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Звёздный путь Patterns of Force (1966–1969) watch online HD

Original title:Patterns of Force
Category:TV Episode / Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi
Released:1966–1969
Director:Vincent McEveety
Actors:William Shatner,Leonard Nimoy,DeForest Kelley
Writer:Gene Roddenberry,John Meredyth Lucas
Duration:50min
Video type:TV Episode

Rating 7.6: Votes 536

1966–1969 William Shatner Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley Vincent McEveety

Short summary

The Enterprise searches the reportedly primitive and warlike planet, Ekos, for the missing Federation cultural observer, Professor John Gill (David Brian). When Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam down, they find the Ekosians have turned into a Nazi society, with Gill as their Fuhrer, and are at war with the peaceful people of neighboring planet, Zeon. They steal uniforms to enter the headquarters; but when Spock is forced to remove his helmet, his ears betray them and they are led straight to the torture chamber. After a flogging as Zeon spies, they manage to escape with a Zeon prisoner (Richard Evans), who takes them to the Zeon resistance. The resistance tests them, and plots with an Ekosian defector (Valora Noland) just to reach Gill, posing as a Nazi propaganda film crew. Once they enter inside, they discover things are not quite as they appear.

Due to the post-war German ban on Nazi-related imagery and paraphernalia, this was the only Star Trek episode that was not shown on German TV until mid-1990's, when these restrictions were gradually relaxed to allow for artistic expression.

The name of the planet Zeon is a variation of the word "Zion", a Hebrew term, as in Mount Zion, near the city of Jerusalem. The names of the Zeons: Isak, Davod and Abrom are obvious references to Isaac, David and Abraham, traditional Hebrew biblical names.

Skip Homeier, who plays Melakon, would later play the insane hippie leader Dr. Sevrin in the third season episode Star Trek: The Way to Eden (1969).

The "leader principle" Kirk mentions at the end of the episode was a foundation of the leadership in Nazi Germany. Known in German as "Führerprinzip", it essentially can be described as a state of law in which there are no laws above those of the Führer, and that the government must obey and enforce such laws.

This episode with its Nazi storyline proved rather difficult to make for a lot of the cast and crew who were Jewish. This included William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

This is the only episode of Star Trek besides Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever (1967) that Leonard Nimoy is seen without a shirt.

All the Nazi uniforms used in this episode are taken from Paramount's costume storage, and were previously featured in many of the studio's World War II-era films. Many of them featured mismatched epaulets, collar tabs, and other rank-identifying insignia. However, McCoy's collar tabs, bearing a single silver oak leaf, correctly identify him as a colonel, as Kirk had ordered.

This episode was finally shown on German pay TV in 1996 and included on all DVD/Blu-ray season sets. This episode was also finally shown on the public network channel ZDFneo on November 4, 2011.

The character Eneg (Patrick Horgan) is Gene Roddenberry's first name, spelled backwards.

The Schulberg Building (formerly, the Directors Building) and the Lubitsch Building (formerly, the Producers Building), both located on the Paramount Studios lot, were used for the exterior shots of the Ekosian Nazi headquarters complex.

Skip Homeier, who plays Melakon, had his feature film debut playing a Nazi youth in Tomorrow, the World! (1944).

The underground area is the same set as was used for Star Trek: The Devil in the Dark (1967).

The remastered version of "Patterns of Force" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of 19 May 2007. While the episode required very few new effects, an entirely new shot of the Enterprise phasering the Ekosian warhead was substituted. In addition, Ekos was given a CGI-makeover as a more Earth-like planet, with new orbital shots of the Enterprise, and the rubindium crystal beam was refined.

The front of the Ekosian Chancellery has all of its windows and shutters closed, for the real world reason that the actual building was an active office of Paramount Pictures with daily business going on inside while the film crew and actors were shooting the exterior. Even so, two individuals who appear to be curious Paramount Pictures employees can be seen looking down on the courtyard from an upper window.

Valora Noland (Daras) left acting after her guest appearance on this episode, where she had to wear a swastika arm band as well as hat pin which were added to the costume just before filming began on the first day. She felt ashamed to wear them (because of what they represent), and would not have accepted the role if she had known the hateful symbol was going to be part of her attire (not shown when she went for costume fitting).

In one of the sequences of news footage, all of which consisted of stock shots and stock footage, a car with Adolf Hitler accompanied by soldiers is used to represent John Gill as the Führer on the planet Ekos. The sequence is a use of stock footage from Triumph of the Will (1935), the infamous Nazi propaganda film for whose production Leni Riefenstahl was responsible.

This takes place in 2268.

The second occasion, after Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever (1967), where Vulcans are shown to have body hair, with Spock fully removing his shirt to show a full front torso covered in hair.

Several uniforms, such as Kirk and McCoy's, show cuffbands reading "Adolf Hitler". They represent members of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, special bodyguards of the Führer.

Gilbert Green, who played the S.S. Major, also played Nazi General Hans Stofle in Hogan's Heroes: Hello, Zolle (1966).

V-2 rocket footage from World War II Germany is used in the newscast showing Ekosian missiles.

This is the second mention of Nazi Germany in Star Trek, the first being in Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever (1967). However, in Star Trek: Mirror, Mirror (1967), Scotty did compare Evil Sulu's security system to "the ancient Gestapo".

The attacking V-2 rocket on the viewscreen of Enterprise was reused footage of the Orion scout ship from Star Trek: Journey to Babel (1967) earlier in the season.

An early draft of this episode had the source of cultural contamination arriving aboard a small "Ambassador-class" vessel called the Magellan. The name was later applied in TNG to the Ambassador-class of ships in the mid-24th century.

