Star Trek (TV Series) And the Children Shall Lead (1968) User Reviews

Attack of the Brats and a Phantom Lawyer

[Bogmeister · 5/10 · 13 January 2007]

They pump their fists at the command of an unseen menace and Uhura sees herself as a dying crone; Sulu sees daggers in outer space; Scotty threatens to kill anyone entering auxiliary control; and Kirk? He gets anxiety attacks (this popularized Shatner's style of tensing his body in an odd manner). These are some of the better scenes in this episode which proceeds at a limp pace in the first half, starting at a decimated scientific colony. The foot soldiers of this new threat turn out to be little children or, as I term them, brats. It recalls another low-rated episode which also had many kids, "Miri." They run around, playing their games, annoying Kirk (Capt. Picard on the TNG show also could do without children), and ignore the fact that all their parents have just died.

Mystery in space. The reveal is, certainly, a letdown: real-life famous attorney Belli is the culprit, materializing every time the kids voice a silly chant. Belli had no acting experience or ability that I could see, literally seeming to 'phone in' or 'project in' his performance. He resembles a holographic image, dressed in a weird robe, and I could kind of imagine that his scenes were filmed separately, matted in to the show later. No explanation is given for what his so-called evil character really is (a fallen angel? an alien lawyer?) and I found I didn't much care anyway. There was also a misconceived use of the transporter which, as depicted, cannot automatically detect the absence of a planet, even though it's the most sophisticated piece of hardware in the Federation. Any entertainment value stems from the scenes of our crew behaving in a strange or hostile fashion, such as Chekov's attempt to arrest Kirk and Spock. It was done better in the upcoming "Day of the Dove."

Groomed by a Bogeyman...

[Xstal · 5/10 · 16 February 2022]

A Bogeyman is lurking down below, he's a sneaky, furtive, sly type of fellow, casts a spell on open minds, gathers children that he finds, a starship's crew he has intent to overthrow.

Kirk and Spock come up against a group of children under the control of a cowardly alien.

One of the Two Worst Star Trek Episodes of All Time!

[mike48128 · 5/10 · 26 September 2014]

Mean little space children that prey on your worst fears! The "monster" here is badly dressed and appears and disappears like a ghostly spirit that feeds and thrives on power and human emotions. Kind of a mental "vampire". A theme used in several "Trek" stories. (Mr. Belli's acting is not really all that bad, considering that he has very little script to work with.) Unfortunately, poor plot execution here. Using a thinner actor would have helped, as he is dressed in a rainbow-themed "tent" dress, and looks like a Killer Clown from Outer Space! Lack of a decent plot exposition ruins this episode and makes it implausible. Where did the name "Gorgan" come from? (I missed that part?) Why should a nursery rhyme summon a "demon"? Can you believe that this was the third re-write? Probably should have never been filmed at all, like the two "hippie" episodes "Eden" and "The Apple". It's right up there with "The Omega Glory" as one of the worst-written and unlogical episodes ever produced!

Yes, this episode is as bad as people say

[chrisbaird-ma · 1/10 · 3 April 2013]

Annoying children take over the Enterprise by shaking their fists. Yes, that pretty much sums up the whole episode; there is not much more to the plot than that. Kirk becomes a social worker and tries to help the children work through the grief of loosing their parents, but accomplishes nothing. There's a problem with putting children into adventure shows: they slow down the plot and they are typically very bad actors. I put this episode up there with Spock's brain and Hippies in Space as the worst Star Trek episodes. All three have one common element: annoying adolescent antagonists. If producers wants to put children or child-like characters in an episode, they should make the kids cute or smart or grappling with issues. Kids as evil villains just doesn't work.

"And as you believe, so shall you do".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 11 January 2011]

I found this episode curious for a couple of reasons. For starters, noted criminal attorney Melvin Belli appears as a demonic influence on the orphaned kids of a planet whose parents all died in a case of mass suicide. I wonder why that was. Belli had a single handful of casting credits during his legal career, and this was his first one. Is it possible he did some attorney work for one of the series principals and this was a form of payment? Not only that, but his son appeared as the leader of the kids, Steve, fist pumping his evil spell on the Enterprise crew. I'd be interested in finding out the story behind this casting call.

