star trek with abraham lincoln

• Show Spoilers
• Night Vision
• Sticky Header
• Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS3E22TheSavageCurtain

Recap / Star Trek S3 E22 "The Savage Curtain"

Edit locked.

Original air date: March 7, 1969

The One With… Abraham Lincoln IN SPACE!

Another day on the Enterprise , another new planet to explore. Excalbia will be explored from afar due to excessive amounts of volcanic activity. Kirk asks Spock if he detects any life forms. He actually detects a few, though there should be none. Oh well, obviously a computer error. Time to pack it in and call it a....is that Abraham Lincoln hovering in space? note  We are not making this up, okay?

He's posed just like his statue in the Lincoln Memorial, armchair and all. Somehow, he can not only exist in space but speak in the vacuum of space . He politely requests to be beamed aboard. Kirk beams him aboard with full presidential honors. He realizes there is no logical way this should be the Great Emancipator himself, but he'll play along anyway. Lincoln, still charmingly polite, requests Kirk and Spock to beam down to Excalbia with him. He cannot explain why, only that they must. Bones and Scotty think this is a very dumb idea. So of course Kirk's willing to do it! Spock declares he will accept the invitation too. And so they do.

On beaming down, they meet Surak, a Messianic Archetype from Vulcan history who makes Spock look like a Keet . They also meet a Rock Monster called Yarnek who wants to know if Good or Evil is stronger. To find out, he becomes Teddy Long and makes an 8-person Tag team match, pitting Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak against Genghis Khan , Zora (a Mad Doctor from Tiburon), Colonel Phillip Green (ecoterrorist and genocidal maniac from World War III ) and Kahless the Unforgettable ( Hero of the Klingons ). Why? Eh, why not?

The Savage Tropes:

• Yarnek is never named in dialogue, but is so named in the script. Even in the closed captioning, he's merely identified when speaking off-screen as "Excalbian."
• This episode would get a sequel of sorts in the novel Savage Trade , which develops the mindset of the Excalbians and reveals their true motives for staging this fight, as well as the aftereffects that set in after the Enterprise leaves.
• Artistic License – Biology : The rock monsters are stated to be carbon life forms, where silicon based life would make much more sense. Even more baffling is that silicon based life has appeared on the show earlier.
• Artistic License – History : The historical characters, most notably Lincoln, do not look or act much like their real counterparts. Justified, since they are based on Kirk's and Spock's images of these historic figures.
• Badass Pacifist : Surak refuses to take part in battle, even though Kirk insists the war they're fighting is for a just cause. Still, Surak insists on a peaceful negotiation with Col. Green. Even Kirk is moved to remark to Spock that "your Surak is a brave man", to which Spock replies "Men of peace usually are, Captain." Unfortunately, it gets him killed.
• Black-and-White Morality : Sums up the whole episode, with Yarnek the super power who wants to know if Good or Evil is stronger. Ultimately subverted — at the end, Yarnek expresses confusion because the distinction between the two isn't as clear as he'd been expecting, since Kirk's team also resorted to violence to win. Kirk explains the difference was in what motivated them: the villains were offered power, while Kirk and Spock were fighting for the lives of the Enterprise crew.
• Blatant Lies : Green tells Kirk that he would like to peacefully team up with Kirk against their common foe. It's all a deception to attack him when his guard's down.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality : Yarnek does not understand the concept of good and evil.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu : Kirk decides he's going to slug Yarnek for what he put Spock and himself through. Yeah, punch the monster made of lava rocks, Jim. You'll have third degree burns on top of that broken arm!
• Captain Obvious : Yarnek tells Kirk "If you and Spock survive, you return to your vessel. If you do not... your existence is ended." Thanks for telling us, Yarnek! That's right up there with "People die if they're killed!"
• Characterization Marches On : Kahless is based on the Federation's conception of the Klingon hero, and it is (due to the political climate) both not terribly favorable and comparatively ignorant. If this episode were to be made in the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Kahless would undoubtedly be on the good side along with Lincoln and Surak. Especially if Worf were one of the participants. note  The tyrant Molor, established as the true Big Bad in Klingon mythology, would have been a likely candidate for the evil side.
• Combat Pragmatist : Lincoln advocates fighting just as dirty as Colonel Green and his friends.
• Door Jam : Yarnek disables the Enterprise 's transporter until they show whether good or evil is stronger. This leaves Kirk and Spock stranded on an alien planet without the support of their crew, with only a pacifist alien and Abe Lincoln to aid them in fighting history's greatest villains.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good : Col. Green expects Surak's peace talks to be a trick. That's what he'd be doing if he tried to talk peace with someone. (In fact, he just did a few minutes ago.)
• Colonel Green to Kirk - Cunning human officers who easily take charge of their respective packs
• Zora to Spock - Alien scientists
• Kahless to Surak - each the greatest influencer of his race
• Genghis Khan to Lincoln - commanders-in-chief from human history
• Famous, Famous, Fictional : Of the six "historical" characters in this episode, only two are known to modern day humans. The others got their characterization expanded on in future Star Trek incarnations, save for Zora. Pity. It would've been interesting to see what a female Josef Mengele of the future would be like.
• Faux Affably Evil : Col. Green seems quite polite and soft-spoken, despite freely admitting to at least some of his bad historical reputation. His good behavior is quickly shown to be a diversionary tactic.
• Forced into Their Sunday Best : Bones and Scotty rankle at getting gussied up for someone who is probably not Abraham Lincoln.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil : Surak, Spock and President Lincoln have a hard time understanding the motives and actions of the opposing "evil" side. Only Kirk seems to have a grasp of their potential for deceptiveness and duplicity.
• Historical Domain Crossover : The Hero team is Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Abraham Lincoln and Surak of Vulcan. The villain team is Genghis Khan, the Klingon Kahless, Colonel Green and the Mad Scientist Zora. Everyone except Kirk and Spock are actually alien rock creatures masquerading as humanoids.
• Historical Hero Upgrade : Kirk's idealized picture of Abraham Lincoln is mostly based on the simplistic, idealized version of Lincoln that was popularized up to The '60s or even into The '70s . The dialogue at the end of the episode actually lampshades as Kirk acknowledges that the image of Lincoln was created out of his own idealization of what he wanted the man to be, not necessarily ignorance of actual history.
• Impromptu Fortress : Kirk and company find a raised outcrop of rock that he says will be their base of operations, because "it's defensible."
• Innocuously Important Episode : While the episode takes place too near to the end of TOS's run to count for anything in terms of that series, its introduction of Surak and Kahless (and to a lesser extent, Colonel Green) would have far-ranging implications for future spin-off shows.
• Innocently Insensitive : Lincoln casually refers to Uhura as a "charming negress". He quickly apologizes though Uhura isn't offended since bigoted terms like that are now only a thing of the distant past.
• Involuntary Battle to the Death : As in in "Arena", "The Gamesters of Triskelion", "Bread and Circuses", "Spectre of the Gun", and "Day of the Dove", Kirk is forced to fight for an alien's amusement.
• Kirk Summation : Kirk can't punch Yarnek, but he can give him a piece of his mind, demanding "What gives you the right to do this?"
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!" : Kirk and Spock are both pretty honored to meet their personal heroes. Spock even admits to showing emotion at the sight of Surak (albeit some of which was simple shock).
• Leitmotif : When Lincoln is beamed aboard, one of the security officers blows a bosun's whistle and they play a recording of "Hail To The Chief". Lincoln looks around and asks where the band is.
• Mirroring Factions : Played with. Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak represent Good; Colonel Green, Kahless, Khan, and Zora represent Evil. Yarnek complains afterward that he can't see the difference between them; Kirk responds by pointing out that they fought for different things: the evil side fought for power, while he and Spock fought for their ship and its crew.

