Star Trek (TV Series) Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (1969) User Reviews

Red Alert - Self-Destruct Sequence in Progress!

[Bogmeister · 6/10 · 3 March 2007]

I was prepared to vote lower on this overbearing, transparent commentary on racism until I viewed it again: there are some compelling scenes, it turns out, mostly courtesy of actor Gorshin (better known as the Riddler on the "Batman" TV show) as Commissioner Bele. He does overact as he spews his venomous hatred to anyone within earshot (anyone within a light year, it seems like), but it's a curiously appropriate performance - apropos the wild, irrational tone put on display for the taken aback Enterprise crew. Bele grits his teeth, chews up phaser blasts, and appears ready to hurl physical bile past his abused larynx due to so many years of pent-up fury (very many years, it's revealed - see below). The crew, of course, are well evolved beyond the petty prejudices we see here and so we see things from their aghast perspective. Bele is, for purposes of this story, the half-black: the upper class establishment figure of his alien planet, used to putting certain people in their place. But, the story doesn't take sides; Lokai, the half-white - the pursued lower class persecuted figure - doesn't come off looking any better. He seems most content being the center of attention, displays similar prejudice against mono-colored peoples and probably wouldn't mind sacrificing thousands of his 'followers' if it made him look heroic in the end. Though a product of the relevant sixties, this hasn't dated as much as one would think.

There's a reason, by default, that this episode may not rate higher: with no one to root for, the story lacks a focal point or someone we can relate to. We listen to both Bele & Lokai angrily espouse their views throughout the episode, reminding us of various speeches by political leaders, but, in the end, it all comes off as pointless ranting and babbling - neither one is worth listening to. It's a 'message' episode, watch out. And, in this case, the message seems to be that if you're filled with hate, you'll end up running around the Enterprise corridors to no purpose. That's it, after 50,000 years? I would've preferred a number of 50 years or even 50 centuries, but, according to this episode, these two guys have been running around the galaxy since Cro-magnon man first developed on Earth. I suppose this extreme length of time was meant to stress the futility of their irrational hatred or to lend a cosmic slant to their never-ending antagonism, but come on, Trek. So these guys are immortal, have personal force shields and Bele can control the ship with his mind. Were all their race so accomplished? We'll never know. This episode does have the marvelous self-destruct sequence initiated by Kirk, in which Spock & Scotty join in to voice the self-destruct codes. This sequence manages to squeeze out every bit of suspense possible for such a televised few minutes and foreshadows the now-famous sequence later duplicated in the 3rd Trek film, "The Search For Spock." Knowing what we do now about that movie, the countdown to doom in this episode is all the more chilling.

Star Bellied Sneetches!

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 8 May 2014]

Two men show up on the Enterprise. They are each black and white, split symmetrically. One is black on the left and white on the right. The second is black on the right and white on the left. So, to a casual observer, they are nearly identical. Even their body types are about the same (they both look like Frank Gorshin). They become the consummate nuisance on the ship. One is in pursuit of the other, attempting to legally apprehend him (legally, according to his view of things). Kirk gets fed up with them, telling them to knock it off. Not only does this not happen, they gain control of the Enterprise and it takes Kirk bringing the ship to near destruction to dissuade them (at least temporarily) from their racist activities. Without ruining the ending, it reminds me of those stubborn Dr. Seuss characters who pride themselves on the most insignificant physical traits. At the end, the Sneetches can't remember how each of them was different. These guys go down that road. In some ways rather precious; in others a bit of profundity.

An influential episode from my childhood

[kristof1965 · 7/10 · 10 February 2013]

On the technical side, this was one of the lower quality episodes of Star Trek. And while the message is very overt, and even a bit campy in it's execution, I still look at this as one of the most influential Star Trek episodes I ever saw.

I first saw it as a third or fourth grader in afternoon reruns in the 70s. Having had absolutely no experience with any sort of racism that I was aware of at that point in my young life, the entire episode struck me as silly that people could or even would act that way for what was obviously so little of an actual difference. Further thinking about it, and discussions with my school teacher mother about the episode were very enlightening to my young mind.

I imagine that for adults at the time the episode aired (or even now), the episode really does come across as campy, preachy and overt. But for many of my peers who saw it as a child, it was, in it's own way, a positive message.

