star trek episode nazis

The ‘Star Trek’ Episode That Was Banned Overseas for Nearly 30 Years

The ban would get overturned in 1995.

The Big Picture

• Star Trek: The Original Series took on racial controversies, including racism and prejudice, throughout its episodes.
• The "Patterns of Force" episode was banned in Germany due to the Nazi symbols and pro-fascist sentiments depicted.
• German censorship laws post-World War II led to a ban on the episode due to showcasing Nazi ideology, though it was eventually reinstated.

Star Trek: The Original Series was a groundbreaking show that has since inspired an entire universe of stories and unforgettable characters. It challenged viewers by positing an idealistic future over a dystopian one. By juxtaposing this future against a more primal human history, it showcases the best of what humanity offers. The show was no stranger to racially driven controversy, airing America's first interracial kiss between Captain Kirk ( William Shatner ) and Lt. Nyota Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols ) and exploring the horrors of racism and prejudice in the ever popular half-black-half-white alien race episode. This is why it is so surprising that the 21st episode of its 2nd season, "Patterns of Force," was banned on German television between 1968 and 1995 due to the depiction of Nazi uniforms and the presence of several different Nazi symbols.

Star Trek: The Original Series

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In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

What Happens In "Patterns of Force"?

The episode sees the crew of the Starship Enterprise investigating the disappearance of a Federation cultural observer, John Gill, on the fascist-like planet of Ekos, overrun with Nazi-like soldiers dressed in SS-type uniforms and bolstered by brown-shirted stormtroopers hell-bent on preserving the soul-crushing status quo. Ekos is at war with Zeon, a peaceful planet that starkly contrasts with the warlike society of Ekos. John Gill, Kirk's history professor at Star Fleet Academy, decides to take the mission. As they orbit the planet, they are suddenly attacked with a thermonuclear weapon, a disturbing "what if the Nazis had the bomb." The technology, Kirk surmises, is far too advanced for Ekos, and the Captain believes that Gill may be responsible for violating the Prime Directive and introducing advanced technology to a fledgling civilization. Kirk, First Science Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), and Chief Medical Officer Hank McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ) beam to the planet to investigate.

Upon arrival, the landing party soon discovers that Ekos is in the thick of a Nazi-like purge of Zeons, dressed in Nazi regalia and sporting swastika flags. The crew is horrified as a Zeon citizen is dragged off by the Ekos officers. As they continue to explore the planet and acclimate themselves to the hostile environment, Kirk and company come upon an outdoor news-reel-type film portraying a Nazi rally where citizens chant Nazi slogans, wave swastika flags, sport iron crosses and even make mention of a "Final Solution" promising genocide against the Zeon people and their destruction in the occupied city. Some clips from this reel, most notably the ones where Adolph Hitler is driving in his car, were taken from the authentic Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will .

Eventually, the crew finds Gill, drugged up and taken prisoner by the regime, where they learn that Gill had intentionally imposed a type of Nazi-style fascism on the then anarchic and wild citizens of Ekos. Gill posits that the Nazi regime on Earth was "the most efficient society" humanity has created and that it was necessary to bring law and order to the planet, and this did not sit well with German broadcasters at all .

If Every Western Was Put Into a Blender, It Would Make This 'Star Trek: TNG' Episode

Why did germany ban 'star trek's "patterns of force" episode.

German networks decided that the episode was unfit to air and banned it until 1995 , when it would be broadcast in the original English with subtitles on German paid programming. The episode was publicly broadcast on November 4, 2011, on channel ZDFneo. But why did it take so long to get on the air? Why did German censors ban the episode? A disturbing story though it is, the episode culminates with a total condemnation of fascism and, precisely, the Nazi regime. With a peaceful resolution between the two planets, viewers wonder how such a ban could happen and why it has lasted so long. Why is it that you can see swastikas in America but not in Germany ? The answer has everything to do with what happened in Germany post-World War II.