The missile fired at the Enterprise was shown to be a V2. In 1942 one of these ethanol/liquid oxygen fueled rockets reached an altitude of 118 miles, making it the first man-made object in space.

Due to a re-rating in late 2016, this episode is now suitable for ages 12 and up in Germany.

User reviews

Author: Lightwind

This is the episode that somewhat undermines my theory that a lot of the cheesiness and campiness of the series was unintentional. Roddenberry and company get very serious in Patterns of Force, and understandably so--this is the episode about Nazism.

Nazism is broached through a very common theme for the series--an alien culture has been corrupted by an outside force. In this case, as in many others, the outside force was a previous explorer from the Federation, one who chose to ignore the Prime Directive of non-influential interference.

For most of the episode, Star Trek doesn't have anything very unprecedented to say about Nazism. It's a fairly literal presentation/examination, with a race from a neighboring planet serving as a barely veiled representation of Jews. Towards the end of the episode, however, there is a pretty controversial stance taken towards Nazism--it arrives in the justification for breaking the Prime Directive. Scripter John Meredyth Lucas and Roddenberry are clever enough to wrap their controversial point in an undermined character who is potentially interpretable as a villain for his decisions.

But the reason this episode is so good and unusual isn't because it has profound things to say about Nazism. It's because it does a lot of typical Star Trek things--like Kirk and Spock being held captive, having to bluff their way out of jams, and so on--in a very unusual, very serious way. We usually have little worry that Kirk and Spock will be shortly out of a locked cell, but here, director Vincent McEveety films a very familiar scene so that it is very suspenseful. Likewise, Spock in incongruous disguises or modes often causes laughter, and frequently the threat of him being revealed when he needs to be disguised is just as promising of humor as tension. Here, there's nothing funny about it, it's instead nail-biting. With laudable help from the make-up department, McEveety also manages to truly make Spock feel alien. Even Shatner gives a serious, intense performance rather than hamming it up this time around, and the same goes for DeForest Kelley. In fact, McEveety so successfully achieves a weighty mood that even the typical, somewhat comical bickering between Spock and McCoy takes on an edge of nastiness in the final scene.

I love Star Trek's normal campiness and cheesiness, but Patterns of Force goes to show that it's just as excellent when they try to keep everything on the straight and narrow.

Author: Gholbimand

Following on the heels of "A Private Little War," this is another serious stab at presenting the dire consequences of interfering with the natural progression of a culture. This time, the contamination is Nazism, a plague of thought / speech spread on a planet called Ekos. The Ekosians, a warlike primitive people, are subverted to channel their aggression against their peaceful neighboring planet, Zeon. The Zeons were more advanced up until a few years ago; but now, Ekos has the same technology and plans are made to exterminate the Zeons. It all started innocently enough. It's a bit strange. The Federation has had this non-interference directive, the Prime Directive, in place for at least a century or more. I understand a sometime aggressive hotshot like Kirk rationalizing around this directive at times of intense situational imperative, but now an elderly Federation historian, a supposed expert on what tampering with history means, decides to re-arrange a culture's status quo on what appears to be a whim - a chance to play God, as McCoy puts it.

The main problem with episodes such as this has to do with constraints related to budget, make-up and so forth. The show is unable to capture the atmosphere of an actual alien planet or culture. Rather, it appears as if Kirk and Spock have transported themselves into Earth's past yet again, to Europe during World War II when it was dominated by Nazi Germany. There is no make-up involved for the supposed two alien races here; they are, for all practical purposes, other humans. The Ekosians are the Nazis here, where-as the Zeons are stand-ins for the persecuted Jews. The episode does succeed in capturing some of that brutality associated with the Nazi regime and there's plenty of suspense as Kirk & Spock attempt to infiltrate the Nazi HQ to see their Federation rep, now Fuhrer. If anything, this is the serious version of "A Piece of the Action" - the scary contemplation of how an entire society can be deluded into following a certain doctrine. But, did we need a sf version of actual history to get the point across? The most intriguing aspect is Melakon, the deputy Fuhrer who is, in fact, the actual incarnation of Hitler or Himmler - take your pick.

Author: Deodorant for your language

The Enterprise is approaching two inhabited planets, Ekos and Zaos, hoping to find out what happened to Anthropological Historian John Gill (David Brian). Kirk is a former student of Gill's and Spock is duly impressed by Mr. Hill's teachings, but nobody has heard from him for a long time. A nuclear warhead is the Enterprise's welcoming committee, and the ship fairly quickly comes to understand that Gill has become involved in the creation of a cultural duplication of Nazi Germany on Ekos. So, the conflict seems to hinge on TOS' most powerful self-created cliché Morality and the prime directive.

This background is very pithily crammed into the five minute opening sequence. The episode proceeds somewhat more leisurely afterward, but remains, essentially, an action/adventure story. Kirk and Spock are captured and have to escape, as usual, but the plot does involve a couple of nicely executed twists. The support cast deserves special mention here. This episode could not have been as successful as it was without really nice performances by Richard Evans, David Brian, the mysteriously MIA Valora Noland (not seen in film since 1971), and Skip Homeier. The sets are also excellent and very convincing.

There are a couple of troubling and interesting points that this episode, whether intentionally or not, raises. Aside from the usual clichés about absolute power corrupting absolutely, etc, the episode praises Naziism for its efficiency (a compliment somewhat at odds with the real economic and political history of Nazi Germany) and seems to suggest that in the hands of a benevolent dictator, totalitarianism isn't necessarily a bad thing. Also, I wasn't sure whether to be amused or disturbed by the fact that the most Aryan looking actor in the entire cast by far Skip Homeier was cast in the role of the of a scheming, manipulative, sociopath. I am not sure what statement, if any, this was intended, but it certainly was affective. Homeier's performance is very memorable.