Good classic cheesy 60s Sci-Fi

[ronindave · 6/10 · 22 December 2013]

"Let that be your Last Battlefield" is a heavy-handed tale of racism that beats the viewer of the head with its not so subtle message that "racism is stupid" every 5 minutes. Still this episode has a goofy charm that the old Star Trek series would somehow be less if this episode hadn't been made. It's a kind of so bad it's good episode.

The two guest stars in their cheap black&white make-up (you could tell they were scraping the barrel of the budget for the show by this time) steal the show with their constant hating of each other while the Enterprise crew does very little except watch and make self-righteous comments.

This episode is a time capsule of sorts because it is very much a part of its time as the settings of many Sci-Fi stories of the 50s&60s were often just thinly-disguised commentaries about social conditions and human nature. Writers of such stories were more interested in the message than in fleshing out a story universe that made sense.

"Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" though is enjoyable fare to sit back and enjoy and not to be surprised by the inevitable obvious ending. What makes it even more delightful is the appearance of Frank Gorshin, Jr famous for playing The Riddler in the 60s Batman series as one of the illogical hate-fueled aliens.

One of the Best Star Trek Episodes is not as "Black and White" as It Appears

[classicalsteve · 10/10 · 4 February 2017]

This episode has been criticized because it seems its main point is applied with a sledge hammer. And yet, if you watch the episode carefully, there are subtle hints that there's a lot of blur about what its ultimate message could be. The Starship Enterprise has inadvertently crossed paths with two alien beings who have been at odds for 50,000 years, Lokai and Bele. A shuttlecraft was stolen from a Starbase 4 and the Enterprise is in pursuit. They use a tractor beam to "rescue" the shuttlecraft and a strange humanoid who is black on one side and white on the other. His name is Lokai and he said he "borrowed" the shuttlecraft to escape a commissioner from the planet Cheron who has been pursuing him. When McCoy examines him, he determines that Lokai would be regarded as a superhuman when compared to average humans from Earth.

Shortly thereafter another humanoid obviously from the same planet appears on the Enterprise, Bele. He says the Enterprise holds "precious cargo": Lokai. Bele also has the same trait of having a black side and white side. We learn that Bele regards Lokai as of an inferior race and that Lokai's "people" were destroying their civilization. By contrast, Lokai contends that Bele's people enslaved his people. Bele also demonstrates abilities far above those of earth humans. When the difference between the two is finely revealed, Kirk and Spock are somewhat flabbergasted as to the characteristic which distinguishes the individuals.

While this story device of humanoids with a black side and a white side may appear to be an obvious commentary on contemporary racial relations, the story does well to keep from portraying one side as being "right" and the other "wrong". Lokai's claims his people were oppressed by the people represented by Bele may at first seem like the obvious choice for our sympathies. But then we learn that Lokai's people engaged in destruction on a mass scale. He also continually admonishes the crew for not carrying out justice because they are not willing to kill Bele. Simultaneously Bele believes he is pursuing not only Lokai but justice and that his apprehension of Lokai represents the greater symbolic rightness of "justice".

This is a subtle story if you examine its depth. Its not really about who was right or wrong in terms of the "facts" of who was more or less oppressed and/or who was more destructive. The final message is that no matter which point of view may be right, the real villain is the hate which emerges from the conflict. And as the final scenes attest, hate becomes the overriding destructive force which may be the unintended consequence of pursuing justice, however that is defined.

a rather crude episode on the effects of racism

[fabian5 · 6/10 · 1 October 2007]

This show had great potential: however, its analogy on racism is much too crude to have any impact on the viewer. Basically 2 aliens--Bele and Lokai--repeatedly fight on the Enterprise with the use of forcefields and other infernal devices with neither side gaining an upper hand. They are so filled with hatred for one another that they cannot stop quarreling and turn the Enterprise into their own 'battlefield.' Captain Kirk is compelled to travel to their original home only to discover that both Bele and Lokai's native planet of Cheron have been totally destroyed by their racial conflict--and no human life exists. Indeed, the planet is so desolate that animals are even encroaching into the planet's now empty city centres, notes Spock from his sensor scans.

The repeated emphasis of Bele and Lokai running around the battleship and attacking one another just demeans the seriousness of the topic on racism. It is much too heavy handed to be taken seriously. If the episode had been played more subtly, its effectiveness could have been more substantial. Basically, the show had a good premise but extremely poor execution. The makeup is also below average but at least the producers had a good excuse here--NBC's serious cutbacks in Star Trek's budget. There are a few good lines such as the scene where Spock tells Bele that his planet was once a violent world which the Vulcans eventually resolved through logic and cool reasoning. Bele, however, is much too irrational to make peace with his arch-enemy Lokai or to settle on a new life other than his native Cheron.