Germany fell on May 7, 1945 , and the Allied Forces quickly took control over the country, where they immediately banned the use of any Nazi symbols (the swastika) and literature ( Mein Kamf ) and the Nazi Party itself. In 1949, the West German government banned legal codification , putting an end to all public displays of Nazism, including but not limited to symbols and language, as well as propaganda , including the famous "Heil Hitler" one-armed salute. Germany, it would appear, had taken a hard line on hate speech. The idea was to stamp out the pernicious Nazi ideology that still existed because hardcore SS Officers and their families still lived in the country. As communism rose in the East, fascism was a tantalizing push-back against another equally authoritarian and murderous regime that was in danger of gaining ground in Germany. The tendency of people to fall into tribalistic political camps was too great, and the risk of a slide back into Nazism was possible, so the government took action.

In 1960, the German government wrote into law a framework which would “make it illegal to incite hatred, to provoke violence, or to insult, ridicule or defame ‘parts of the population’ in a manner apt to breach the peace.” Over time, the framework would extend to writing and, subsequently, screenwriting. So why was the Star Trek episode banned in Germany? It was forbidden because all the symbols, language, and ideology of the Nazi Party were shown. With Gills's pro-fascist sentiments on full display, the German networks could not take the risk of showing an episode of Star Trek that so clearly violated the laws the German parliament had seen fit to enact. So, the episode was pulled and kept from German audiences for years.

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Germany Prohibited a ‘Star Trek’ Season 2 Episode Featuring Nazis for Many Years

I n the Federal Republic of Germany, any use of Nazi symbols, the hoisting of Nazi banners, and the promotion of Nazi doctrine, with some exceptions, is forbidden by law. This ban extends to all forms unless displayed for educational or artistic reasons. In fact, globally, only a select few countries – Canada, Finland, Iran, Japan, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, Switzerland, and the United States – allow the legal presentation of Nazi insignia. Moreover, Holocaust Denial and the donning of Nazi attire are also criminal offenses in Germany, just as participating in websites with Nazi themes is outlawed. Section 130 of their legislation specifically outlaws hate speech, rendering it illegal to incite hatred or deliver insults that impinge on the dignity of individuals, based on their race, nationality, religion, or ethnic origin, according to a report by Dateline.

This law, initiated in the late 19th century, gained renewed emphasis in the 1950s to ensure the suppression of Nazism and was only amended in 1994 to explicitly prohibit Holocaust Denial.

The “Star Trek” episode titled “Patterns of Force” might be considered under the aforementioned artistic exception, but the way the episode’s creators – director Vincent McEveety and writer John Meredyth Lucas – handled its theme led to issues. The episode, though it concluded with the collapse of the Nazi regime, featured a scene where a character praises the Nazi Party for their efficiency. In Germany, under Section 130, any form of admiration for Nazism is impermissible, and consequently, the episode was not allowed to be aired. This specific episode of “Star Trek” remains the only one to have been banned on these grounds.

For a long time, “Patterns of Force” remained prohibited in Germany. Its exclusion continued when “Star Trek” was rebroadcast in the 1970s on German television. It wasn’t translated into German until 1995 and only aired on a pay TV channel the following year. It took until 2011 for “Patterns of Force” to be shown on German public television for the first time.

FAQs about the Banned ‘Star Trek’ Episode and Nazi Imagery Laws in Germany

• Why are Nazi symbols banned in Germany? Nazi symbols are banned in Germany to prevent the spread of Nazi ideology and hate speech, to respect the victims of the Holocaust, and to prevent the reemergence of Nazism.
• How many countries legally allow the display of Nazi imagery? As of the knowledge cutoff date, 11 countries legally permit the display of Nazi imagery. These include Canada, Finland, Iran, Japan, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, Switzerland, and the United States.
• What is Section 130 in German law? Section 130 is part of German criminal law that prohibits hate speech, specifically speech that incites hatred, insults human dignity based on racial, national, religious, or ethnic backgrounds, or denies the Holocaust.
• Which ‘Star Trek’ episode was banned in Germany? The “Star Trek” episode “Patterns of Force,” from season 2, was banned in Germany for decades because it contained dialogue that complimented the Nazi regime, which is forbidden under Section 130.
• When was “Patterns of Force” finally aired in Germany? The episode “Patterns of Force” was dubbed into German in 1995, first aired on pay TV in 1996, and had its first public German broadcast in 2011.