The other interesting point, and I noted it even when I saw this for the first time many years ago. Out of the blue, without any prior mention of Belli's character name, Captain Kirk calls him the Gorgan. How did he come up with that? I was waiting for some explanation having to do with the type of evil influence that the specter represented, but nothing ever came of it. Then, as I was thinking about THAT, I had to chuckle over an old sci-fi flick from a decade earlier, 1959's "Teenagers From Outer Space". In that picture, aliens land on Earth in search of a planet on which they can graze their livestock, which are these goofy silhouetted lobsters that crawl across the screen. Those lobsters were called Gargons!

The notable contribution this story makes to the Star Trek canon is the idea that mind control leading to herd mentality can be a poison to a culture - "Without followers, evil cannot spread". It's always easiest to get young minds to follow a charismatic leader when they're at their most vulnerable, particularly following a tragedy. That these kids helped produce the tragedy was taking it a step further, and was something of a daring idea for Roddenberry and his crew.

one of the worst Star Trek episodes of all

[fabian5 · 3/10 · 26 September 2007]

This episode neatly epitomizes the black hole that Star Trek was descending into in season 3. The Enterprise takes aboard several children whose parents have committed mass suicide on a colony without asking serious probing questions concerning the reason for their deaths even though Dr. McCoy notices the lack of emotion in the kids. Shouldn't alarm bells be ringing here among the Star Trek personnel? Predictably enough, the children soon take control over the starship with supernatural telepathic powers and direct it to Marcus 12 under the influence of a 'friendly angel' called Gorgan (played by Melvin Belli). The children manipulate the Enterprise crew to do their will and nearly have Kirk arrested as the captain struggles to regain command over his ship. Once Kirk eventually breaks Gorgan's spell by playing a tape showing the children playing with their parents on Triacus and then their parent's terrible deaths and graves, the children cry and see Gorgan's true evil nature. Kirk is back in command and everything returns to normal. McCoy then says "its good to see the" kid's cry.

Children--especially several children--do not make plausible science fiction subjects. Its hard to believe that this plot is realistic: that a bunch of kids can take over the massive Enterprise without quickly eliminating Kirk from the picture. Almost all the Enterprise crew--including Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekhov fall under their spell...but the equally human captain Kirk is immune from their mind control? There are just too many plot holes here! Belli's performance as Gorgan is also poor since he was really an attorney, not an actor. This episode is almost as bad as 'Spock's Brain' or 'The Way to Eden.' It seems to have been written with a minimum of insightful ideas.

Better than some say

[bobjohnson994 · 7/10 · 12 March 2014]

I actually thought this was a powerful episode. Are there plot holes? Sure, but the emotions of the children, the creepy Angel, Kirk going off the deep end, Spock's contest of will with the alien...

I thought it made it worthwhile.

Also, there was enough tension because it was not clear how it would end.

I am also probably affected by having watched it as a kid, it stuck in my mind.

In any case, since I need to write more for a review, I would like to go stylin in that outfit the angel wore.

The Kids Aren't Alright.

[BA_Harrison · 2/10 · 16 June 2022]

A landing party beams down to an outpost to find all the adults dead, seemingly by their own hand, but all of the children alive and well and not at all bothered by the deaths of their parents. The children are taken to the Enterprise where they proceed to control the minds of the crew, the mischievous tykes being commanded by Gorgan, a glowing green man in a dress intent on gathering followers and conquering worlds.

Just a few minutes in the company of the annoying youngsters in this episode and I was longing for Kirk to say 'what the heck' and start blasting them, phaser set to kill! It doesn't matter how good the story is (and it isn't), the little kids acting like obnoxious brats ensures that 'And the Children Shall Lead' is a painful experience from start to finish. After some spectacularly bad acting from Shatner, the problem is resolved by showing the kids a video of the good times they had when their parents were still alive, allowing them to grieve and have a good snivel. This causes the green man to turn mouldy and vanish.

2/10 - One of the worst episodes in TOS.