"You mono-toned humans are all alike".

[classicsoncall · 9/10 · 10 February 2011]

As faulty as one's memory can be, I'd still go on record stating that this was one of the episodes I caught in re-runs in the Seventies that made me a Star Trek fan. Roddenberry and his co-writers skewer racism in the story, and manage to turn the concept on it's head with a brilliantly clever twist. Though on the surface, Bele (Frank Gorshin) and Lokai (Lou Antonio) appear to be of the same race, they are obviously at war with each other because their coloration forms a mirror image of each other.

The episode achieves absurd proportions when Bele proclaims to his nemesis - "You're dead, you half-white"! It's at this point that the viewer either 'gets' it, or doesn't. The inherent nature of racism is entirely wrong headed and unsupportable by any logical rationale. If you were to strip away any of the physical features that define people, whether color, race, nationality, sex or what have you, you have no basis for fear and hate. Imagine if everyone in the world were blind. On what pretext would one be able to base his hatred for another person?

On top of the racial component, the episode also offers that intriguing smack down between Captain Kirk and Bele over the fate of the Enterprise. The destruct sequence by itself would have made for a great episode, but here it's part of a larger story. In fact, it gave Bele one more opportunity to bring his prejudice into the equation by declaring to Kirk - "You can no more destroy this ship than I can change color". Brilliantly played.

However there was one thing that obviously contradicted continuity in the story. It was mentioned that the shuttle-craft Lokai arrived in was stolen from Starbase 4. Yet when it landed in the hangar of the Enterprise, it clearly showed the call numbers of the Enterprise itself - NCC 1701-7. It seems to me this could have been easily avoided by changing the numbers, so I wonder why no one thought of it. Maybe by that time, cast and crew might have gone color blind.

Predictable but still engaging

[chrisbaird-ma · 6/10 · 10 April 2013]

This is a surprisingly decent episode of Star Trek in an otherwise quickly declining third season. There is nothing glaringly wrong or annoying with this episode, but also nothing especially new or suspenseful. The Enterprise stumbles on two alien humanoids locked in eternal battle; both from the same species but with a slight skin difference that has created the prejudice behind the battle they are carrying out which is representative of the battle being carried out between their races back on their home planet. Despite the plot being well-worn and predictable, this episode is surprisingly watchable due to decent acting and musical scoring. The problems I see that this episode has:

1) The black/white makeup for the aliens is just awful. That's not skin. That's cheap paint applied clumsily. It would have looked at lot more real if they had gotten two white actors and sun-tanned half of the face.

2) Upon rescuing the first black/white alien, Kirk and McCoy go on and on about how alien he really is, how he must have come from some unknown star system and be a mutant. But then this alien gains consciousness and immediately speaks perfect American English. This was very jarring and made the whole wow-he's-so-alien bit look silly. I know this happens in almost every episode, but it was especially bad in this scene. At the very least the actor could have faked an exotic accent like in other episodes.

3) As soon as you see the aliens have their first contentious exchange you just know that the message is going to be that prejudice is bad and symmetrical war just leads to mutual destruction. Despite being predictable and forced, this message still has value.

4) Kirk and the crew really didn't do much this episode. They just watched the two aliens lock horns and waited for them to self-destruct.

Which Is Good, Which Is Evil? It's Not As Black And White As The Aliens Are.

[Rainey-Dawn · 9/10 · 14 January 2017]

Season 3, episode 15. The Enterprise runs across a shuttle craft stolen from Starbase 4. It appears that the creature aboard is suffocating, and maybe injured so they use a tractor beam to bring in the craft and out steps off an alien that falls over - a black and white unknown species of alien. The alien is taken sickbay where McCoy does what he can for him, he revives and revels he is Lokai from the planet Cheron, a a political refugee and he requests asylum. Kirk wants to bring him to Starfleet for stealing Federation property (the shuttle craft) but Lokai insists he's not a thief but simply using it and would have returned it when he got to his destination. Then another craft appears - an alien scout vessel. Hailing it does not work, it's invisible to the eye but the ships scanners can pick it up... it is on a collision course with the Enterprise but then dissipates while dropping off the alien Bele inside the bridge. Bele wants to see Lokai but Lokai does not want to see him. Lokai claims to be a slave and Bele's kind to be murders and more, Bele claims that is untrue and that Lokai is a prisoner plus he insists to go to Cheron. Kirk reminds Bele that the Federation has no treaty with them and once the Enterprise is done with their mission they will take them to a Federation base to settle this matter. Then Bele takes over the ship telepathically, to Cheron they go. Now Kirk has to get his ship back and do something with the two black and white unknown species of aliens.