In summary, the episode “Patterns of Force” from “Star Trek” Season 2 sparked controversy by including a portrayal that violated German laws designed to prevent the glorification of Nazism. The stringent regulations in Germany reflect the country’s commitment to confronting its history and preventing the spread of hate. While the episode might have been conceived with an artistic intent, it took several decades before it could be reconciled with the nation’s legal framework and social values, demonstrating the enduring complexities of reconciling freedom of expression with historical sensitivities and societal protections.

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Recap / Star Trek S2 E21 "Patterns of Force"

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Original air date: February 16, 1968

The Enterprise crew are headed off to the planet Ekos to pick up famed cultural observer John Gill, with whom the Federation has lost contact for some time. In a bit of Hero Worship , McCoy and Spock share a poignant discussion about their relationship with the man, with Spock admiring Gill's take on historical events as causes and effects rather than that boring system of dates and events that normal history teaches us.

Things start to get interesting, though, when a nuclear interplanetary missile is launched at the ship from Ekos — technology that shouldn't even be possible for the planet's primitive inhabitants.

Taking high orbit over Ekos, Kirk and Spock beam down in local attire to see what they can find about this turn of events, only to be more baffled when a televised message reveals that not only is the planet an exact duplicate of Nazi Germany , but that John Gill is the planet's Führer. Ambushing a pair of Nazi soldiers in order to dress as the enemy , they attempt to infiltrate the Führer headquarters to get some answers, but are caught and brought in for interrogation. There, they meet a Zeon prisoner by the name of Isak, who explains that the planet had actually been a rather nice place to visit, during the initial rule of the Führer, but turned into a nightmare once the old Nazi prejudices came up - now the Ekosians are on their way to eradicating the inhabitants of their sister planet Zeon in much the same way the Nazis tried to eradicate the Jews and other hated minorities. Using crystal transponders embedded into their flesh, Kirk and Spock manage to free themselves and Isak, and escape into the underground that Isak is a member of. However, before they can prove to the underground that they're friendly, a Nazi task force led by a young woman named Daras — crowned a hero of the fatherland in the same transmission that revealed Gill as the Führer — comes in and shoots one of the underground, threatening to kill them all if they don't comply.

Kirk manages to overpower Daras, but is prevented from killing her by the man she shot; turns out, Daras is a member of the underground, and the raid was an elaborate test to see if Kirk and Spock are friendly. Deciding things are screwed up enough without worrying about the Prime Directive , Kirk comes out and tells the group that Gill is an alien sent to observe Ekosian culture, and that something has gone horribly wrong to make him interfere with the planet's development so radically. With the underground's help, Kirk and Spock break into the headquarters, once more, just in time to catch a televised message from Gill seemingly announcing a " Final Solution " to eradicate Zeon once and for all. However, with the help of a very reluctant (and late to the party) McCoy , they're able to determine Gill is actually being drugged and kept in a stupor; a quick Mind Meld further reveals his second-in-command Melakon has taken over, using him as a figurehead while he wields the real power behind the swastika.

With some drugs to help stimulate him into light consciousness, they're able to get an answer to the multi-million-credit question: why did Gill break the Prime Directive and use Nazi Germany as a template for his interference? As it turns out, Gill just couldn't stand idly by as the Ekosian people were tearing themselves apart by their barbarism, and thought the efficiency of the Nazis could be used to civilize them, if malice wasn't put to the fore, and it worked until Melakon took over. Eventually, Kirk manages to get Gill lucid enough to cancel the Final Solution order before Melakon kills him, who is in turn killed himself. With the Nazi planet now leaderless , all the other Nazis just step down without a fuss, and it'll be a breeze for La Résistance and Zeon to reform a whole planet full of Nazis filled with anti-Zeon propaganda.