• "Not So Different" Remark : Yarnek insists his method of exploration is no different from Kirk's. That's Blue-and-Orange Morality in action, folks.
• Patrick Stewart Speech : Kind of odd to have an example of this twenty years before Star Trek: The Next Generation began, but that's what it is: Yarnek complains that he doesn't see the difference between 'good' and 'evil'; Kirk points out that he and Spock fought to defend life, while the evil side fought to gain power.
• Rock Monster : The aliens who set up the morality play are made of carbon-based stones.
• The Silent Bob : Neither Genghis Khan nor Zora have any dialogue between them, with Colonel Green and Kahless being the only members of the Rogues Gallery who actually speak.
• Truce Trickery : Kirk points out to Colonel Green that he was notorious for striking his enemies while in the midst of negotiating with them.
• Two of Your Earth Minutes : The Excalbian recreation of Abraham Lincoln asks if they still measure time in minutes, to which Kirk responds that they "can convert to it". (Lincoln consults a pocket watch as he says this.)
• Voice Changeling : The fake Kahless is able to perfectly mimic the voices of both Surak and Lincoln. Possibly Justified in that all three are Excalbian impersonations and thus all their voices are "fake".
• What the Hell, Hero? : Relatively gently, but Bones and Scotty call out Kirk for being a fawning fanboy over Lincoln and not using common sense.
• We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill : Green pulls this and assumes Surak is doing the same.
• White Male Lead : Col. Green instantly takes command of the villain team, with no less than Genghis Khan obeying his orders. There seems to be no reason for this except that he's the one white dude. The real Genghis Khan and Kahless (a member of a race that considers humans inferior) would not approve. Of course, their uncharacteristic behavior is slightly justified because they're not the real Genghis or Kahless.
• Would Hit a Girl : Spock has no problem laying his fists on Zora. Wouldn't you slug Ilsa Koch if you got the chance?
• Star Trek S3 E21 "The Cloud Minders"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S3 E23 "All Our Yesterdays"

Important Links

• Action Adventure
• Commercials
• Crime & Punishment
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• Animation (Western)
• Music And Sound Effects
• Print Media
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters As Device
• Narrative Devices
• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Derivative Works
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Fate And Prophecy
• Edit Reasons
• Isolated Pages
• Images List
• Recent Videos
• Crowner Activity
• Un-typed Pages
• Recent Page Type Changes
• Trope Entry
• Character Sheet
• Playing With
• Creating New Redirects
• Cross Wicking
• Tips for Editing
• Text Formatting Rules
• Handling Spoilers
• Administrivia
• Trope Repair Shop
• Image Pickin'

Advertisement:

Abraham Lincoln

• View history

Abraham Lincoln was a 19th century Human politician who served as the 16th President of the United States of America . As one of his duties as president, he served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army from 1861 until 1865 during his country's civil war . ( TOS : " The Cage ", " The Savage Curtain ")

After Jonathan Archer restored a damaged timeline, Abraham Lincoln signing a document could be seen in the time stream as the timeline realigned itself. ( ENT : " Storm Front, Part II ")

A photograph of Lincoln was scanned by the Talosians as they reviewed the library computer files on board USS Enterprise in 2254 . ( TOS-R : " The Cage ")

As a boy , Lincoln grew up using a sling , was accomplished at wrestling , and became well developed as an experienced backwoodsman . ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")

The painting entitled First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln , depicting an image of Abraham Lincoln surrounded by his Cabinet members, Salmon P. Chase , Gideon Welles , Caleb B. Smith , William H. Seward , and Montgomery Blair during the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, was contained in the library computer aboard the Enterprise . A second image overlaid the painting representing Lincoln's signature of the document. These images were also flashed on the viewscreen when the Talosians scanned the Enterprise computer in 2254. ( TOS-R : " The Cage ")

In 2259 , Pelia owned a print of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address . ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

Voters celebrate his victory in 1860

Scenes from Lincoln's election victory were among the images of Human history on Earth displayed by the Guardian of Forever . Contained in these images were voters carrying signs that read such slogans as: "Lincoln Wins!", "Lincoln and Liberty", and "Old Abe Lincoln: Came Out of the Wilderness." ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

Lincoln was a personal hero of James T. Kirk . In 2269 , the USS Enterprise encountered an image of Lincoln while in orbit of Excalbia , created by the Excalbians to help their understanding of the Human concepts of " good " and " evil ." After witnessing that Lincoln's "death", Kirk felt he understood something of what Earth had to endure before achieving "final peace". ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")

