Star Trek celebrated its fiftieth anniversary this month. So, here on Redeeming Culture, we’re going to release a short review of every episode of Season One, one episode per day, all month long; for each episode, we’re writing a 3-sentence recap, a 3-word review, and (as much as we can) answering the questions “What fears or hopes are conquered or realized?” and “How does this point to Jesus or to the way God made us?”

For more about Trektember, read our preview post.  Please note that there are minor plot spoilers for this episode below.

Today’s episode is number 13: The Galileo Seven.

Three-sentence Recap

Seven members of the crew crash on a deserted planet in a communications-scrambling quasar formation, and three people have to stay behind for the shuttle to escape.  Spock takes command and displays poor people skills.  McCoy calls him on it.

Three-word Review

Incredible character development!

Big Sci-Fi Concepts

• The Lost In Space concept is very realistically (and painstakingly) explored in this episode as a “needle-in-a-haystack” search.
• A classic huge monster race awaits the crew on the surface of the planet.

Fears Conquered/Hopes Realized

• Spock must face his fears as his dearest and most abiding view of the world fails him – namely, logic.
• The rest of the crew of the Galileo must face the fear of dying and being forgotten on a distant planet far from home.

What does this episode tell us about God or about man?

Spock has always lived his life with hope and trust in logic as the ultimate arbiter of what he should do. But in his time of greatest need, at his first opportunity for solo command, all the faith he has placed in it fails him. It even costs him the lives of two of his crew, and the respect of the others. In the end, it is only when he abandons his failed worldview that he is able to save his life and the lives of his friends.

I cling to failed worldviews sometimes, and I’m sure that’s not something that I alone have felt. It’s only when I give up the weak and feeble and turn to an Eternally significant worldview that I am able to live.

And that’s something I struggle to remember, even now. Like, right now. While I’m writing this.

I pray that we will all be able to escape our quasar planets.

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Thank you for reading Redeeming Culture! Come back tomorrow for more Trektember as we look at episode 14 of Star Trek: “Court Martial”.