pecial Ambassador to the Federation Spock (Nimoy)
has traveled back in time to the planet Earth in the
year 1999 (via the Guardian of Forever) because he has
something he wants to tell the human race, something
he wants to warn them about.
Suddenly, Q (de Lancie) of the Q Continuum arrives on
the scene to remind Spock that to deliver his warning would be to
violate the Prime Directive, the Federation's beloved
policy of non-interference. But that's not the only
reason why Q's come--he's simply been dying to get
Spock's autograph for the longest time.
The Vulcan can't argue with logic like that, so
instead he employs his formidable intellect to use Q's
own emotional and bombastic nature against him,
essentially tricking the nigh-omnipotent being into
revealing the secret: that an asteroid the size of
Montana is headed straight for Earth and is certain to
wipe out all of humanity when it strikes.
Spock then tries to convince Q (making more than
one appeal to his sizable ego) to use his great
powers to prevent this disaster. Q's not having it,
though--he's not convinced that the human race is
really worth saving. What makes them so special?
Among its many dunderheaded accomplishments,
humanity is well on the way to destroying its
environment and itself anyway.
Spock counters the cosmic entity by reminding him
that the human race has also done things like
construct Stonehenge, invent the abacus, and compose
the Brandenburg Concertos, and that Q has, throughout
their existence and on many occasions, quite enjoyed
the company and the conversation of humans. So it
would actually behoove him to save them from
extinction.
Seeing that Q is still far from taking the matter seriously, Spock proposes that they gamble for humanity's
fate at a game of riddles, a joust of words. If
Spock wins, Q will stop the asteroid from hitting
Earth. If Q wins, Spock will teach him how to do a
Vulcan mind meld. Q's never been known for his
overwhelming sense of fair play, though.
Q's on first
As its elements would suggest, Spock vs. Q
is far from a serious Star Trek adventure. It
sounds more like Abbot and Costello meet "Encounter at
Farpoint," and, more often than not, delightfully so.
And as long as listeners are able to sit back, relax, allow
themselves to be entertained and not think too hard
about the idea of Spock traveling back in time in order to help
humanity avoid Armageddon, then they will probably enjoy themselves very much.
A production of Alien Voices, the venture by
Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie to produce
radio-style dramatizations of classic science fiction
stories (such as The Invisible Man and The
Lost World), this particular installment is filled
with plenty of timely humor, with references to
everything from SUVs to Seinfeld and a good
amount of Star Trek jokes to boot. For all of
its witty comicality, though, some of the humor is
downright cheesy.
Nimoy and de Lancie both do a great job--with the
aid of Cecelia Fannon's script--of stretching the
bounds and exploring the intricacies of their
respective Trek characters, with Spock proving to
be just as sly, funny and charming (in his own way) as
Q is at times. Their yin and yang
tête-à-têtes are occasionally reminiscent
of some of the best exchanges between Spock and Dr. McCoy, and are filled with bits of poetry, history and arguments for both scientific curiosity and a good
laugh.
Because it was taped at Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas,
listeners to this recording get the benefit of hearing
a live audience react to the piece, but at the same
time may feel at a loss not being able to see some
of the visual gestures the actors undoubtedly put
into their performance. And while the script works
well as an exchange between two characters, it
meanders a bit, and the performance as a whole is a bit rough
around the edges. Now, if they would only go on tour
with it....