Paintings depicting portraits of both President Lincoln and Surak were hung in the USS Enterprise -A 's officers' mess in 2293 . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

When Berlinghoff Rasmussen made clear that he couldn't tell Captain Jean-Luc Picard about the future, he compared the captain's situation to that of Abraham Lincoln, who might have changed his theater plans had he known what lay ahead of him. ( TNG : " A Matter Of Time ")

In 2380 , when Lieutenant O'Connor ascended, he mentioned Abraham Lincoln. ( LD : " Moist Vessel ")

Gallery [ ]

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

A retconned drawing of Lincoln from "The Cage"

Lincoln on Mount Rushmore (right)

A matte painting created for a deleted scene from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier featured Lincoln's face on Mount Rushmore monument.

The script of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " The Homecoming " describes Li Nalas as having "a quiet self-effacing Abraham Lincoln/ Gary Cooper charisma."

Abraham Lincoln served as a visual inspiration for the look for David Warner 's character of Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . According to Richard Snell , " Nick [Meyer] told me, 'When people look at Gorkon, I want their brain cells to go, "Abe Lincoln, because he's the savior of this race.'" The resemblance is almost subliminal. Warner's face was actually pretty conducive to Abe's distinctive beard and eyebrows. In fact, there's also a tie-in on set during one of the sequences where they're having a formal stated dinner, and you see a portrait of Lincoln on the wall. " ( Charting the Undiscovered Country: The Making of Trek VI , p. 91)

Kirk and the Enterprise crew encountered Abraham Lincoln again in the 1971 Gold Key comic book story " The Legacy of Lazarus ".

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia  (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 465), Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809.

External links [ ]

• Abraham Lincoln at StarTrek.com
• Abraham Lincoln at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Abraham Lincoln at Wikipedia
• 1860 presidential election at Wikipedia
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Trek Tapestry

“the savage curtain”.

After encountering Abraham Lincoln ( Lee Bergere ) floating in space (for realz) the crew beams him aboard. He sort of seems like the genuine article and he vaguely tells Kirk that the answers about him are on a nearby planet the ship was exploring. Upon beaming down, Kirk, Spock and Lincoln are joined by Surak ( Barry Atwater ), the father of the Vulcan people. Then, some weird rock things who live on the planet tell our heroes that they have to fight recreations of four evil figures from history. The bad guys include Genghis Khan ( Nathan Gung ) who really likes to throw rocks; some weird witch woman, Zora ( Carol Daniels ) not to be confused with a witch-ay woman ; Kahless the Unforgettable ( Robert Herron ) essentially, the Klingon messiah who apparently doubles as a voiceover actor; and Colonel Green ( Phillip Pine ) a notorious figure from 21st-century Earth. All the historical figures are recreations (I guess?) and the rock creatures want to examine the difference between good and evil. After a bunch of by-the-numbers fight scenes where Kirk and Co. win, but don’t kill the bad guys, they learn that it’s mercy or something.

Why it’s important

As goofy as this episode is — it seems like something straight out of The Animated Series — it introduces two (possibly three) key figures in the history of Star Trek. Both Kahless and Surak appear in second-generation Trek (Kahless in TNG’s “Rightful Heir” and later references and Surak in the fourth-season Vulcan arc in “Star Trek: Enterprise”). Colonel Green, while certainly not a messiah figure, is an important guy in Earth’s history. He pops up in a recording in “Terra Prime” at the end of the fourth season of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and it turns out he’s a sort of hero to the Earth-for-humans movement because he euthanized a bunch of people deformed by radiation during World War III. Yay!

Now, I’ll give the creators props for sticking with some continuity. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a character like Surak or Kahless to be introduced (particularly in the waning days of TOS) only to be forgotten. Garth of Izar , was introduced in TOS’s third season as the “model” for starship captains and an important historical figure. But we never hear of him after that episode.