All considered, this is a memorable episode for its difficult and intelligently handled subject matter, strong acting and sets. The script and directing are sort of average for TOS, but nevertheless adequate. Director McEveety would later make a name for himself with the TV show Dallas.

Author: invincible

The Star Trek study of how Nazis happened was just on G4TV. The show's use of terminology is skillful and usually meant to disguise something not exactly tasteful for 1960's TV. Like the "Komms" vs. "Yangs" in one other episode which were yoofamisms for Communists vs. Yanks. This episode was about "Zayans" vs. "Ekosians". The Zayans, the Jews, is obviously a reference to "Zion", but can anyone help with how "Ekosians" refers to Aryans, Germans, etc.?? Oh, by the way, Star Trek isn't like any of 'the other 1960's sci-fi shows' such as Voyage to Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, or anything else. It was beyond television, beyond pop culture, and would be ahead of its time by a few centuries if it came out today.

Author: Goldfury

I enjoyed this episode but throughout I was distracted by the usual Star Trek question 'Why?'

For instance, Kirk and Spock beam down to face the unknown (like in most episodes) yet THIS time Kirk order transponders to be injected into the skin and to be beamed up automatically if they lose their communicators and do not answer after 3 hours.

Are you ready?...... WHY don't they do that all the time? How many episodes had them losing their communicators and not being able to beam up when that would have been a very good thing to do?

Also, Kirk cut out the transponders from their arms using a bed spring and attached them to the spring in order to cut their way out of the cell. But then they throw the spring AND the transponders away, before steeling themselves to fight their way through many guards to reach the Fuhrer.

Are you ready?........WHY didn't they keep the transponders, beam up, quickly get their wounds cleaned , then beam down into the Fuhrers office,thereby bypassing all the guards?

I know, I'm picky aren't I.

Author: Mikale

This is, arguably, the most disappointing of Second Season episodes. Not only for its poor execution and bad special effects (see the ridiculous flogging "wounds" on Spock's and Kirk's backs), but for the flaw at the heart of the story.

Also naming the victims of the Ekosian Nazi's "Zeons" (as in Zion, a Jewish term for Israel) could hardly be more transparent. Star Trek fans don't need road signs telling them who the players are supposed to be.

But it's just a mediocre episode, not even relieved by the usual verbal sparing between Spock and McCoy. With an episode this silly, there better be some really good comic relief to make it tolerable. But there's no spoonful of sugar for this medicine--and it goes down hard.

It's even more annoying that this was the second use of "Hodgkins' Law of Parallel Development" in the same four episode run (see "The Omega Glory", Episode 2.23, where the "Enterprise" encounters a post-apocalyptic planet whose inhabitants not only speak English, but carry the American flag, have a copy of the Constitution, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and call themselves "Yangs" ("Yanks"); while their enemies are called "Kohms", as in "Communists."

Roddenberry uses the same device for a THIRD time in the season finale, "Bread and Circuses" (Episode 2.25) where an exact duplicate of Imperial Rome has survived 2000 years to develop Twentieth Century technology (i.e. machine guns and swords).

"The Omega Glory" is about on the same quality level as this episode. "Bread and Circuses" is much better. This plot device wears thin quickly--much as Time Travel was beaten to death in TNG, DS9 and even Voyager and three of thee ten movies. "Bread and Circuses" would have been believable by itself, but the other two just aren't up to par; as a result all three look like the product of desperation to meet "air dates." Indeed, a constant theme in the extras about the show's production was how often they came to missing those dates! These shows have the feeling of "quickie" scripts, slapped together in order to deliver the required 25 episodes to NBC.

"Bread and Circuses", at least, features character development and an interesting religious development that perplexes Kirk & Co.

The first two episodes are just excuses to show off Spock's usual cleverness MacGyver-style: he uses the "transponders" implanted in his and Kirk's arm to create a primitive "laser" powered by a light-bulb (!) to cut through the lock on their cell door.

Shatner (and his stunt double(s) are given an excuse to show that he's Macho Man and kicks bad guy behind with his usual relish. BORING.

I almost have the feeling I can hear a big sigh of relief at the time bought by these truncated, half-written scripts for the perennially over-worked, over-budget, behind-schedule crew and cast.

When Kirk is finally able to confront Prof. John Gill about why he chose to infuse Ekosian culture with National Socialism, Gill calls the Nazi regime, "The most efficient in history..."

This is flat-out wrong.

Nazi Germany was terribly, purposefully inefficient. In order to ensure that absolute control remained in his hands, Hitler encouraged inefficiency, overlapping authority between agencies, built his own personal army that rivaled the regular Wehrmacht, and fostered rivalries among his inner circle (Goering, Himmler, Bormann, et al).

He also used every excuse he could to centralize military command ever more tightly into his hands. He blackmailed, framed, and bullied the generals he inherited from the Weimar Reichswehr until he was "commanding" armies hundreds of miles away as though he were on the spot. German troops suffered as much from his arrogance and stupidity as they did from Soviet and Allied military action.

A further demonstration of wild inefficiency was the existence of TWELVE separate foreign intelligence gathering agencies. Naturally, the intelligence gathered was often contradictory.

