Far less known than the Deep Space Nine revisit ("Trials and Tribble-ations") of the classic episode "The Trouble with Tribbles," here's "More Tribbles, More Troubles" for you!
Once again, Kirk has Tribbles and Klingons and Cyrano Jones (as with his live action appearance, portrayed by Stanley Adams, a rarity for the series) to contend with, as well as a "Tribble predator" that's the episode's most obvious concession to the expanded capabilities of animation. Although the less spoken about that the better.
via Star Trek
While much of the series can feel a little disconnected from the rest of the franchise, no matter how similar its approach to the original live action adventures, "More Tribbles" is so close to a hugely familiar episode, a direct sequel even, with a number of callbacks without becoming cloying about it, that it's an excellent opportunity to sample the series. It's not one of the best episodes, but it's positively memorable.
I think everyone knows about this one. It's one of the rare episodes from the series to receive sequels ("More Tribbles, More Troubles" from The Animated Series, "Trials and Tribble-ations" from Deep Space Nine). It's a classic. I don't really need to justify that statement.
The question is, is the legacy of "The Trouble with Tribbles" a positive one for new fans to consider? So often, when that question is raised, it's with episodes existing fans thought rubbed them the wrong way.
The thing is, it's a great episode for fans. It's easy to love, very lighthearted, not in the sense that it doesn't take itself seriously, but that it's hard to be inundated with all those Tribbles and take a different tone. It's instantly iconic. It's basically the peak of the whole second season, everything the creators wanted to accomplish encapsulated in a single episode. The minor characters have significant moments (it's Uhura who's responsible for spreading Cyrano Jones' "harmless" creatures; and this is the episode where Scotty and Chekov defend Kirk and or the Enterprise's honor: "But you heard what he called the keptin!" "Laddie, don't you think you should...rephrase that?"). The Klingons are involved. The story is presented as a dynamic representation of what the Federation is and how Starfleet is involved.
Yet...it's kind of silly, isn't it? How is a casual fan supposed to take it seriously? One imagines that a viewer coming across it in 1967 might have determined that this series was just a bunch of nonsense anyway. The thing is, Star Trek as we know it now literally would not exist without it. Chris Pine's Kirk is exactly the Kirk we find in "Trouble." William Shatner tended to take a sober approach to the character, except in this episode, where he wears a perpetual bemused expression.
"Trouble" is what the new movies are, to some extent. It's not what most of the series, or indeed franchise, actually is. I think I like the lighthearted tone, though, but balanced, the way J.J. Abrams approached it. "Trouble" is what you get when everything matches the dynamic Kirk and Spock and McCoy have been striking all along. It's the tone matching the main characters for a change. And it's arguably the best episode of the series because of it.
And yes, that's one of the iconic Klingons present and accounted for, Koloth, one of the three who later reappear in DS9. What more can you ask for?
four quarter analysis franchise * series * essential * character notable guest-stars:
William Campbell
Charlie Brill
Stanley Adams