Bratty Kids, The Gorgan & The Enterprise

[Rainey-Dawn · 7/10 · 12 January 2017]

Season 3, episode 4. The Enterprise receives a distress call from the planet Triacus. Kirk, Spock & McCoy beam down and find all adults dead and the children still alive. It is confirmed the adults committed a mass suicide. The kids are happily running around playing. The kids are without parents so Kirk has all of them beamed up to the ship. Once on board, the crew of the Enterprise tries to help the children but they become brats, shaking their fists to control the crew to get what they want. The kids have what appears to be an angel that controls them - the Gorgan. The Gorgan ends up on the ship with Kirk and crew dealing with him and the bratty kids.

Yes these are very bratty kids and they can get on your nerves just watching this episode - imagine what Kirk and crew must have been feeling. In a way, it's kind of fun to watch this episode to watch how Kirk and crew handle a ship full of evil brats.

7.5/10

Children and good sci-fi don't mix!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 8 December 2006]

As I said above, kids and good sci-fi don't mix. Think about it. Lost in space with Will Robinson--insipid. Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek The Next Generation--annoying. The stupid little kid on the original Battlestar Galactica whose name I can't recall (nor do I care to). And, of course, the little brats who star in this dreadful episode. To top it off, the guest star is a famous celebrity lawyer and not an actor. All this put together equals a recipe for boredom.

The Enterprise comes to an outpost and finds that all the adults committed suicide (maybe they read the script). All that remains are the kids, who oddly seem quite happy and indifferent to the deaths. So, despite all the warning signs that there is a major problem, the kids are taken back to the ship where they unleash their unholy reign of terror--thanks to a demonic spirit who eventually looks like his head is made of blue cheese. And the solution to all this horror? Yep, Kirk the social worker gets the kids to grieve and realize that the big piece of cheese isn't their friend after all--even though he can help they do cool things with their minds (like make daggers appear in space or women look old and yechy in the mirror).

UPDATE: By the way, it isn't just me who hated this episode. At the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, this was voted as one of the 10 worst of all episodes from every Trek franchise! That is some ignoble designation!

The deeper meaning behind this episode (for me)

[barbaralgay · 10/10 · 18 August 2017]

At the age of 54, I've seen a lot of things in my life--good and bad--including TV shows, movies, books, stories. I believe they've all contributed to my growth in one way or another.

This episode had a profound impact on my young mind (I saw it at the age of about 9, I guess).

I realized that whether we are children or not, giving in to temptation is ultimately going to erode our self-respect and possibly endanger our life or others' lives.

I also realized that what we want and think we should have or even think we need is not something we can always determine for ourselves--child or adult.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that those who we meet up with in life who want us to have whatever we want--no matter who they are-- are not necessarily acting in our own best interest. We don't always need a "yes" man. Oftentimes, what we most need is someone who will say "no" or "that doesn't look good" or "it's time for bed" or even "you shouldn't do that."

Ultimately, I guess I could also say that I learned that what looks good on the surface isn't what's really good, and what looks bad, isn't necessarily bad. All good lessons.

Thanks, Gene! :)

It's not so bad

[bgaiv · 7/10 · 2 July 2021]

There are problems and plot holes, and the orchestra sting each time they pump their fists wasn't the best choice.

But there are a number of very effective scenes of possessed crewmen, particularly Doohan when he tells Kirk and Spock he will kill them if they don't leave the room. Doohan really sells that scene.

Chekov's phaser scene is also quite strong.

The Gorgon and the chant to bring him are a bit weird. But why not? He's an alien taking a form that he believes will (and does) fool the children.

The only Star Trek episode to give me actual physical pain to watch!!

[Rviewz2468 · 1/10 · 4 July 2018]

Wow was this a trainwreck.

While some other episodes of TOS pushed the boundaries of goofy to fun(trouble with tribbles) others were absolute disasters such as this one or Spock's brain for comparison. Now I would like to state that this is in my opinion the worst episode of TOS and possibly even the entire franchise.

