Patterns of Force (S02E23)
Airdate: February 16th 1968
Written by: John Meredyth Lucas
Directed by: Vince McEveety
Running Time: 50 minutes
The enduring appeal of Star Trek lies in its ability to transcend its own era, offering a vision of humanity’s future that feels both aspirational and timeless. Yet, some episodes betray their 1960s origins through narrative shortcuts, cultural assumptions, and the pragmatic demands of network television. Patterns of Force, a second-season episode of The Original Series, epitomises this tension. Instead of embodying Gene Roddenberry’s utopian ideals of the 23rd century—a future defined by peace, logic, and human progress—the episode becomes a product of its time, constrained by budgetary limits and the 1960s TV industry’s reliance on recycled sets, costumes, and stock footage. Its focus on Nazi iconography and its awkward attempts to blend satire with seriousness reveal a story more concerned with production efficiency than thematic depth, rendering it a curious relic of its era rather than a transcendent work of science fiction.
The episode opens with the USS Enterprise arriving at the planet Ekos to investigate Dr. John Gill (David Brain), a Federation historian who vanished after being sent to observe the primitive society. Upon arrival, the crew is confronted by a missile armed with a thermonuclear warhead—a weapon far beyond Ekos’s technological capacity. Captain Kirk and Spock beam down to investigate and discover a society modelled exactly on Nazi Germany: soldiers in SS uniforms, swastika banners, and a “Führer” figurehead—Dr. Gill himself. The Ekosian regime, led by Deputy Führer Melakon (Skip Homeier), is systematically persecuting the Zeons, a humanoid species from the neighbouring planet Zeon, under the guise of the “Final Decision,” a thinly veiled reference to the Holocaust. Through alliances with Zeon resistance fighters and Daras (Valora Noland), a disillusioned Ekosian official, Kirk and Spock uncover that Gill has been drugged into submission, reduced to a puppet for Melakon’s genocidal ambitions.
The episode’s premise is not entirely novel in Star Trek’s canon. Just weeks prior, A Piece of the Action saw Kirk and Spock infiltrate a planet mimicking 1920s Prohibition-era gangster culture, a premise treated as broad comedy. Patterns of Force, however, takes a dramatically different approach, opting for grim seriousness despite its absurd premise. The inclusion of Nazi symbology—a decision that led to the episode being banned in Germany for decades—forced the writers into a tonal straitjacket. While A Piece of the Action leaned into slapstick (Spock’s comically out-of-place pinstripe suit), Patterns of Force attempts a sober critique of fascism. Yet moments of levity, such as Kirk’s shirtless whipping by Gestapo officers (a stunt clearly designed to showcase William Shatner’s physique), clash jarringly with scenes referencing mass extermination. The scriptwriters, John Meredyth Lucas and Vincent McEveety, seem torn between satire and solemnity, sacrificing the audience’s suspension of disbelief in the process. The episode’s heavy-handed allegories for the Holocaust demand a consistent tone, but the narrative’s unevenness undermines its moral weight.
The episode’s most glaring flaw is its literal replication of Nazi aesthetics. The Ekosians adopt not only fascist ideology but also the Third Reich’s uniforms, architecture to the point of episode using footage from Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. This choice was likely driven by Paramount’s desire to save costs—repurposing existing props, sets, and archival material—but it raises a critical question: why would an alien civilisation independently adopt Earth’s specific symbols of oppression? The script offers no credible explanation, reducing the Ekosians to a shallow pastiche of Nazi Germany. The use of real footage from Nazi rallies adds a visceral edge but feels exploitative, as if the producers prioritised shock value over narrative logic. The result is a visual essay on authoritarianism that lacks intellectual depth, relying on recycled imagery rather than original insight.
The episode’s central premise—that Dr. Gill embraced Nazism as “the most efficient system in Earth’s history”—is historically illiterate and morally obtuse. This claim, rooted in WW2 propaganda about German alleged administrative prowess which had made Allied victories more impressive, ignores the regime’s catastrophic failures. The idea that fascism could be “purified” of its bigotry (as Gill claims) is not only ahistorical but dangerous, implying that authoritarianism is a neutral tool rather than an inherently destructive ideology. The episode’s creators seem to accept this premise at face value, framing Gill’s actions as a tragic misjudgment rather than a moral abomination.
The writers further undermine the episode’s themes by attempting to reconcile Gill’s actions with Roddenberry’s utopian vision of the Federation. Gill is portrayed as a well-meaning academic whose only flaw was overestimating humanity’s capacity for reason—a framing that absolves him of responsibility. The Federation, meanwhile, is exonerated by the plot’s contrivance: the regime’s atrocities are blamed not on the ideology itself but on Melakon’s manipulation of a frail old man. This narrative sleight-of-hand lets the series off the hook, avoiding a critique of the Prime Directive’s failures. The episode’s climax feels hollow, as if the solution to fascism is merely replacing its leader rather than dismantling its foundations.
Ironically, the episode’s depiction of Gill as a drugged, puppet figurehead—manipulated by aides into endorsing genocidal policies—resonates eerily with modern political discourse. The image of a leader reduced to a hollow symbol, controlled by shadowy advisors, echoes conspiracz theories or recent unflattering revelations about contemporary leaders (such as former U.S. President Joe Biden).
Patterns of Force is not without its merits. The performances are strong, director Vincent McEveety creates tension through claustrophobic sets and stark lighting, and the episode’s historical allegories remain provocative. Yet these strengths are overshadowed by its conceptual flaws. By prioritising budget-saving aesthetics over narrative logic, reducing fascism to a “misguided efficiency,” and framing systemic evil as the work of a lone villain, the episode betrays the nuance that defines Star Trek at its best. It remains a fascinating artifact of 1960s television—a reminder that even in the 23rd century, the shadows of the past can loom large.
In the end, Patterns of Force is a misstep in the annals of Star Trek, a cautionary tale about the perils of conflating artistic laziness with moral urgency. While it grapples with important themes, its reliance on cheap symbolism and historical half-truths renders it a relic of its era rather than a timeless work of science fiction.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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