teleplays for "Charlie X" and "The Ultimate Computer", amoung others.
The fact that this episode was shot "on location", and not on the planetary set, gives the planetary scenes a feeling of freedom and airness. This works in favor of a story about escaping the confines of the Enterprise, for a new life on the planet, Omicron Ceti III.
In some ways, this episode's story seems to be a drug allegory. The concept of a "plant," which brings you happiness and contentment, was quite prevalent during the swinging Sixties.
"THIS SIDE OF PARADISE" should be rather watchable for most Sci-Fi viewers. Mr. Spock fans will particularly dig this episode.
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