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This week on the Final Frontier Podcast, we review the Star Trek: The Original Series season two episode, “Bread and Circuses.”
The Enterprise discovers yet another suspiciously Earth-like planet—because season two has apparently never met an Earth parallel it didn’t like. This time, the Roman Empire never fell and somehow evolved into a 20th-century fascist society complete with television, automobiles, slavery, gladiatorial combat, and, strangely, the English language instead of Latin.
When Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down in search of the missing Captain Merik, they find themselves caught between escaped slaves, authoritarian Romans, and a televised execution designed to deliver killer ratings in the most literal sense possible. It is also yet another season two episode involving slaves and fascists.
Meanwhile, Spock and Bones reach a perfect 10 on the banter scale, generating enough tension and subtext to guarantee that somebody, somewhere, has written erotic fan-fiction about this episode. There is also a surprising amount of closeted homosexuality simmering beneath the surface—and then Jesus comes completely out of left field in the final minutes. Plus! The most problematic weird 1960s kiss to date!
Join us as we discuss the satire, historical absurdities, religious twist, and why Roman television executives apparently had no problem broadcasting gladiatorial murder but still insisted everyone speak perfect English.
#startrek #startrektos #breadandcircuses #finalfrontierpodcast #scifipodcast #aretemedia