The Empath (Star Trek TOS)

[kingstoken]

I am writing a TOS story and I had to look up some minor information about this episode. I ended up going into the sources at the bottom of the Wikipedia page and reading one of the cited reviews, you can read it here if you're interested. It is a very well written review, it gives a lot of history about the production and 1960s television, and some of the greater themes of the episode. It also gives praise to the performances of the guest actress, Shatner and Nimoy, but only gives a passing of mention of Kelley, and I think that is what bothers me so much about the review, because to me this is obviously a McCoy episode.



The Empath is one of my favourite episodes from season three of The Original Series, I love it's styling, it's minimalism and it's tight focus on the original triad. It is an episode that gives you a lot of trio feels, but to me this is truly a McCoy episode. McCoy is the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the other two, and it is one of the only times, I think, that we see McCoy sacrifice himself specifically for Spock. There have been past episodes where McCoy has tried to sacrifice himself for the crew as a whole, but this time it is solely for Spock's sake. The Vians had already tortured Kirk, they weren't going to take him again, but they wanted Kirk to choose between Spock and McCoy, McCoy sedates Kirk so he doesn't have to make the terrible choice between his friends, and then he sedates Spock to save him. To me this is one of the few times where how much McCoy cares about Spock is clearly shown, to those who would say that the two of them hated each other I would show them this episode.

The central message of the episode is all about human compassion and empathy, and again I would argue that McCoy makes the ultimate display of this when he refuses to let Gem die, even if it means he himself will not live. Kirk and Spock both have very prominent roles in the episode, and I don't mean to downplay that, but it's just interesting to me how people can watch the same thing and have very different views about it.

Bonus info: Did you guys know that this was one of four TOS episodes banned in the U.K. becasue it contained depictions of torture? I didn't, until today. This episode wasn't broadcast in the U.K. for the first time until the 1990s! Which is wild to me.

Comments

[senmut]

I have heard/read somewhere that people had a tendency to be dismissive of Kelley for his Westerns background? (Despite Nimoy being in at least ONE Western I love)

A bit of being the man so many knew as a bit actor/background character. Which is sort of sad, in my opinion. Nimoy and Shatner had a greater audience in the more spec-fic action genre, and got the bigger focus from reviewers.

[kingstoken]

Dismissing him becasue he did westerns is so silly, becasue Westerns were much more common in the old days, like I wouldn't be surprised if every actor hadn't had at least one western on their resume.

As for reviewers preferring Nimoy and Shatner I think you're right, even today. Like you know there doesn't appear to be any article for top ten McCoy episodes, at least not that I have seen, and online mags tend to love filler fluff like that, becasue it's easy to put together. I've seen top 25 best Spock episodes, and best Kirk performances, but no McCoy. I think at some point I want to put together a list my myself.

[senmut]

And hey, I just learned something going looking for things - "The Empath" Was his favorite episode, actually.

[kingstoken]

I saw that too, and I can totally understand why, it is very Star Trek, but also unique from other episodes in the series.

[stellar_dust]

I so agree, I always saw that as a McCoy episode. But then, I was always such a Bones fangirl. :D

[kingstoken]

Trust me, I'm a Bones' girl myself, but it still boggles my mind that others can watch that episode and not see "McCoy" stamped all over it.

[sixbeforelunch]

Interesting! I remember having a hard time with The Empath, but I am very sensitive to depictions of torture. I might give it another shot one of these days. I agree that it's a good trio episode, and I do fangirl McCoy and his selflessness.

[kingstoken]

It does have a lot of torture, so I do understand why it was banned for several decades in the U.K., and it's the physical kind of torture and not the sci-fi "someone's messing with my mind" type. But, I still love it, I think because it strips the trio bare, really focusing on their character traits. Also, the triad is so soft here, with Kirk and Spock being so hurt and worried when they find a battered McCoy near death.