Despite the use of the most brutal methods imaginable, the Nazis were never able to stamp out resistance movements inside Germany (as the three known attempts on Hitler's life demonstrate), let alone in conquered nations such as France, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

Hitler twisted the Germany economy toward one purpose: a quick conquest of Europe and the Soviet Union, a goal quite beyond Germany's capacity--especially once the US was involved. Like Napoleon, Hitler depended upon plundering his conquered victims to fund, fuel and feed his war machine.

Hardly what one would call a paragon of efficiency.

Author: allegro

When I was younger and first saw this episode I was watching a lot of "Hogan's Heroes", catching "Tobruk" and "Guns of Navvarone" every now and then, and a number of other films and TV shows that had Nazis as the bad guy dujour. I drew American tanks and planes and all other manner of things kicking the crap out of Nazi this and Nazi that. Cool huh? And when you see Kirk and crew take on the space Nazis, it just drives home the point that much more.

"Patterns of Force" explores the notion that fascism itself was not the lead cause of the diabolical industrialized slaughter of a people that had done nothing but to help a weakened Germany develop. It offers to the audience that it was not the leadership of the national socialist party that lead them to murderous policies, but the centralization of power that could not be checked nor questioned by anyone. True.

The episode parallels the formula that lead Germany to war under the Nazi regime, and also parallels the policy of mass killing of the Zaeons by the Ekosian military leadership. The episode suggests that under the proper leadership things could get done, and for the benefit of all, but, when the wrong leadership gets into power, even those who are benign but are surrounded by "self seeking adventurers" like Melakon (probably a sociopath), things go awry, and common people, people who are too busy putting bread on the table to think about national policy, will blindly follow that twisting of leadership.

True, but under the condition that the people in question know not enough to question the leadership's roles and policies. But, that's what the ceremony of the Nazi regime is designed to do; unify the super- majority of the masses into a cohesive unit that trumps and dominates all.

Kirk reminds the characters and professor who and what the Nazis were, and where he doesn't destroy the Nazi regime, he helps remove the cancer within, and steer a totalitarian state towards a more moderate existence. Good? I have my doubts, but there's only so much a starship captain can do.

Me, I'm a little tired of hearing about Nazis in movies, TV shows, comic books, radio, novels and even on the net. My personal commentary is that maybe we should move beyond obsessing about Nazis, and learn to avoid unchecked power structures. I think that was missed in this episode of Trek, for even though Kirk sets things aright, things could go wrong once again. But, is that a result of the power structure or the power base? Is is the supporters who fail to check their own social order to correct and remove malefactors, or is it really an unsolvable problem with that kind of social regime?

Me, I really don't care to dedicate too many brain cells to the problem, but, needless to say, Kirk and Spock have yet to come across a corrupt parallel of the United States of America ("The Omega Glory" not withstanding).

Well acted, so-so typical 1960's era Trek SFX, some outstanding thesping (as usual from the series), with a great plot but iffy execution. I'm tempted to call it hackneyed because of the use of Nazis, but that's the 2013 person speaking here, and not the younger 1968 viewer.

Give it a shot.

Author: Kigabar

Science fiction is usually about the present or the recent past. Fanciful new technologies are used, and mis-used, just as real ones have been exploited in the real world, setting up moral paradigms for our heroes to resolve correctly this time. Setting a story on some alien world and changing the names of the players usually doesn't hide the underlying message to anyone mindful of the historical parallels.

"Patterns of Force" follows in this tradition, though it takes the somewhat unusual route of transplanting real situations of Earth's past to the requisite alien world. Skirting the risk of taking the easy route and simply condemning the unredeemable, making the lesson a bit too didactic, the episode instead veers in another direction entirely and becomes a wonderful critique and examination of enduring human nature and frailty.

The Starship Enterprise, lead by the redoubtable Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), is looking for lost historian John Gill (a barely-there David Brian) when it is fired upon by a missile from a planet that shouldn't have that capability. Kirk and his Vulcan sidekick Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam down to investigate. In rapid sequence, they find out that the planet is controlled by real, honest-to-goodness Nazis, are captured and almost killed, and then find themselves in cahoots with an active resistance movement.

So, we have the set-up, that this is going to be an examination of bad, bad Naziism, right? Well, perhaps, but that is not the episode's real target. Wisely taking the brutality and illogic of Naziism for granted, instead, our heroes use that system's inherent weakness against it as they retain focus and search for the lost Gill.

Valora Noland, born the day after Pearl Harbor to parents who had fled Wiesbaden after Kristalnacht, and named after a speech by Winston Churchill, reportedly (understandably) hated playing a Nazi figure. However, she is the episode's blazing star. She plays Daras, a Nazi propaganda hero. However, is she really a Nazi, or something else? That answer is provided quickly, and emphatically, and thereafter Daras becomes more of a meditation on the media than anything political. Watch her preen as Kirk holds a camera in her face, and flounce up the stairs of the Nazi headquarters as if going up the red carpet at the Academy Awards (almost an inside joke there, I think). Valora knew how to act with her eyes, watch them closely throughout for some real emoting. Some may decry the lack of facial prosthetics and so forth (so painfully over-used in later incarnations of the series) to make the aliens look "different." However, this supposed negative turns into a major asset when it permits you to experience the emotions flitting across Valora's face as she first holds a gun on Kirk, then abruptly and surprisingly turns and fires at someone else. Strong females on Star Trek seldom fared well in the final analysis, but Daras defies that peril against all odds. A fabulous role played fabulously.