The basic plot is, Kirk and the gang are sent to a planet to retrieve a group of children whose parents committed mass suicide, the kids however seem entirely unfazed by the recent death of their parents and are almost glad they're dead(or if you want to be more analytical are in denial). We soon learn that the kids are in contact/under control of a mysterious alien spirit angel??I honestly don't know, what I do know is that this mysterious alien is played by a real life famous attorney in his acting debut, which apparently from what I know of the story was a publicity stunt by the producers to increase the amount of viewers. Anyway the evil angel lawyer convinced the kids that they need to go to a federation colony so that he can spread his influence and take over the galaxy(Yes he tells the kids he wants to take over the galaxy, but hey kudos to the evil angel lawyer, real ambitious), he in turn promises to the kids that basically he will tear down the fabric of society and plunge the galaxy into anarchy, so yay no bedtime. Now(and this is when it starts to get really ridiculous) the kids manage to fool the crew into heading to the federation colony by pumping their fists at them which makes them see silly illusions and apparently lowers the crews iq. So it's up to Kirk to stop these damn kids and yet while seeing them nearly kill him several times, Kirk refuses to do any thing to the kids! I mean you don't have to lock them up in the brig or anything but at least confine these demon brats to quarters! So while a bunch of illusion nonsense goes on Kirk eventually shows the kids that they were happy with their parents and gets them to accept their parents death. This in turn destroys the evil angel lawyer.

Now while a lot of reviewers connected to this by watching as kids, and I get that, and while they did attempt to pass the message that evil cannot spread without followers, and that children are more susceptible to become said followers. They did so in such a horrendous and laughable way that I swear to god I thought I was having a stroke halfway through. The acting was all acceptable with the exception of the actual lawyer which is to be expected, but the plot and ridiculously annoying kids and fist pumping had me in pain all the way throughout, I do not recommend it.

Kirk defeats an evil alien by making kids cry

[wgreview-1 · 1/10 · 17 September 2020]

This is the bottom of the barrel. Even Spock's Brain was better than this (it at least had a few moments of unintentional comedy). Even as a kid I loathed this episode.

The kid actors actually did their best with a terrible story and script. The fault is not theirs.

There's also a strange continuity error: when the demon appears for the final time, Kirk addresses it as Gorgon (also sometimes misspelled Gorgan in the script). How did he know its name, since no one had ever mentioned it any earlier in the episode?

Contrary to What Many Think, One of the Better Third Season Shows

[chrstphrtully · 6/10 · 7 July 2006]

I've read a number of reviews slamming this episode, but in actuality, it's one of the best thought-out and acted episodes of the third season.

The Enterprise visits a scientific colony and finds all of the adults dead, and their children surprisingly unaffected. After taking the children aboard the ship, they find that the adults realized that a malicious presence was dominating them through their children and that they killed themselves to prevent the presence from taking control. The children then begin to try and take control of the Enterprise with the help of the presence (called Gorgon, and amusingly played by legendary attorney Melvin Belli).

While this episode might have been an utter disaster, it is written (like "Miri") with a decent understanding of how children can resent parents and deal with grief through denial. More interestingly, it is one of the few episodes where Shatner actually underplays, and it works particularly well in his scenes with the children.

All in all, very nicely done.

God**mn this episode sucks

[tavives · 1/10 · 21 June 2023]

Y'know, everybody says that "Spock's Brain" is the worst episode of Star Trek. Nah, this one leaves it in the dust. I mean, really. WTF? A bunch of space brats, who have been possessed/groomed by Melvin Belli? Just the memory of "hail, hail, fire and snow" induces PTSD. It's a shame, because Craig Huxley is a really nice fellow. I've met him a couple of times at ST conventions.

I don't know what the writers of this episode were thinking. But, it's off the charts, ridiculous, bad, and PAINFUL to watch. Did any children over the age of about four ever even play "Ring around the Rosie?"

The only positive thing out of this episode that I can even remotely come up with is that it introduced the United Federation of Planets pennant.