The Fan Nickname for this episode is " The One With… The Nazi Planet ".

Tropes of Force:

• Actual Pacifist : The Zeon are so peaceful that Isak worries that they'll fall to the Ekosians without a fight. Although Isak himself downplays it, as "what he saw in the streets" made him think that he could kill because it was necessary to survive, and indeed he was willing to do so if the cause was important enough (such as murdering the Fuhrer, John Gill, to stop the slaughter of his people). And he does; after John Gill reveals Melakon as a traitor and Melakon guns him down, Isak immediately shoots him where he stands.
• Spock's conception of History was already outdated in the '60s. Spock: What impressed me most was his treatment of Earth history as causes and motivations rather than dates and events.
• Kirk repeatedly refers to the SS uniforms as "Gestapo," which was the plain-clothes secret police. Gestapo personnel did wear SS uniforms in occupied territory to avoid being mistaken for civilians, but this isn't occupied territory.
• Blatant Lies : The Nazis announce that one of their missiles utterly destroyed an enemy spaceship — that ship being the very un -destroyed Enterprise . Kirk: You look quite well for a man who's been utterly destroyed, Mr. Spock.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy : Inverted! A human poses as an alien and becomes someone of historical significance.
• Broken Pedestal : Kirk is aggrieved to find that his teacher has become another Hitler. The pedestal is repaired when Kirk learns that his intentions were good and he gets out of his drug induced haze and denounces the regime, just before dying in Kirk's arms.
• Chairman Obvious : Chairman Eneg demonstrates his firm grasp of the obvious. Eneg: You are not from Zeon. Spock: Obviously.
• Cycle of Revenge : Averted at the end — Melakon kills Gill, while Isak kills Melakon. When another soldier raises his rifle at Isak, Eneg stops him and declares "There has been enough killing."
• Dated History : It was often thought for a while after World War II that Nazi Germany was efficiently run because of its fast ascension from military impotency, collapse of national morale and economic devastation to a world power and scary conquering machine. As more and more research has unveiled, the Third Reich sacrificed any hope of long-term efficiency in order to implement their short-term solutions, and even those needed to be augmented by expansion into the resources of Austria and Czechoslovakia to work. Ironically, this would perfectly tie it back in with their lebensraum attempt into Zeon. The Nazi hierarchy was also hampered by being one of the most backstabbing in history, full of Interservice Rivalry .
• Daras is working with the resistance because she believes the Nazi leadership has gone off the rails, a trait she shares with her father, who helped integrate her into the leadership by having them pretend that he'd denounced her.
• Late into the episode, Isak tells Kirk and company that Eneg is one of them, which explains why when he was tasked with finding a spy within the building and stumbled upon Kirk and company earlier (up to no good, certainly, but even being found alone in a room would've been suspicious at that point), he pretended he'd never seen them before/'bought' their fairly obvious Blatant Lies .
• Delayed Reaction : Even after beaming down in an SS uniform and struggling to get his boot on, it takes Bones about half a minute to realize that everyone is wearing Nazi uniforms and ask what the hell is going on.
• Diagnosis: Knowing Too Much : After Spock is able to break through Gill's heavy drugging, Melakon tries to play off Gill's off-schedule attempt to regain control as being tired and ill. Unfortunately for Melakon, Gill has just enough strength to call-off the attack and expose Melakon as the usurping traitor. Unfortunately for Gill , Melakon empties a magazine of automatic rifle rounds into the broadcast booth, mortally wounding Gill. One of the rebels shoots and kills Melakon in-kind.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : Gene's not too subtle about anything in this episode. The Space Nazis' scapegoats come from the planet Zeon (Zion) and have names like Isak and Abrom (Isaac and Abraham). The way Melakhon talks about how Spock's physical features are obvious evidence of inferiority also evokes Nazi eugenics.