A fascinating aspect is the casual, almost backhanded slap taken at the reality of Naziism. For instance, the Nazis are shown to be infiltrated with the very people they were persecuting. Many real Nazis had, for example, Jewish origins, including perhaps Hitler himself, and they wasted a great deal of time investigating or justifying each others' phantom racial purity. This subtly supports the series' recurring message that we are all morally interchangeable and thus responsible for our moral choices. The absurd use of physiognomy to categorize and denigrate is completely sent up when arch-villain Malakon (Skip Homeier, in one of his several awesome guest star turns in the original series) pompously derides the smartest man on the planet (Spock) for his "low forehead, denoting stupidity." But the target is much wider than simply an indefensible political system and its self-serving justifications. The ending takes a sharp jab at modern media in general as being simply a tool to be mis-used even with the best of intentions. Daras is hailed for the cameras as a great hero (again) despite the fact that everyone in the room knows that she indeed may be a hero, but certainly not for the reasons the media will state.

The episode is about Nazis, yes, but that is just the launching pad for the real insights. Everyone in the cast gives a rousing performance, and I wouldn't be surprised if they felt something personal about the entire experience. This wasn't the only time TOS Star Trek mentioned Nazis (see "The City on the Edge of Forever,") and its treatment of them is extremely honest and, dare I say it, even-handed as a sort of aberration that somehow crept out of the Id's cage. Some will decry this episode as politically incorrect and the notion that anyone at any time could fancy Naziism as "efficient" as completely insane, but it certainly is possible that some future (and possibly wacky or senile, we learn absolutely nothing about the man) historian could completely misread history. And that reveals another point to this tale, the danger of misreading history from a distant vantage point. Never forget.... Human nature and enduring reality is the larger target, one that is hit dead center by a stellar cast and script.

Author: riki

This is hands-down the strongest TOS ep there is. Not only because of the great acting, character interaction, a rather believable premise, don't get me wrong; those do contribute. But this episodes strongest factor is that it's a poignant, accurate and strong testament to one of the darkest, most infamous chapters of human history: the Nazi regime.

Here's the story: kirk & spock beam down to Ekos to find a federation historian kirk once knew. They beam down straight into the arrest of Issak, from the neighboring planet Zeon. It seems that kirk's old mentor has implemented a Nazi regime identical to the one of our past, only their bent on wiping out zeons, instead of Jews. No disguise there, but isn't that the point? Once arrested, they break free and take Issak with them to find the underground (and an explanation). Long story short: the federation historian, though responsible for the uniforms and stuff, wasn't responsible for all the bigotry and destruction of the party on that planet. He manages to call off the attack and things go back to the way they were, with perhaps a new acceptance of differing views and cultures. Some final thoughts for you to chew on that are well shown in this episode: "we must never forget or it will happen again" and:"even historians, fail to learn from history."

Author: Vizil

This is the famous planet evolves into Nazi Germany episode. An envoy comes to a planet whose government structure is in disarray. The man, Gill, decides to implement a new world order based on the National Socialist Party of the 1940's. It's quite efficient for the powerful, but, as usual, there has to be a scapegoat. This is a peaceful civilization which becomes the target of the final solution. There are so many things that make one's eyes pop in this episode. For one thing, the Nazi's are an intercontinental organization (stock footage of thousands greeting the Nazi leadership). Yet, Kirk and Spock beam down, are picked up by a single soldier, and demand to see the Fuhrer (who just happens to be around). Eventually, the get hooked up with an underground movement and use them to infiltrate the headquarters. Even more amazing is that Gill has been drugged and his body propped up in a chair, a microphone concealing his mouth. He supposedly is the source of the usual hate talk. It really looks ridiculous as is the conclusion. It's an interesting idea, but way too much. Oh, for fun, watch the escape from the jail and how it is attained.

Author: Lilegha

The Enterprise has been sent to find out what happened to John Gill, a cultural observer who had been visiting the planet Ekos. As they approach the planet they are surprised when a nuclear missile is fired at them; the people of Ekos are known to be war-like but their technology shouldn't be anywhere near that advanced, even the more advanced but peaceful neighbouring planet of Zeon doesn't have the ability to make such devices. Kirk and Spock beam down to Ekos and make a startling discovery; their society is clearly modelled on that of 1930s Germany; right down to the uniforms and insignia as well as the xenophobia, this time aimed at Zeonian members of society. They have an even bigger shock when they learn that the Führer of this world is none other than John Gill. Wearing stolen uniforms they attempt to get to Gill but are soon captured and tortured. They manage to escape with a Zeonian who is a member of the resistance. With the help of a resistance that includes a noted member of the Nazi party working to bring the party down from the inside. As they get close to the Führer they learn of the Nazi's proposed 'Final Solution' to the Zeonians.

This is one of the classic episodes of Star Trek, like the mob themed 'A Piece of the Action' it is based on an alien society that has deliberately copied part of Earth history. This time it turns out the changes have been deliberately made by Gill who thought he could use the Nazi's efficiency but neglected to curb its darker elements. Some of the parallels to 1930s Germany are a bit too obvious; if uniforms and xenophobia weren't enough the subjugated people's role as the Jews in this tragedy are from Zeon (Zion) and they even have Jewish sounding names I doubt many viewers would have missed the parallels without them being driven home so hard. Despite the lack of subtlety this is a fun episode; the bad guys are genuinely bad and our protagonists undergo torture rather than just getting into danger. It is also entertaining to see Kirk, Spock and McCoy dressed in Nazi uniforms; uniforms that once brought terror to millions now seem surprisingly camp. The regular cast all perform well and guest star Valora Noland is great a 'good Nazi' Doras. The final resolution is a bit weak; as soon as the main villain is exposed everybody seems to give up their Nazi views instantly. Overall though this is pretty good episode; definitely one you'll remember.

