If you asked many people do they remember Arena they might confuse it with at least two other stories, but if you asked about the ‘Gorn’ story, or the one with the lizard bloke, you’d get an immediate response. The Enterprise arrives at Cestus III Outpost. Kirk, Bones and three expendable crewmen beam down expecting dinner and instead find the outpost has been destroyed by an attacking ground force. While they’re on the surface, the unseen enemy ship turns up and attacks the Enterprise, marooning them on the surface until they pause their attack. The remaining crew members beam back and the Enterprise sets off in pursuit of the enemy ship, until they’re both held in an invisible force-field. They’re both run into the ‘Metrons’, a deeply paranoid race of super-beings who decide, like parents of fighting children, to settle this dispute directly. Kirk and the alien captain ‘Gorn’ are transported to an alien world where they’ll fight until one of them is dead. When one has killed the other, the victor’s ship will go free, while the loser will be destroyed along with his ship. After much running about familiar Trek desert locations (Vasquez Rocks), Kirk finally uses the cannon to disable Gorn, but refuses to kill him. This impresses the never seen Metrons, who proclaim that humans are “still half savage, but there is hope”. We never know really what happens to Gorn, but the Enterprise is placed back around Cestus III with an uninjured Kirk onboard. Sadly Coon died in 1973 after developing lung cancer, and so never saw the film versions of the show he helped create. It’s also worth mentioning that the remastering elves have been quite busy on this story, fixing the usual ship graphics but also providing a more convincing background for Cestus III, and even blinking eyes for Gorn. Next up is the second D C Fontana penned episode, and the first intentional time travel story, when the crew of the Enterprise try to unravel the conundrum of Tomorrow Is Yesterday.
title: “Star Trek The Original Series Episode 18 Review” ShowToc: true date: “2025-07-03” author: “Jay Sullivan”
If you asked many people do they remember Arena they might confuse it with at least two other stories, but if you asked about the ‘Gorn’ story, or the one with the lizard bloke, you’d get an immediate response. The Enterprise arrives at Cestus III Outpost. Kirk, Bones and three expendable crewmen beam down expecting dinner and instead find the outpost has been destroyed by an attacking ground force. While they’re on the surface, the unseen enemy ship turns up and attacks the Enterprise, marooning them on the surface until they pause their attack. The remaining crew members beam back and the Enterprise sets off in pursuit of the enemy ship, until they’re both held in an invisible force-field. They’re both run into the ‘Metrons’, a deeply paranoid race of super-beings who decide, like parents of fighting children, to settle this dispute directly. Kirk and the alien captain ‘Gorn’ are transported to an alien world where they’ll fight until one of them is dead. When one has killed the other, the victor’s ship will go free, while the loser will be destroyed along with his ship. After much running about familiar Trek desert locations (Vasquez Rocks), Kirk finally uses the cannon to disable Gorn, but refuses to kill him. This impresses the never seen Metrons, who proclaim that humans are “still half savage, but there is hope”. We never know really what happens to Gorn, but the Enterprise is placed back around Cestus III with an uninjured Kirk onboard. Sadly Coon died in 1973 after developing lung cancer, and so never saw the film versions of the show he helped create. It’s also worth mentioning that the remastering elves have been quite busy on this story, fixing the usual ship graphics but also providing a more convincing background for Cestus III, and even blinking eyes for Gorn. Next up is the second D C Fontana penned episode, and the first intentional time travel story, when the crew of the Enterprise try to unravel the conundrum of Tomorrow Is Yesterday.
