In the seventh episode of the second season of Star Trek, LITERAL CAT. IT’S A CAT OH MY GOD. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.Â
Trigger Warning: For discussion of sexism.
Oh my god, I REALLY LOVED THIS EPISODE. It’s ridiculous and weird, and the writers don’t care. They just take this concept and run with it, and in the process, we do get a fascinating look at another race of beings. Things get a little muddy in the middle, and then there’s the whole unfortunate implication in Sylvia’s characterization, but I’ll get there. Let’s talk about this!
SPOOKY EVERYTHING
I could not place the familiarity I felt with the premise of “Catspaw” until I finished the episode and looked at the titles of the first season episodes. This episode shares a concept with “The Squire of Gothos,” doesn’t it? It’s absolutely not the same story, but I got a sense of similarity as Spock, Bones, and Kirk explored the mysterious illusions on Pyris VII. I joked a lot in the opening of the video for this episode that this was like the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, and then IT BARELY BECAME A JOKE. That’s because what these characters experience is an approximation of human culture. Sylvia and Korob, in their attempt to intimidate the crew of the Enterprise, create a world they think will frighten these people. But they misjudge Spock, who isn’t a human, and the illusions they create are terrible. The floating witches are incoherent and absurd, the castle looks so stereotypical that the crew nearly laughs at it, and then THE BLACK CAT. THE CUTEST, MOST PRECIOUS VILLAIN IN ALL OF STAR TREK HISTORY. CUTER THAN THE DOG UNICORN, CUTER THAN MCCOY’S FACE, CUTER THAN EVERY TIME SPOCK LIFTS HIS EYEBROW.
The dungeon doesn’t work to frighten them, and neither does seeing their crewmates as mind-controlled zombies. (I’m entertaining the headcanon that this didn’t upset them because these people are so used to being captured and controlled that all Kirk could do was think, “Well, it’s this shit all over again.”) And when it doesn’t work? The two change their techniques. Clearly, intimidation and fear doesn’t work, so what will?
Bribes and force
It was a treat to watch how Sylvia and Korob cycled through various methods to gain what they wanted from the human crew. Now, I admit that I think “Catspaw” kind of fails on that front because the desires of these aliens are so ambiguous at times that I felt it was hard to define what it was that they wanted. The idea here is that these creatures, through their manipulation of matter and physics, got a taste of humanity. In their “human” bodies, they experience feelings and sensations that are new and exciting to them.
Sort of? That’s certainly more the case for Sylvia than it is for Korob, since she’s the one who becomes consumed with the desire for more power. Initially, Korob appears to merely consult Sylvia when she’s in cat form, and it’s only after he fails to win the humans over that Sylvia decides to take matters into her own hands. Prior to that, Korob’s understanding of human nature inspires him to try to bribe Kirk and the others with gems, which of course doesn’t work because – WAIT A SECOND, THEY CAN CREATE GEMS LIKE THAT ON THE ENTERPRISE? THAT IS WILD. Go make a fortune, y’all!
Anyway, when Sylvia first reveals herself, her first thing is to try to seduce McCoy, and when that doesn’t really work, she just casually burns the Enterprise, no big deal. NO BIG DEAL. And seriously, the way the writers choose to blur the line between “magic” and science here is one of the best parts of “Catspaw.” It’s creepy and surreal and even funny at times. And until we find out how they’re able to do this, IT’S REALLY CONFUSING. How can they manipulate matter as easily as they do? IT LOOKS LIKE MAGIC. That force field is impossible, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS EPISODE?
I do wish that the answer to all of this was more concrete because it’s the only thing that prevents this from being a truly stupendous episode. Well, that and one other problem.
Unfortunate implications
There really is an unintended aspect to Sylvia’s character that’s distracting. I don’t think the writers considered how it would look to make this character lose control because Sylvia was in a woman’s body. There’s a lot here that aims to show us that Sylvia is irrational and out of control, that she cannot get a grip on her emotions or her attraction to Captain Kirk, and that all of this leads her to lash out violently. I definitely don’t think someone was like, “Yo, let’s make this character a giant stereotype of all women,” and yet, there are aspects of it that feel really uncomfortable. I think that by having this all revolve around Kirk’s seduction of her is just… it’s weird! Again, I don’t think this is something the show did purposefully. Antoinette Bower is so incredible as Sylvia, and I did find her to be compelling as Sylvia.
I know that I expected a lot more of this, and that anticipation could also have let me down. I’m fine admitting that. I had so much fun watching this because it’s so patently ridiculous the whole time. The cat! The fight scenes! That absurd scepter! THE GIANT CAT, WHICH I PREDICTED BUT I MEANT IT AS A JOKE AND THEN THIS EPISODE GAVE IT TO ME! The INCREDIBLE reveal of what Korob and Sylvia actually looked like, which is one of the strangest things I’ve seen on this show, and I loved every second of it. I think for me, I love the idea of what “Catspaw” tried to do. At heart, this episode was about aliens who wanted to experience something more than what they were used to. Unfortunately for Sylvia, her time spent in a human form was intoxicating to her and it became her downfall. It’s a sad story when you think about it because these aliens kind of had the same intention as the crew of the Enterprise, didn’t they? They’re both explorers trying to map the universe and discover other lives in the blackness of space. It’s unfortunate that this is the end of the road for Sylvia and Korob because I think they shared the same kind curiosity with the humans.
The video for “Catspaw” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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