(In another example, Kirk, Spock and McCoy meet the  immortal human  Flint — who had been Solomon, Alexander the Great, Merlin, da Vinci, Brahms and possibly others — in “ Requiem for Methuselah ,” arguably the weirdest episode of TOS. We won’t review it as it’s not part of any additional Star Trek lore. But it’s worth a watch because its premise surrounds a very, very interesting concept. Unfortunately, the creators decided to take it in a bizarre direction, in which the immortal Flint builds an android to be with him and tries to use Kirk to get her to learn to love, or something. Kirk and the android fall for each other, Flint and Kirk fight over her, the android dies and Spock later removes Kirk’s memories to help with his heartbreak! Oh, and all of this happens in the span of THREE HOURS as Kirk, Spock and McCoy work with Flint to get a drug from his planet to save a dying Enterprise crew. Even stranger, there appears to be no effort after this episode to contact Flint. Given Spock’s statements in other episodes about the opportunities for research, like the planet killer in “The Doomsday Machine” or the weird aliens in “Catspaw” , it’s odd that they just walk away from Flint. Of course, they did something similar in “Metamorphosis.” )

Of course, Surak, Green and Kahless are all very different the next time we see them — with a special emphasis on Kahless …

What doesn’t hold up

Surak sure looks different (and dresses differently) than he does in Enterprise as does Green. But that’s really not a big thing. The transformation of Kahless, however, is kinda nuts. Here, he dresses like the 23rd-century Klingons we see in TOS, he doesn’t have forehead ridges or long hair (undermining the genetic experiment explanation for Klingon foreheads from Enterprise) he can mimic voices in the stylings of Lt. Commander Data and (probably most importantly) he’s characterized as an evil dude who inspired all the “tyrannies” the Klingons would go on to commit. Oh, and he’s totally subservient to Colonel Green. Weird.

By the time we see Kahless in TNG — or, rather, a clone of Kahless who is made to act like the genuine article — he’s not an evil guy, he has forehead ridges and dresses in garb that’s not out of a 23rd century JC Penney on Kronos. And he has no (apparent) ability to be the Klingons’ very own Mel Blanc . This is actually a case example of how Klingons went from mostly evil, treacherous bastards in TOS and the movies (think Kruge in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” ) to honorable warriors in TNG and DS9 (Worf, Martok, etc.). There were some tweeners over the years, like Kang, Gowron and Gorkon. But retconning a character previously equated with Genghis Khan into a mostly good dude? It’s pretty laughable.

I’ve heard the theory that the rock dudes in this episode generated Kahless from what Kirk thought Kahless would be like — which means Kirk heard the name and drew his own conclusions or read a very biased history on the Klingons (does D’Nesh D’Souza write about Klingon history?). But writing the Kahless inconsistencies off as a flaw in Kirk’s version of him is weak sauce, especially because the rock dudes generated Surak, someone Kirk had never heard of (which, by itself, is pretty ridiculous, as it makes Kirk look like a real idiot). Did they pull Surak from Spock’s mind but everyone else from Kirk’s?

Final thoughts

Well, we say it in our About Us page . Reviewing an episode doesn’t mean we endorse it. “The Savage Curtain” certainly isn’t the worst episode of TOS and it’s arguably not even in the bottom five of TOS’s infamous third season. As hokey and goofy as some of it is, it has some zip to it and some decent dialog. It’s not dreadfully dull AND preposterous like “The Lights of Zetar” or “And the Children Shall Lead.” It’s really just preposterous.

Why did the creators decided to put Lincoln in a chair IN SPACE to start the episode? Why did the creators allow a recreation of the father of Vulcan logic to get killed and Lincoln to be impaled by a spear? Oh, and in another ridiculous moment, Kirk tells Lincoln that the Enterprise can “convert” to minutes. WTF? Was Kirk making a really lame joke at the expense of one of his personal heroes and a key figure in Earth history? Kirk and Co. have used minutes since the very first episodes of the series. They use HOURS later in this episode!