Lokai's right side is white and left side is black while Bele's face is just the opposite - that gives the viewers an idea which one is evil, which one is good; which one is possibly a ruler/police which is possibly slave. Which is telling the truth which is lying.

An episode that has intense moments executed very well - even though you know everything will be okay in the end. And it's great to see Frank Gorshin outside of the role as The Riddler.

9/10

A bit obvious and dull, but not a bad episode

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 9 December 2006]

An odd-looking wanted man whose face is bright white on one side and black on the other is caught by the Enterprise. Soon, another similar man shows up and claims that the man is his prisoner. What exactly the first guy did that was illegal is a bit difficult to discern--as the "charges" against him are mostly platitudes and vitriol. The crew isn't sure why they hate each other so much and are shocked to hear that the reason they hate so much is OBVIOUS--one is white on the right side while the other is white on the left! The very conclusion of the episode when both escape is extremely fitting and well-done.

I've heard some people praise this episode because it addressed race relations and this is true and quite commendable. The problem is that despite its plot, the show is pretty dull and the way racial prejudice is handled seems a tad heavy-handed. In fact, the biggest problem is that almost the entire episode (except for a teeny, tiny clip) takes place on the Enterprise--and so many of the ship-bound episodes are more static and less exciting.

Very Good Season Three Episode, With A Message

[florida87 · 8/10 · 23 March 2007]

This one episode I remember well from first viewing it in the early 70's when Trek was shown in syndication (unike some season three episodes which I have forgotten due to them resembling a Lost In Space episode without the Dr Smith). I rate it as one of the best season three episodes and its still a great watch today if you have never seen it. Gorshin is the establishment (interestingly referred here as "the Black" by his nemesis because of the color on his right side, which is probably another statement alluding to the right being conservative) and he is a chasing another of his race who is anti establishment and also a different skin color (he's white on his right side). Rascism is the tone the episode mainly takes, but you can see other parallels with the 60's generation rising up against "The Man" here as well. Excellent episode to watch. Now for some cheap nit picking, when Kirk is issuing the self destruct, Gorshin's character only had to knock him out, than he can't give the command, right? OK that was too easy, how about the way to save money by using an "invisble" alien space ship, that was pretty lame. Despite those two gaffs that I saw, the aliens here are pretty cool, with personal force fields and life spans of over 50,000 years. To bad they didn't study the 1990's LA riots history and know that we all just need to get along. My rating, 8 of 10, its nice to have a Trek episode with a moral again as not all of season three did. The ending is a bummer also which is actually a pleasant surprise, not all things in the Trek universe work out.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 30 May 2012]

"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" examines race relations and two alternate viewpoints, both sides extremely devoted to their causes, hate driving everything they now do. The two alien lifeforms, Bele (Frank Gorshin) and Lokai (Lou Antonio) from a planet, Sharon, located in an uncharted galaxy, represent different sides of a conflict regarding slavery and cruelty, the rise against being enslaved: Lokai has evaded Bele's capture so long because he speaks for those who were under rule, under slavery, mistreated and considered inferior, a message that could or could not be true yet effective enough to garner sympathy every place he has been to. Bele does indicate a superiority complex for his people and when he speaks, there is a sense that he considers his race on the Sharon planet as superior to Lokai's. You see, Lokai and Bele have one side of their face black and the other white: it is just that Bele has black on the right side and Lokai on the left. All of the death and hate that exists over a matter of the slight difference in skin pigmentation…sounds familiar, doesn't it? Yep, this is definitely a message episode without a hint of subtlety. I think we go one step further and say Bele and Lokai represent sides of any opposing party/viewpoint. Both sides so set in their ways, Democrat/Republican, Conservative/Liberal, Pro-Life/Pro-Choice, whatever the argument is for/against, the results are often hostile and angry as intelligent conversation, a method of communication, trying to find a way to bridge the large gap that exists between two ideals, the results of "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" are rather apt and authentic: hate too often exterminates the ability to put aside hard feelings and embrace a peaceful solution to a long-term problem that hasn't accomplished anything. This episode will prove too political, its message too loud and preachy for many, but I do think it is worth telling. While this is a designed message episode, Trek fans will likely find the most memorable scene to be Bele's control over the ship stunted by Kirk's psychological cat and mouse by using auto-destruct as a means to get power turned back over to him. We also see the strain and stress Kirk is under dealing with these two; he does not like to see The Enterprise used as a pawn in a duel between two aliens who have been at war for so long. Kirk tries to be diplomat, as does Spock who mentions his planet Vulcan was almost rendered extinct because of war. It is all futile because Bele and Lokai are unable to listen, too far gone, too blinded by the hate that guides them.