THEY PLAYED "FOLLOW THE LEADER"---THE WRONG ONE

[zitacarno · 7/10 · 12 January 2018]

This was one episode where I would have loved to have in my hand a fully loaded phaser set to "disintegrate". The alien in this story was one of the most repulsive creatures in the history of science fiction---Friendly Angel, my rear end!---and I could not help thinking of various personalities, past and present, with similar nefarious schemes. All through the story I was holding my breath,wondering how Kirk and Company would deal with this, and the first inkling came when Spock, after saying "Why are we bothering Starfleet?", shook that off. The turning point came later when Spock got the captain off the bridge even while Tommy kept pounding his fist over and over and Kirk was lamenting losing command. The incredible Vulcan got Kirk's attention and used his full telepathic powers---you should have seen the intense concentration in his face---to force the demon from the captain's mind and restore his control and command; at that point I could relax, especially when Spock asked "Where to?" and Kirk, now himself again, replied "To auxiliary control, my Vulcan friend---this ship is off course!" It was not the first time, and it would not be the last, that Spock saved the situation.

I shake my first at this episode.

[thevacinstaller-03350 · 3/10 · 3 January 2023]

Well, it's not as bad as the Alternative Factor from Season 1 but it certainly made an attempt to be as bad.

The pacing is a major problem and continues to be a problem with TOS. It's a bit of an endurance trail to attempt to remain engaged with the story when enduring 20 minutes of the kids shaking fists at the crew to maintain control.

I need to understand this antagonist better ---- from what I learned via watching the show it appears to be an evil alien who wants to control or kill people? Why? Because it's evil? Well, that's boring man.

I think this episode was attempting to be creepy but it was never able to capture that twilight zone/outter limits level of uneasy that it was attempting to capture with the thrall children.

The only real positive to this episode is we get some classic shatner acting in the turbolift when he realizes he is about to lose control of the enterprise.

The episode ends with the kids confronting 'evil' and it apparently just dies after it's truth is revealed? Is this the message? Confront evil? Thanks Star Trek, thanks for that insightful suggestions.

Let's move boldly forward from this one.

Busy - Busy - Busy - Busy....

[woljm45 · 24 March 2006]

The crew discovers that all the adults of a colony have committed mass suicide, leaving the children by themselves. The strange part is that the kids show no ill effects towards the tragedy which occurred. As the children are taken aboard the Enterprise, their secret is revealed. They possess the power to control the thoughts of adults, aided by an evil spirit of course. The children succeed in taking over the bridge by driving the adults to face their worst fears. The acting was superb all the way around, especially when Spock is seen struggling for control of his own mind. A nice episode that gets over-shadowed by all the other classic ones.

Bad!!

[njpaul-00633 · 6/10 · 19 April 2021]

Pretty bad episode especially Tommy Starnes who previously played Kirk's nephew. All in all worse than Spocks Brain.

Law and performance

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 26 April 2014]

This episode shows that the writers of Star Trek prime were beginning to recycle. The theme of children running things was fresh when Kim Darby and Michael J. Pollard were playing kids running a planet in the first season with grownups (Grups). But now the kids have left a planet where their parents were taken over by a demon being and are all dead. It's how the Enterprise away team found them. They brought the kids back and their demon with them.

The demon is played in florid style by famed criminal defense attorney Melvin Belli replete with the flowing gown of some prince of the Catholic Church. Belli successfully erases the line between the law and performance.

Unfortunately for his ambitions, Belli needs willing catalysts to do his worst and he has them in the kids who show no signs of grief for their parents. In that is his weakness which both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy exploit. Especially Nimoy, that Vulcan mind training comes in handy in this story.

But it truly is a rehash from the first season.

Yes one of the better season three episodes

[ewaf58 · 8/10 · 18 September 2006]

Yes I agree with my fellow Trek fans in their comments. Season three has received much criticism - and in my opinion some of it is well deserved - but there are positive aspects as well.

But there are about six very decent episodes which would have stood up quite well in the previous two seasons (Including this one) - 'Let that be your last battle field' 'All our yesterdays'' The Savage Curtain' - The Thiolian Web' (of course many of you will beg to differ - but these are my favourites.

I like this episode because it highlights how children can loose empathy and appear uncaring (an all to real modern day trait). There is real feeling in the writing - especially when the children realise what has really happened.

