‘LOLANI’ (TSC)

Please feel free to comment on my review.

In the second episode of ‘Star Trek Continues’, we get to have a character-driven story focusing on an Orion slave girl who seeks help from the Enterprise crew when they save her. I like how this episode showcased Orion slave girls and their place in the universe. 🙂

The episode begins with the Enterprise receiving a distress signal from a Tellarite vessel. In the original TV series, Tellarites were introduced in the episode ‘Journey to Babel’. They have pig-like masks and often tend to be blunt and argumentative in the ‘Star Trek’ series.

They beam aboard one survivor from the Tellarite ship and it turns out to be an Orion slave girl named Lolani, played by Fiona Vroom. She threatens Matthew Ewald as Crewman Kenway in the transporter room with a dagger before she escapes until she gets cornered.

Kirk and Spock manage to sedate Lolani before she gets taken to sickbay. Orion slave girls like Lolani are green-skinned and they tend to be very sexy-looking, particularly to the male eye. 🙂 This is down to the fact that Orion slave girls are often dressed in scanty attire.

Orion slave girls have appeared in the original ‘Star Trek’ TV series, including ‘The Menagerie’ two-part story, though that was Vina ‘dressing up’ as an Orion slave girl to seduce Captain Pike. A proper Orion slave girl named Marta was in ‘Whom Gods Destroy’.

She was played by Yvonne Craig, who also played Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in Season 3 of the 1960s ‘Batman’ TV series, incidentally. 🙂 ‘Lolani’ is a fascinating ‘Star Trek’ episode, as it deals with topics about sexual objectification and slavery regarding Orion slave girls.

The episode doesn’t resolve the issues of sexual objectification and slavery immediately by the time we get to the end of the episode, but I do appreciate it being there. It makes you think about how it reflects the real world regarding sexual objectification and slavery.

During their investigations aboard the Tellarite ship, it turns out that three Tellarite crew members are dead. Lolani has no memory of how the Tellarites got killed, though Spock and the security chief Lt. Drake uncover hints two of the Tellarites were killed in a firefight.

The third Tellarite, who happened to be Lolani’s owner, died from a puncture wound to the throat, possibly from the dagger owned by her. This makes the Enterprise question whether Lolani can be truly trusted as they get to uncover more on what happened to her.

Incidentally, Steven Dengler is introduced as Lt. William C. Drake, the Enterprise’s chief of security. I like that we get to have a proper chief of security featured in these original series-styled ‘Star Trek’ episodes and he does come across as a gentle giant in the series.

Whilst the investigations continue, Lolani implores the Enterprise crew not to return her to her previous owner, who happens to be an Orion slave trader named Zaminhon. She describes him as a violent and ‘brute monster’. He does appear halfway in the episode. 😐

Kirk seeks to find a way to save Lolani from a future of slavery and violence, but Erin Gray as Commodore Gray at Starfleet Command tells him not to intervene, ordering him to return Lolani to Zaminhow who will rendezvous with the Enterprise in a few hours. Ouch.

The reason that Commodore Gray doesn’t want Kirk and the Enterprise to intervene is because she doesn’t want to risk an interstellar diplomatic incident with the Orion people. This is an intriguing insight in the Orion society within the original TV series timeline.

Lolani attempts to escape her fate by first attempting to seduce Kirk when using the powerful effects that Orion pheromones have on human males. Initially, I thought Kirk was going to get easily seduced by Lolani, as he was easily seduced by Elaan of Troyius. 🙂

Well, Elaan of Elas at the time of that episode, but you get my meaning. 😀 Fortunately, though, Kirk isn’t that easily seduced. There’s a point where he appears to be taken by Lolani’s advances, but he resists her and he’s determined to find another way to help her.

Next, Lolani pleads help from Crewman Matthew Kenway whom she threatened in the transporter room, and he’s fallen in love with her. He attempts to help her escape in a shuttlecraft, but it doesn’t work. The shuttle bay doors close shut to prevent their escape.

When none of Lolani’s attempts work, Spock initiates a mind meld with her to find out what happened aboard the Tellarite ship. It turns out Lolani accidentally killed two of the Tellarite crew members whilst defending herself and she purposefully killed her owner. 😐

Eventually, Zaminhon, Lolani’s previous owner, arrives aboard the Enterprise. Believe it or not, Zaminhon is played by Lou Ferrigno, who is well-known for playing the Hulk in ‘The Incredible Hulk’ TV series. 🙂 I’ve seen some of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ show and its TV films.

It’s rather fitting that we see Lou Ferrigno playing another big green monster in Zaminhon after having played a big green monster in ‘The Incredible Hulk’ TV series. The difference however is that Zaminhon can talk. I’m glad Lou Ferrigno gets to say some lines in this. 😀

Captain Kirk organises a diplomatic dinner with Zaminhon to try and convince the slave trader to free Lolani. Kirk is joined by Spock, Bones, Scotty and Dr. McKennah in this endeavour. However, it doesn’t work, as Zaminhon is determined to take Lolani with him.

Tension escalates when Zaminhon visits Lolani in her quarters and physically assaults her for having described him as a ‘brute monster’. Kirk intervenes and tries to stop the slave trader. He even makes an offer to purchase Lolani from him, but Zaminhon refuses.

Kirk gets told off by Commodore Gray via subspace for making the situation worse and tells him to let Zaminhon return to his ship along with Lolani. Kirk and the crew witness Zaminhon taking Lolani with him as they beam back to his ship via the transporter room.

Despite this, Kirk makes a last-ditch attempt to save Lolani and announces to the Enterprise crew that he’s about to disobey a direct Starfleet order. They pursue Zaminhon’s ship, but unfortunately, Zaminhon’s ship suddenly explodes in outer space. 😐

Thus, Zaminhon and Lolani are killed before the Enterprise crew could even get the chance to save Lolani. Kirk is saddened and defeated by this occurrence. He goes to her guest quarters where he finds a message that Lolani recorded before she sadly got killed.

The message has her stating that her sacrifice will serve as an example for other Orion slaves. I was hoping that Lolani would somehow manage to survive and that Matthew Kenway would’ve somehow saved her. Sadly, it didn’t turn out like that, which is a shame.

Kirk plays Lolani’s message to the entire Enterprise crew over the ship’s comm system and Crewman Kenway asks the Captain for a prolonged leave to help the oppressed Orion people. Kirk grants him the leave and provides Kenway with Lolani’s recording to help him.

‘Lolani’ is a very good thought-provoking episode concerning the Orion people and how the issues of sexual objectification and slavery are addressed. It was good to check it out and I do appreciate how it reflects today’s world in how we tackle those sorts of issues. 🙂

‘Lolani’ (STC) rating – 8/10

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