Weak, but there's a possible explanation

[silikonchips · 5/10 · 29 May 2021]

The cinematography was very distracting here. Apparently zooming in and out on the Red Alert lights was a nod to one of the guests playing on Batman. It's still weird and distracting.

But the zooms and extreme closeups during the self destruct sequences are very weird and distracting. They don't add anything to the tension, other than, "that's a really tight closeup!" Too bad, too, because the scene had plenty of inherent tension.

Bele chasing Lokai for 50,000 years makes no sense. After all, the Enterprise just barely saved Lokai from death. Hard to believe these guys could be doing Todd this long if they need spaceships and oxygen environments, etc. Was this the first close call?

I think a better explanation is Cheron was actually destroyed 50,000 years ago and Lokai and Bele are ghosts, doomed to fight this battle for all eternity.

Far From Black & White...

[Xstal · 7/10 · 17 February 2022]

Lokai is all left then all right, while Bele's a bit more black and white, one's up and one's down, sunrise and sundown, paradoxically the same but not in sight.

Demonstrating quite elegantly the destruction caused by perceived difference.

Welcoming in 2022 with a TV series...

[geekoutmetal · 10/10 · 1 January 2022]

That had the most influence in my life. A lot of which I don't remember much of since I was a child of 10 or 11 years when I first watched the reruns in the weekends here in New Zealand here in 1981-2.

I had an unusual New Year's Eve 2021 as I was invited to a BBQ and ended up falling a sleep while editing a comic book I had written and now am lettering and editing the artwork.

Anyway, having missed out on the party to welcome in 2022 I decided to watch episodes I hadn't watched this past year while trying to refresh my memory of the original series episodes since I hadn't seen them since the 80s.

I am huge fan of the series and it's, as I've said, had a huge influence on my love of science fiction and a view of the world that I may not have had having been born and raised in the Fiji Islands up till the move to NZ in 1981.

There are so many stories in these 3 seasons of a franchise that nowadays since to have lost all it's core values or imagination.

This story is raw and interesting even now some. 52yrs later. A lot of folks have rightly mentioned the white/black race elements of the story's aliens, but there is also the interesting point of the mixed race that's seems to be lost on many as well.

Mixed race has an interesting level of prejudice as well. Such as which side is chosen as the more dominant one to live by. Sadly today, as I am sure back in 1969 that there were those who were of mixed race and of course this would be easily noted as they were lighter than black and darker than white.

This is of course not exclusive to the white/black features of the American citizenry where this show is based, but everywhere all over the world where there have been relationships between persons of two different races. Sure we can in 2022 see this story as something very heavy handed and ham-fisted in it's approach. But, it is still very relevant now as it was then as a reminder to all of us that colour, ethnicity or ideologies should not remove our humanity. Or, the basic needs of us all to survive on this ball of dust.

I wish everyone would watch this 1966 series once this year and think about each story the rest of the year. Maybe then we could all look toward a better future together the way that Roddenberry envisioned it could've been.

There is not such primitive thinking today

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 2 November 2021]

Enterprise encounters two humanoid aliens with a deep rooted hatred for each other.

I enjoyed this for the excellent, (albeit subtle as a neutron bomb) social message, the visuals, and two memorable guest performances.

It is an episode much derided for preachy moralising and there is no escaping that fact. William Shatner once described it as "a beautiful concept, without shaking a finger" and I wondered if he saw a different version to the one I did. That being said I remember watching it as a child and the message had a big impact on me because I understood it. It is just as much about hatred caused by social class divisions as it is about race. For that reason I will always have fond memories of Bele and Lokai.

