Friday's Child

Kirk, Spock and McCoy head to a planet peopled by a warrior race to negotiate mining rights. But there are Klingons about, luring the Enterprise away and leaving our landing party in peril. What’s to be learned on Cappella 4? Find out when we put “Friday’s Child” in the Mission Log. The discussion about the Capellans being blase about seeing people beaming in and out got me thinking about how they first found out about aliens. Later on the Prime Directive would be more clearly defined about not making contact with pre-warp societies before they’re ready, but at this point it’s a bit undefined (certainly the seemingly-primitive Organians were aware of aliens, even to the point of disguising Spock as a Vulcan trader!). It’s possible that if someone outside the Federation such as the Klingons had already made contact with them, the damage might be considered to have already been done, so they just go, “What the hell, might as well make the best of it”? I think this is the discovered document referred to in this podcast ep, the character notes about Kirk-Spock-McCoy and Chekov. Agree with Ken about the pretty look of some of the shots. I like any episode that gives McCoy a chance to shine, so this one is fine by me, even without any morals, messages and meanings. I always thought the “Monday’s Child” poem had less to do with the day of your birth, and more with how people – especially young children – might change from day to day. On Monday a child was this way, on Tuesday she was this other way, etc. Also, I’m pretty sure you meant they’d fashioned bows and arrows from the local FLORA, not the local FAUNA. Traditionally, animals are harder to make into weapons! 😉 I quite like your interpretation of the poem as showing how people and young children’s moods may change day to day. And it gets away from a semi-astrological implication — though of course it’s a metaphor.