Author: Feri

This is probably the most overtly political Star Trek episode, wearing it's anti-Nazi theme boldly on the sleeves of those German officer uniforms. Not much is left to the imagination regarding historical analogies, as the Ekosians as presented are the ultimate anti Zeon-ists, inspired by a former Federation cultural representative who wound up violating the Noninterference Directive. Funny, this was the second mention in the series' run as the ND, (#2.17 - 'A Piece of the Action' was the first), and I've got my ears peeled for it's initial description as the Prime Directive.

An interesting takeaway for me in the early going was Spock's observation of Professor Gill's (David Brian) method of history, directed at causes and motivations rather than a dry reading of dates and events. The 'causes and motivations' idea led me to consider how liberal writers and analysts of present day use America's history as pretext for claiming why terrorist nations hate and want to destroy us - presumably because we're the bad guys. You can buy that argument if you want, but it makes no sense at all. Present day bad guys, like the Ekosians, are evil because they want to instill their ideology on the rest of the world, destroying anyone or anything that stands in their way.

With frequent use of terms like Fuhrer and Fatherland, the story leaves little to the imagination regarding Roddenberry's analysis of Nazi attempts to exterminate the Jews (anti-Zeon/Zion). Where the story gets murky is the ease with which various Ekosian revolutionaries managed to infiltrate the party hierarchy. One wonders how far they might have gotten had Kirk and Spock not appeared on the scene. Certainly John Gill would never have been revealed for his Earth origins, and Deputy Fuhrer Melakon (Skip Homeier) would have eventually achieved supremacy. Consider the Enterprise intervention a reminder of America's entry into World War II, assuring the defeat of Nazi Germany and it's Axis allies. The troubling aspect of this episode however, is the idea that history doesn't learn from it's mistakes of the past, as all one needs to do is observe the ascendancy of tyrannical regimes around the world today, while inattentive nations make the same mistakes in dealing with them all over again.

Author: Gigafish

As a boy I rated this as one of my favorite TREK episodes, just because there's plenty of action, lots of gun play and because Kirk genuinely does make (in Spock's words) "a very convincing Nazi." Interestingly, when I began to recreate my Star Trek collection on video, twenty years later, I found that PATTERNS did not live up to my memories. I think part of the problem is that the treatment of Nazism is meant to be challenging and serious but actually pulls some punches.

Several reviewers correctly pointed out that the real Nazi Germany was in fact NOT "the most efficient state earth ever knew." But the differences between the "real" Nazi Germany and Professor Gill's Ecosian variety are also interesting. The horror of the real Holocaust is toned down in several ways.

1.) The Zeons have a planet of their own, and presumably could always find some way to hide and/or fight back in an emergency, (such as an extraterrestrial invasion) however "peaceful" they might be.

2.) The Zeons we meet on this planet, Isok, Abram, and the rest, are all openly militant, determined to fight back, well organized, and completely un-intimidated by Brown Shirts and SS. There's not even a hint of passivity, terror, or a state of denial comparable to what crippled Europe's Jewish population with such tragic results. (i.e. "this too will pass, they can't be serious, they really need us.")

3.) The anti-Nazi resistance in Germany was pathetically ineffectual (with apologies to the brave Von Stauffenberg.) But the story line here softens the historical truth. It seems the Ecosian Nazi party is riddled with resistance members, double agents, and free spirits of all types. One minute it's lovely Dara who's switching sides, and the next thing you know Party Chairman Enig is "one of us" too. Kirk and Spock could have stayed on the Enterprise and "phoned it in" if they had known defeating the Nazi menace would be this easy!

4.) Given that there are plenty of heroic Zeons and noble Ecosians to do the heavy lifting, it's a real shame Kirk couldn't have had a love scene or two with Dara, the ultimate Kitten With A Whip. Come to think of it, if SHE had been in charge of the "whipping" scene this episode would have definitely broken new ground!

Author: Purestone

If series like Star Trek are going to do scenes from Earth's past history, they should paid attention to the uniforms. The SS hats have the German Army eagles instead of the SS. The same could be said on the eagle on the left sleeves. There is also no SS rank insignia on the left collar tab. Furthermore, the SS major who capture Kirk and Spock had a early version of a Waffen SS general on his left collar tab. How would the American military feel if their uniforms and rank insignia were malign aligned by Gene Rodenberry? It is bad enough people do not know their history, but when details like the uniforms do not help people know the different uniforms of the combatants.

Author: Purebinder

It seems that a Federation social scientist came to the planet years before and found it embroiled in wars and chaos. So, in order to promote unity, he re-created the Nazi empire. After a while, the militaristic planet began attacking and scapegoating a neighboring planet of peaceful humanoids (like the Jews). The crew, upon discovering this hell, know it is incumbent upon them to put things right and stop the madness! Only on Star Trek would you have seen an episode where a Nazi planet would be encountered! This isn't really a huge criticism, but obviously this sort of ultra-fanciful episode could never have appeared on most other sci-fi series that were more attempting to give a more "realistic" view of the future. So, provided you can completely suspend disbelief and try to enjoy the show on a purely non-aesthetic level, it is very interesting and entertaining.

Author: YSOP

I watched this show when it was first on TV back in the 60s. I was born in 1961, so I was quite young when this was on. However, I immediately fell madly in love with Spock.

Today, now being an adult, I really appreciate this episode even more with Spock running around without a shirt on. Mmmm he is so handsome. All that wonderful chest hair.