This episode also features the really stupid cliche where the bridge crew watches some fight to the death along with the audience — complete with (groan) the same camera angles. This only happens a few times in TOS ( “Arena” “The Gamesters of Triskelion” and here) but it’s one of my least favorite TOS devices. Naturally, it shows up in “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” the worst of the Trek films.

All that said, I did kinda like the moment where Lincoln says Kirk reminds him of Ulysses S. Grant — and equates Grant with drinking whiskey.

Share this:

Leave a comment cancel reply, what if a site focused on the really important star trek episodes, explained how they were important and how they tied together — while tossing in a healthy dose of snark.

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Jan 27, 2013

One Trek Mind #60: Trek's Take On Lincoln

“It is a magnificent work of duplication.” So said Spock himself concerning Lee Bergere's representation of President Abraham Lincoln, as drawn from the collective memories and historical records aboard the USS Enterprise.Daniel Day-Lewis is currently on a grand tour of awards-collecting, getting all sorts of recognition for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. In his version, written by Tony Kushner and directed by Steven Spielberg (whoever those two are!) Lincoln is an ends-justify-the-means chess player with a determination to evolve society at whatever cost. He's a raconteur and a kind-hearted man. He also wears a ridiculously ostentatious hat. And, as it is in so many other ways, Star Trek had nailed this down over 40 years earlier!

Star Trek 's third season is loaded with land mines. Alas, the antepenultimate episode to air, “ The Savage Curtain ,” is one of them. I can't lie. It kinda stinks. (Nota bene: “ Spock's Brain ” does not! Look for a future One Trek Mind column defending this oft-maligned work of tremendous entertainment!) The episode tries to rehash an “ Arena ”-style battle on a strange planet, but this time as some sort of tag team between the forces of Good and Evil. It doesn't really work – but it isn't for lack of trying.After an opening that peeks behind the curtain of “just another day on the Enterprise,” Kirk is about to throw in the towel on his current assignment. The planet they are observing is just molten rock with no breathable atmosphere. “There's no intelligent life here,” Bones declares. Sulu gets the order to break orbit, but then… sensors go off. The ship is being probed. And an image appears on the viewscreen that is sure to make Star Trek skeptics snicker.Abraham Lincoln, seated as though he were in his Washington D.C. monument, is floating in the inky blackness of space. Indeed, I have a wisenheimer friend who doesn't much care for the “jumpsuit-fest,” as she calls it, that is our beloved franchise. “Is that the one where they hang out with Ben Franklin?” whenever I mention any episode.

It's not really Abraham Lincoln, obviously, but a projection from the highly advanced Excalbian rock creatures on the planet's surface. (And something of a prelude of forthcoming holodeck adventures.) Kirk demands that the “being,” whose scans read as human, be treated as though he were actually the savior of the Union. He certainly looks like Honest Abe, and acts the way we expect him, too. In the transporter room he shows wide-eyed fascination at taped music and politely, but deliberately, urges the security detail to put away their phasers. He's insistent in his position (that he is real, and not a facsimile), but is thoughtful enough to recognize that that is how others see him. (“For an illusion, my opponent carried a considerable punch. Oh, I forgot. You consider me an illusion, too.”)There's also a bit of business on the bridge that may give modern viewers pause, but in 1969 was absolutely on the right side of progress. Lincoln refers to Uhura as a “charming Negress,” then jumps to apologize for his time period's attitude toward people of color. Uhura (and Kirk) don't miss a beat. That business is so behind them that no offense could possibly be taken.

Soon the meat of the episode is laid out. Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and the Father of Vulcan philosophy, Surak, must play a deadly game of cowboys and Indians opposite projections of Genghis Khan, Kahless the Unforgettable (a character who'll get the second biggest retcon after Zefram Cochrane,) Zora of Tiburon and 21st Century World War III villain Colonel Green. (Notable is how much Colonel Green looks like a space ranger straight out of Tom Paris' Captain Proton holonovels.)

Lincoln and Kirk quickly slip into roles of Commander in Chief and General. Kirk darn near blushes when compared to Ulysses S. Grant, and we get a peek at some of Lincoln's tactical thinking. (Okay, “sneaking around back” isn't exactly genius, but they've got to express these things quickly and efficiently.) What's amazing is how, once we're in the heart of it, you actually do kinda buy that it is Abe Lincoln on the planet's surface.