Frank Goshin was known only to me as the Riddler back in those days and he is the reason I kept watching until the end. Looking at it now, both he and Lou Antonio stand out a mile from the regular cast with their performance levels. Antonio in particular is fantastic in a number of scenes. They are the real stars of the 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' and make it worth watching.

The regular characters go along for the ride but do little apart from preach and look down their noses in smugness at how much better life is in the Federation. Spock has a strong moment where he lays out Vulcan's aggressive history and Leonard Nimoy is typically cool and straight with his delivery. Kirk has one big moment with the self destruct sequence and then swaggers around in his chair like an alpha male lion.

Easily the best scene is when Bele reacts to being told how similar he and Lokai are in appearance. The last time I watched it was the first time since childhood and I still remembered that moment.

I like the visuals. The makeup jobs on Goshin and Antonio are two of the most memorable in the franchise. Most of the cinematography, aside from the red alert sequence, is great and contains many inventive shots.

It is far from perfect. I don't think there was a need for them to have superpowers. The story would have been much better if it just focused on exploring and philosophising more about the reasons why so much hate exists, rather than waste time on Bele trying to take control of the ship. Also, the scenes where they endlessly run around the Enterprise as the main cast commentates on their behaviour is just tedious.

Sledge Hammer

[chuck26 · 10/10 · 31 May 2020]

Yes we are all hit over the head with this sledge hammer morality play, but this episode is still enjoyable on a 2nd or more viewing. I have no complaints. I think most of us understand the message.

A black and white issue

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 13 August 2015]

As the Enterprise nears the planet Ariannus on a mission to decontaminate its atmosphere another ship is spotted; a Federation shuttle that had been stolen from a nearby star base. It is brought aboard and a strange alien emerges; his left side is white, his right side is black. He identifies himself as Lokai and states that he is fleeing persecution on the planet Cheron. Spock and McCoy state that they believe his appearance must be due to a unique mutation… a theory is soon disproved when another ship appears carrying a very similar alien… although this one, who identifies himself as Bele, is black on the left and white on the right. Bele states that Lokai is a traitor he has been pursuing for fifty thousand years! It soon becomes apparent that on Cheron those whose left side is white are considered a lesser race while those who are white on the right dominate. Bele insists that Kirk takes them both back to Cheron and when Kirk refuses he uses a telepathic power to force steer the Enterprise towards his home planet… something Kirk is determined to stop; even if that means destroying his ship.

The racial message of this episode is handled in an interesting way; to the viewer and the Enterprise's crew the two aliens look almost the same; which side of their bodies are black and which are white is irrelevant however to them it is everything. Once that is realised the message that such racism is ridiculous is a little heavy handed but that doesn't really matter as the message is still valid. The ending proved to be rather interesting as they avoided the cliché of having the two realise the stupidity of seeing trivial differences as reasons to hate; instead we see where the hate led their civilisation as their chase goes on. On the down side the idea that these two have been hunter and hunter for 50,000 years is crazy to say the least. The acting is solid enough with guest stars Lou Antonio and Frank Gorshin doing good jobs as Lokai and Bele. Overall an okay episode which is memorable as 'the one with the black and white aliens'.

Intelligently written and directed in spite of itself!

[mike48128 · 9/10 · 3 May 2015]

Fred Freiberger directed some of the best episodes. It's a fascinating insight into mindless racial hatred and only "bogs down" a bit in the middle. Could have also been written by Dr. Seuss as it brings to mind his fable of "Sneetches with and without stars" (who are better?). Two beings exactly alike in every way except one has a left white face with the right side black and the other is exactly the opposite. One is the master race and one is the slave race. Both have super-powers and can control the Enterprise. You get the idea. All theories are suggested by Spock including nature vs. nurture. Their hated has outlasted the population of their planet. The only writing flaw is their hatred spans thousands of years. Nobody lives than long, except the "Q" maybe! A fitting "1960's episode". Frank Gorshin channels his inner "Kirk Douglas" as he was an amazing impressionist as well. A brilliant performance as "Commissioner Bele" in pursuit of a "filthy-right sided white face" criminal whom he believes caused the uprising on planet Cheron". Now they will battle for eternity, together and forever. The "stock footage" used for the burning of the planet looks suspiciously like the burning of Atlanta from GWTW, don't you think?