I would really be happy if anyone else would tell me the episodes they like from the third season

Creepy children seize the Enterprise

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 29 July 2015]

Investigating a distress call from the planet Triacus the Enterprise discovers that the adults have apparently killed themselves leaving a small group of children who appear utterly unconcerned. While exploring the site Kirk goes into a cave and suffers a feeling of total dread which passes when he leaves. Back aboard the Enterprise the children appear happy but start behaving oddly when their parents are mentioned. Alone they chant and summon an alien being which tells them to take the ship to Marcus XII. It soon becomes apparent that they have some strange power which enables them to tap into adults most basic fears and to trick them into believing they are still orbiting Triacus when in reality they are heading to Marcus XII. Kirk and Spock manage to break the children's grip on them and struggle to regain control of the ship; frequently having to confront their own crew in the process.

This episode is somewhat weaker than average but it isn't terrible. Starting with the faults; the children are initially somewhat annoying, the alien isn't particularly threatening and the hand-pumping action the children do each time they use their powers is just silly; surely there could have been a better way of showing they were using a power. On the plus side the children were pretty creepy once we realised what they were up to. The acting here isn't the best; I wasn't surprised to read that Melvin Belli, who played the alien Gorgon, wasn't even an actor. Overall a bit of a disappointment.

Decent idea with a sloppy execution

[snoozejonc · 2/10 · 4 October 2021]

Enterprise visits a planet where all the adults are found dead and the children appear unaffected.

I think the basic concept is good. Written in the sixties during Cold War paranoia and with the horrors of WWII relatively fresh in people's minds, a group of children being influenced by a malevolent entity to do bad things is a sinister idea that could have worked well. However, what we are presented with on screen, is repetitive, silly, and tries the patience.

The scene with Nurse Chapel showing the children how to obtain ice-cream does for me have an edge of creepiness and gave me a sense of foreboding of what might come. Unfortunately the plot holes and characterisations rob the narrative of any plausibility, preventing any suspense or real interest about the outcome.

I never criticise child actors because they are generally an easy target. I didn't reach an acceptable level of emotional maturity until my late 30s, so I could never have expressed myself on a stage during adolescence. For me the creative decisions made about the use of these characters were questionable and the problem mostly lies here. They are no better nor worse than other children I have seen in movies but are allotted much screen time with the purpose of being antagonists. We see them play, chant, and generally confuse and horrify members of the crew and none of it works.

Lots of scenes involve repetition of a 'rock, paper, scissors' type action when the children use their psychic powers. This is a very uninspired visual and is cut into so many sequences by the editor it becomes tedious. Similarly repetitive are the visuals involving U'Hura and Sulu.

I am not sure how Melvin Belli was cast as Gorgan, but to be fair they try to disguise his acting ability with special effects. Unfortunately it is plain to see and hear he is rushing through lines in a way that sounds like someone reading a statement.

This character is not particularly well written and when explained by Spock in a bit of convenient exposition, it all sounds a bit ill conceived. Also, somewhere during the editing process there must have been a sequence removed from the final cut where Captain Kirk first learns Gorgan's name to provide continuity to his use of the name during a later scene.

William Shatner does his best to lead an episode where Kirk is written as weirdly annoying as he's ever been. His hostile and occasional patronising attitude from the start is distracting and his near mental breakdown borders on funny. James Doohan is just as much of a caricature of Scotty in his OTT scene. Although I thought the fight was well staged.

For me, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Majel Barrett give the most credibility with performances that are restrained and believable.

Watched it, hated it.

[cameronbelll · 1/10 · 15 May 2022]

I watched this episode while watching the complete series, I did not have any opinions about this episode before going in, or any other episode in the series for that matter.

The episode started and within a few minutes I was ready for it to end. I endured the rest of the episode and decided to myself that it was one of the worst, if not the worst, episode of Star Trek I have yet seen.

After having come to the above conclusion, I was curious as to whether others had thought the same. I came here to find I'm certainly not the only one.

I have also found, those who give this episode a more positive rating, often make comments such as "Wasn't as bad as I was told." Which is probably correct, however I do believe that that is why they may tend to give it a more favorable rating than those who went in blind, as it were, like myself.

There are also those who genuinely feel the opposite and that's fine that's their opinion as this is mine.