Now to the actual episode: I liked how they explored how it isn't necessarily just a particular person that is the cause of an entire society getting to the point of wanting to stay separated from other groups, even to the point of wanting to kill anyone that is not the same, but that it takes a situation where the entire power structure has nothing to keep it in check. They were given carte blanche and this allowed the whole thing to get completely out of control. There could have been a lot of good to come from the setup of the type of government that Gill was trying to accomplish. But, he had people that had other ideas that were in power with him. The citizenry was too easily persuaded to go along with this madness and the whole thing got out of hand.

Spock and Kirk were finally able to get access to Gill. They find out that Gill was just trying to unite a divided planet. If it had all been kept benign as he intended, it would have worked, but his second in command (Melakon) was power hungry. He drugged Gill and took over and perverted the plan for his own ambitions. They were finally able to get Gill alert enough to let people know the true message of what he was trying to do and Melakon was killed. Both peoples were now going to be able to work together and would try to find ways for both cultures to live in harmony.

The very end was quite amusing. The banter between Spock and Bones was great. I have always really liked the relationship between those two and the little "arguments" they have.

Author: Mavegar

The wisdom of Star Fleet's Prime Directive never had a better example in the history of the Star Trek franchise than in this episode where an earth cultural observer played by David Brian decided to play God with a warlike people and introduce Nazism into the population. He had intentions of being a benevolent Fuehrer, but some very ambitious underlings led by Skip Homeier turn the Nazi movement on their planet of Ekos to what it resembled on Earth. They're also more powerful than what they were on Earth as witness by the fact that the Enterprise is attacked with hydrogen bomb missile.

That's a taste of what the Ekotians plan to do to their neighboring planet of Zaon. Zaon hating and scapegoating is the favorite past time of the Nazis of Ekos.

After that attack and seeing how the Prime Directive has been violated the mission and the duty of the Enterprise is clear. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy come down to investigate and if possible stop a wholesale slaughter. Later on they're joined by DeForest Kelley.

Can a totalitarian type movement ever be benevolent? Turn that one over in your minds when you watch this Star Trek story.

Author: Gerceytone

"Patterns of Force" could have been dismissed as a more goofy and quirky instalment of "Star Trek," given the episode's subject matter. The story is written so as to be taken seriously and that was the right approach. Occasional humourous touches don't hamper the dramatic tone. We have alien beings who are Nazi soldiers in all but name as the Enterprise is ordered to locate a missing Starfleet officer. The one scene that causes me to chuckle, is when the alien Nazis whip Kirk and Spock when they are topless. The look on everyone's face when Spock feels no ill effects, is priceless!

Author: Quttaro

In "Patterns of Force", the Enterprise is searching for a missing historian who has been serving as a cultural observer for two neighboring planets. One is more technologically advanced and peaceful. The other is more crude and prone to violence. When the Enterprise arrives, it has found the primitive race has taken on the role of oppressors. The Ekosians have somehow learned about the Nazi party and have used its ideology to control and slaughter then peaceful Zeons. The Federation's historian John Gill is now serving as the Ekosians' leader in this genocide. Kirk and Spock must head down and figure out what has happened to Gill and this society. They need to figure out a way to reverse the current path.

As it turns out, teaching brimming societies about the efficiencies of WWII-era Germany doesn't work out as planned. Gill's message is perverted by his second-in-command who drugs Gill and uses him like a puppet. This new despot embraces Nazism to the extreme and begins to systematically capture and kill the Zeons. Spock and Kirk disguise themselves as officers to infiltrate the party and find Gill. They run across a group of rebels who help them. In the end, they snap Gill out of it for long enough that he spills the beans. Both Gill and his second-in-command are killed in the melee and the two races are left to pick up the pieces of their now ruined society.

Sometimes I think Kirk makes dumb decisions when dealing with interference on an evolving planet but Gill might be as dumb as they come. Why would he ever think mirroring a culture with two distinct races (one peaceful and one violent) after Nazi-era Germany would be a good idea? Of course it went sour! Leave to the Federation to come into a planet and muck things up!

The amount of times Spock's ears have gotten him and Kirk in trouble is absolutely comical. They keep ending up on these humanoid planets with no notable differences from Earthlings. Spock sticks out like a sour thumb.

While this episode's plot is okay once you get into it, it's the getting into it part that's difficult. I'm growing tiresome of these aliens that have zero distinguishing characteristics from humans. I know money is tight but come on guys, maybe just a few blue dots on the forehead or something? Anything! Also, the entire premise of a historian doing this is laughable (as I've mentioned above). Despite this, the plot moves along at a good pace and we get to see TOS's take on Nazism in the modern age.

Note: Chronologically, this isn't the Enterprise's first run-in with Nazis. Archer got sent back in time to deal with aliens helping the Nazis try to win WWII. A bit of a role reversal here as it's the humans coming in and tipping the scales this time.

Author: Bloodfire

Star Trek

Patterns Of Force

A cultural hub and by far one of the most loved and respected tale, Star Trek is created by Gene Roddenberry who wrote this brilliant concept, ahead of its time and is probably why it still doesn't fail to entertain us after these many years. It was written "for the future" in many aspects as it even though is smarter, wiser and powerful it still seeks for emotion and the force that binds it all. The relation between Spock and Kirk; despite of its premise, is the most human thing in this majestic tale where the adventures are endless. Encountering this original series, at this stage makes the execution look petty and a bit loose (the small technical aspects can be negotiated) but the writing is smart, gripping and hence completely overpowers it.

After a good run on its first season, the second season has more expectations to fulfill and hopefully they will try to develop the character a bit more and focus on the relations between the crew members on the enterprise to blend in and communicate easily with the audience despite of just focusing on more mind-numb missions that sometimes feel like they are filling their time and work in.