A Bit on the Nose

[Samuel-Shovel · 6/10 · 21 August 2018]

In "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", the Enterprise is on the way to vaccinate an entire planet from some disease when they run across a stolen shuttle craft missing from a Star Fleet ship. They bring it aboard and discover the thief within, an injured multi-colored alien from a distant planet. As the stowaway lies in sick bay, an alien of this same race sneaks aboard the Enterprise in an attempt to arrest the first one. Apparently this man is a political prisoner on the run from the current administration on their home world Cheron. These two men are different within the caste system on Cheron due to which color is on which side of the face.

The man on the lamb is accused of terrorism and his rival is there to extradite him back to Cheron where he will be tried. Kirk won't let this happen until he has his day in court for stealing the shuttle craft; Cheron has no treaty in place with the Federation. The two men attempt to outwit each other. The Enterprise eventually ends up back at Cheron (much to the chagrin of Kirk). The two races' hatred for one another has consumed them so much that the entire planet has been wiped out. The two men are the last of their race. Despite this, the two beam down the surface and continue their cat and mouse escapade. They will chase one another until one is dead.

I'm not sure how the writer of this episode was able to type all of this out with such heavy hands. All jokes aside, yes, it is a bit on the nose... but I can't help enjoying it a bit. There is some bizarre directional choices on display here: the odd zoom, the running sequences, the (very cool) close-up facial reaction shots. It keeps things exciting when the plot drags on a bit. The acting is solid as well.

But it's really the heavy-handedness that keeps this from being a classic. The face paint hits the viewer like a bag of bricks and the conclusion leaves a bit to be desired. Still, not the worst Star Trek has had to offer in Season 3.

Ridiculous!!!

[bitomurder · 8/10 · 11 April 2018]

Whenever a discussion is had about the storytelling of Trek "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is invariably brought up. During the turbulent social change of the 1960's, Star Trek aired an episode that seemed to encapsulate the entire civil rights struggle, bringing it into every home across the nation. In its simplicity it was able to point out exactly what it was all about and to this day the episode is still heralded as a testament to what makes Star Trek so enduring.

"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is ridiculous! The hokey story of two men from a race the federation has yet to make first contact with battling each other across the endless void of space for 50,000 years because one is black on the right side while the other is black on the left side is absurd, and that is precisely what makes this episode so good. It took the story of race relations in the United States and pointed it out for all the world to see how preposterous the whole idea is. Our characters treat the story with the seriousness it deserves, but the viewer is treated to just how stupid the whole thing is. Our antagonists Lokai and Commissioner Beale cannot see the idiocy of their endeavor to destroy one another, but to the viewer it is plainly obvious and is proven during the goofy (intentional or not) running scene at the end of the episode giving us all the evidence we need. The only thing left to do is to turn that gaze towards ourselves to see just how ridiculous we are. The story may be as subtle as a punch in the gut, but that was the objective. Had the situation been less blatant it would not have achieved such a high rating, and its in your face attitude forces the viewer to take a long hard look at the world in which we live and the ludicrousness of it all.

Prophetic

[DrSamba · 6/10 · 13 June 2006]

I think it's safe to say that this is one of the greatest episodes of Star Trek ever. Sadly, it is also a prophetic commentary on the present state of the human race. Three hundred years ago, Jonathan Swift wrote in Gulliver's Travels about the Big-endians and the Little-endians, making war over which end of an egg to break before eating it. In 1969 the Cold War was raging, the somewhat peaceful manifestation being the race to the moon, and the bloody manifestation being Vietnam. The civil rights battle was ongoing, and the feminist movement was gathering steam. In 2006, the Cold War is long over, but now the "war on terror" has taken its place. Racism is still alive and well. With the current debate over immigration and the use of English as the official language of the United States, we manage to find even more ways to distinguish ourselves from "the other". We have Red States vs. Blue States, black vs. white, Anglo vs. Hispanic, Catholic vs. Protestant, liberal vs. conservative, gay vs. straight, pro-choice vs. pro-life, evolution vs. creationism. Some of these conflicts have resulted in bloodshed, others haven't, but they continue to divide us. Worldwide, it's no longer just Christian vs. Jew or Muslim vs. Hindu. In many cases our conflicts involve Christian vs. Christian, as in Northern Ireland or Muslim vs. Muslim, as in Iraq. The worldwide Anglican Communion threatens to split in two over the appointment of a gay bishop. Someone once said there are two kinds of people in the world, those who classify everybody into two kinds, and those who don't. I suspect the latter group is thinning out. God help us.