Lincoln's demise comes with an axe to the back. Not a bullet, mind you, but a weapon thrown by Kahless, who was previously impersonating the voice of Surak. (So, he was an actor just like John Wilkes Booth, if you really want to extend the metaphor.)According to legend, Mark Lenard was originally offered the role. This would have made his third appearance after the Romulan Commander in “ Balance of Terror ” and Spock's father Sarek in “ Journey to Babel .”The role ultimately went to Lee Bergere, who would later find great success on TV's Dynasty . He was a journeyman actor, appearing in guest appearances on many shows as well as theater in New York and Los Angeles. He also pushed the envelope for gay rights playing one of the first openly homosexual characters on a television program, the short-lived 1975 situation comedy Hot L Baltimore .Did Daniel Day-Lewis crib everything for his portrayal of Lincoln from this episode? We can never know for sure. But I say yes. I also say he based There Will Be Blood 's Daniel Plainview on Gul Dukat and prepared for The Boxer by studying the sport of Anbo-jyutsu. Then again, I'm insane. Does Lee Bergere's performance as the 16th US President hold any special meaning for you? Sound off in the comments below.

_______________________________

Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com , ScreenCrush and Badass Digest . On his BLOG , Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.

Get Updates By Email

Midnite Reviews

Detailed analysis of classic sci-fi movies and tv shows, star trek episode 77: the savage curtain.

Technical Specs

Director: Herschel Daugherty

Writers: Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Lee Bergere, Barry Atwater, Phillip Pine, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Arell Blanton, Carol Daniels DeMent, Robert Herron, and Nathan Jung

Composer: Fred Steiner

Air Date: 3/7/1969

Stardate: 5906.4

Production #: 60043-77

An engaging study on moral judgment as it pertains to violent combat, “The Savage Curtain” overshadows the ridiculous concept upon which it was founded. Though many awkwardly choreographed fight sequences are present, a clumsy execution never detracts from the profound thesis that underlies every character motivation in this episode.

Concluding Comments

Overall Quality: 9/10

If you enjoyed this post, please click the follow button or enter your email address in the subscription box to stay tuned for more updates.

Star Trek (TV Series)

The savage curtain (1969), nichelle nichols: uhura, photos .

Quotes 

Abraham Lincoln : [interrupting]  What a charming negress. Oh, forgive me, my dear. I know that in my time some use that term as a description of property.

Uhura : But why should I object to that term, sir? You see, in our century, we've learned not to fear words.

Release Dates | Official Sites | Company Credits | Filming & Production | Technical Specs

• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos
• User Reviews
• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

• Non-player characters
• Information givers

Abraham Lincoln

• VisualEditor
• View history

Lincoln in space

A simulacrum of Abraham Lincoln was created by the Excalbians in the 23rd century out of the mind of James T. Kirk . He was constructed as part of the first trial of good vs evil, alongside a simulacrum of Surak , to assist Kirk and Spock against the simulacrums of Kahless , Colonel Phillip Green , Zora and Genghis Khan .

Lincoln was killed during the trial, but his simulacrum was recreated as the Excalbians continued to debate good vs evil. During the second trial, in 2411 , he assists the player in navigating the trials and dealing with Yarnek . He is shown as a moderating influence on the Excalbians, defending the player when their choices are criticized.

• 2 Missions involved
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Notes [ | ]

• Despite being a simulacrum, Abraham Lincoln is the first real-life person to appear in Star Trek Online , as he is based on the 16th President of the United States .

Missions involved [ | ]

• “The Measure of Morality (Part 1)”
• “The Measure of Morality (Part 2)”

References [ | ]

• ↑ For those of you who asked on the stream, the voice of Lincoln is Mark Dodson. Who, according to IMDB, is also the voice of Salacious Crumb.

External links [ | ]

• Abraham Lincoln (Excalbian) at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Abraham Lincoln at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
• 2 Playable starship
• 3 Infinity Prize Pack - T6 Ship