Patterns Of Force is another one of their political episode where our heroes meddles between some planet's war and saves it which is something they have tried multiple times and is wearing off now even though there aren't any mind-numbing action sequences.

Author: sergant

Kirk as a Nazi is a visual Sci-fic imprint of Patterns of Force episode. Star Trek has another troubled planet patterned aka the Nazis. Why and how and what does a former Star fleet commander is the new leader? Spock and Kirk get out with tricky, smarts and actually solve this problem. Much like a Piece of the Action episode, but with a social message. The usual all the problems become all resolve and tie up in the last five minutes! Formulated but memorable. 7 out 0f 10 stars.

Author: Damdyagab

Ludicrous plot? Take a look at this episode and the political situation that is developing today. If you want to take a closer look, read Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" and see how many similarities you see to today's trends. Although the Nazi regime made some marvelous technical progress, hate seeped in. Maybe we can't have a nationalist movement in the US without hate seeping in again to spoil everything (as evidenced by the recent toppling of Jewish tombstones that POTUS doesn't support). That's what this episode is about, and just maybe ... our present political situation.

Author: Endieyab

Interesting episode that essentially re-enacts the abhorrent history of Nazi Germany.The set and costumes look like 1940's Germany, not an alien planet at all. A former history teacher of Kirk's from "the academy" has somehow gotten involved with this society, and has been crowned the revered but evil leader, ie Adolf Hitler. Considering that both Shatner and Nimoy were Jewish in real life, this adds an additional layer of drama. As usual, our space heroes beam down to find out what has gone wrong on the planet. They are quickly embroiled in the trouble, and get captured and flogged, revealing Spock's green blood. Soon they are able to outwit and out-fight the enemy, looking sexy in their stolen uniforms. The Vulcan nerve pinch comes in handy several times.

When they finally reach the history teacher, there appears to be something medically wrong with him, and McCoy has to beam down to make the diagnosis. Please leave your credulity at door.

Overall, a fairly good episode if you do not attempt to analyze it too much .What is this transponder gadget? This is the third episode in the genre of looking at a 1930/40's Earth-like society. Which would have only been about 20 years before this was made. Perhaps that time frame was an obsession of Gene Roddenberry. Not sure what is the moral of this story, other than "don't allow evil to prevail", an important message in these times as well.

Author: Androrim

Season 2, episode 21. The Enterprise in on a mission to planet Ekos in search of a missing Federation cultural observer, Professor John Gill. Ekos is known to be a warlike planet of primitive people. The Ekosians have patterned themselves into a Nazi Germany culture. When Kirk and Spock beam down they find that the Ekosian Gill is the leader and are at war with the neighboring planet Zeon. Kirk and Spock must disguise themselves as Nazis in order to put an end to war.

An episode I really enjoy due it being very much different than most episodes yet reminiscent of "A Piece of the Action" due to a historical reference to planet Earth - a sorta throw back to those time eras.

9.5/10

Author: Dobpota

Although I'm not sure the conclusion would have finished as neatly (two leaders are killed and all of a sudden those behind them decide to invest in peace after behaving so hostilely), I think the concept was indeed compelling: the Enterprise are searching for historian/scholar, John Gill (David Brian), who went to a world occupied by warlike Ekosians and peaceful Zeons to observe their cultures, with no intent to interfere with how they ran their lives. But Gill brings the Nazi "efficiency" to the Ekosians, hoping to perhaps stabilize them, but soon the power of his position as this outside influence and intellect corrupts him, with a second in command, Melakon (Skip Homeier), taking advantage, slipping him a drug until he's a puppet to use in order to further the cause of this "Nazi regime". The Zeons are to be exterminated by the Melakon-led Ekosian regime, not what Gill envisioned before being drugged into a stupor. It takes major McCoy hypo-injecting and the Kirk face slap(s) to sort of awaken Gill enough to spirit the Ekosians out of their kill-mode and focus on how Melakon muddied the waters of the real intentions. Seeing Spock and Kirk in Nazi garb is surreal, but the laser prison escape by Spock was neat, even if having to stand on the whipped back of Kirk (who, like Spock, had to take some whips to the back from one of Melakon's Nazi interrogators). Richard Evans as Zeon underground prisoner of war, Isak, and Valora Noland as Zeon spy, Daras, really contributes to the episode, bringing the integrity and dignity that exists in those who defy sadistic ideology, resistant towards those who attempt to use "patterns of force" in order to gain power and rule a world. The script pushes as close as it can on a television show, with machine gun fire assassinating one leader, and a pistol eliminating another. A haunting final words for Gill speak about "non-interference" in the Prime Directive, how this situation proves that point. It all got out of hand. Good parting comments from Kirk when Bones and Spock debate about Earth and its history of evil rulers and corrupt power corrupting absolutelyone civil war was averted, no need for another on the Enterprise!

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
	William Shatner	-	Capt. Kirk
	Leonard Nimoy	-	Mr. Spock
	DeForest Kelley	-	Dr. McCoy
	Richard Evans	-	Isak
	Valora Noland	-	Daras
	Skip Homeier	-	Melakon
	David Brian	-	John Gill
	James Doohan	-	Scott
	Nichelle Nichols	-	Uhura
	Patrick Horgan	-	Eneg
	William Wintersole	-	Abrom
	Gilbert Green	-	S.S. Major
	Walter Koenig	-	Chekov
	Lev Mailer	-	S.S. Lieutenant (as Ralph Maurer)
	Ed McCready	-	S.S. Trooper

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