"You monotones don't understand"

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 12 July 2014]

Stranger things have been known to happen, but the chances of two races of humanoid as typified by Frank Gorshin and Lou Antonio probably couldn't happen in real life. Still as an allegory about prejudice these characters and this Star Trek episode are a fine example.

First Lou Antonio manages to board the Enterprise requesting asylum. He's white and black with a dividing line clear down vertically of his body. After that Frank Gorshin arrives stating he's a law enforcement official from the planet Charon the other side of the galaxy with a warrant for Antonio whom he describes as a terrorist. Gorshin is also black and white just on the reverse sides.

From them we learn how Gorshin's crowd became the dominant race on their planet and how Antonio is a freedom fighting hero for his people. Both of them have extraordinary mental abilities and drive the Enterprise at will forcing control away from William Shatner and the crew. Oh, and they've been pursuer and pursued for 50,000 years.

In the end when they get to Charon it's quite a sight for both of them.

Sometimes these blood feuds can take on a life of their own. As humans and purportedly rational beings we have to overcome that. A lesson humankind has yet to learn.

50,000 years of wearing tights.

[fedor8 · 23 April 2008]

Locki: "Yes, there IS a difference, Captain Kirk!" Kirk: "Ho-hum..." Bele: "Look, Captain, when I lie on a nice sunny beach I lie on my RIGHT side so that I can tan my left half, whereas Locki places his filthy little body on the LEFT." Kirk: "That's hardly what interests me, though. What I really wanna know is whether your women's breasts are two-coloured like your faces."

LTBYLB is yet another episode that presents us with a child-like analogy to various 20th-century/60s issues such as slavery, racism, war, class conflict... yawn. Besides, don't we have enough politicians already covering that ground, boring and annoying us all to bits? Black-white and White-black have come from planet "Unemployed Mimes", hence their dialogue is rusty, them being used more to miming than talking: very much extremely naive-sounding and consisting almost entirely of speeches and political sound bites which even Martin Luther King, Kennedy and Gandhi would have rejected as being too bombastic. BW and WB look and sound corny every step of the way.

Both BW and WB look silly, that much is clear, but the Riddler (WB) moves his body in very goofy ways, which only adds to the camp level. Check out the absurd/affected way in which he runs during the last scenes of the episode.

The two good aspects of this episode: 1) Kirk's order for self-destruction. It would seem that the somewhat sleepier Season 3 Kirk had finally woken up from his semi-slumber. (The way he was developing, i.e. regressing, Kirk would have become even worse than peace-loving Prickard by the time a hypothetical Season 6 had been shot.) On the other hand, I wasn't sufficiently convinced of the logic of the Riddler being able to steer the ship, and yet - at first - being unable to override the computer which receives Kirk's orders for self-destruction. 2) I liked the idea that WB and BW are the only remaining survivors on planet "Mime", hence would spend an eternity chasing each other on such a desolate place. (This reminds somewhat of the resolution in "The Alternative Factor".)

Locki: "He represents a brutal and tyrannical regime, and-" Kirk: "That stuff is too boring. What I'd rather know is what happens when your two races mix. Do you get a black or white child? And if it's all-white does it avoid the black breast, and if all-black does it avoid sucking from the white breast? Or do opposites attract at that early development stage of toddler-mimes i.e. do they suck the opposite-colour tit?"

In one scene, WB tries to insult Kirk and Co. by saying he had heard that "humans had evolved from apes". Of course, he's only partially right: Christian fundamentalists, as we all know, had been created 6,000 years ago out of thin air. The rest of us have ape-cousins.

Cycle of hate.

[thevacinstaller-03350 · 6/10 · 8 January 2023]

It's one of those episodes whose overall message is not designed to be beamed into the progressive brains of the trek faithful who are already all aboard the progressive party bus. No, this is for the viewing audience who possibly have racist/hate fueled beliefs that have not yet chained them to that destructive path.

Sure, it's not subtle but boy does it ever capture the fevered madness that hatred can create. We get a glimpse into the cycle of revenge (an eye for an eye) via the impassioned speech to the trek crew through the crack in the door.

It's easier said then done --- but the message is clear. Remove hate from your heart. This is a solid episode but it lacks nuance in the characters of Lokai and Cheron. I would have enjoyed an exploration of some redeeming qualities in this characters but I suppose hatred has killed all that is good?

The good performance of Lokai and Cheron elevate the episode to watchable and the pacing was good enough to keep me engaged.