• Dressing as the Enemy : Kirk and Spock steal the uniforms of two Nazis for a disguise. Unfortunately, they make a mistake in military protocol bad enough to arouse a Nazi officer's suspicions enough for him to order Spock to take off his helmet. When Spock's ears are exposed, both he and Kirk know full well they are screwed .
• Excuse Plot : Meta-wise, at any rate. The episode pretty much only exists because the studio had a bunch of Nazi uniforms already available from various movies so the show could skip making costumes for a week.
• Failed a Spot Check : Kirk and Spock walk right by a Gestapo officer that is standing in broad daylight and are then somehow surprised when he "jumps" out to capture them.
• Final Solution : The plan for a Final Solution is announced midway through the episode.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum : Gee, those Transponders might have come in handy in any of the other 78 episodes in which the landing party's communicators get taken away.
• Hollywood Military Uniform : Many of the Nazi uniforms have inaccurate or mismatched rank insignia compared to history. This could be chalked up to Gill (or the Paramount costume department) not being too fussy about the finer details.
• Human Ladder : Kirk and Spock make one in their escape attempt. Given that they've both been whipped, it's very uncomfortable for the captain, who's bearing the first officer.
• Idiot Ball : A massive one for John Gill for coming up with Fascism as the best way to unite a planet peacefully (which he wasn't even supposed to do; he was supposed to simply observe the Ekosians, not violate General Order One), while he already has an excellent example of one in the Federation itself (which has united Earth for decades already). Though it's interesting to note it worked, as merely an efficient state rather than 'evil Nazis', the latter of which only happened when Melakon drugged him and changed things. Even still, he himself notes in his dying moments that 'even historians can fail to learn from history'.
• Inexplicable Cultural Ties : Not the case, which is noteworthy because that is often forgotten in summaries of TOS, and because the fact that it looks like this is one of the main things that tips off the Enterprise crew that something is seriously wrong despite the fact that only four episodes later they will react to another planet being very similar to an Earth society (in that case The Roman Empire ) complete with names and symbols by handwaving it as just an example of natural parallel development.
• I Owe You My Life : Isak, after Kirk and Spock escape with him.
• Killed Mid-Sentence : Gill is exposing Melakon's treachery, calling off the attack on Zeon, and promising reparation when Melakon shoots him.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All : Melakon attempts to analyze Spock's unusual appearance based on the regime's racial theories and declares that he exhibits "a low forehead denoting stupidity" and "the dull look of a trapped animal". Big mistake.
• La Résistance : The Ekosians who disagree with the government's plan to wipe out Zeon.
• The Man Behind the Man / The Man in Front of the Man : Melakon, officially the Führer's second-in-command, combines both tropes when he's revealed to be the one behind the Zeon purges.
• Man Hug : Isak shares one with his brother Abrom after his escape.
• Meaningful Name : Zeon, clearly referring to Zion, the Jewish promised land. Also Isak (Isaac), Abrom (Abraham) and Davod (David) are all based on Old Testament persons. Daras is Sara backwards with an extra letter, and also OT. Eneg is Gene backwards.
• Meaningless Meaningful Words : John Gill's New Era Speech . Spock points out that it follows no logical pattern, and considering the man's heavily drugged, it's little wonder.
• The Mole : Daras and Chairman Eneg are both introduced as loyal servants of the regime before revealing that they're working with the resistance.
• Mugged for Disguise : Two Nazi officers were nerve-pinched for disguises.
• Naked People Are Funny : When Kirk asks why Bones hasn't beamed down yet, he's told the Doctor is having trouble getting his Nazi uniform on. Kirk says "I don't care if you have to send him down naked, just get him down here!" Cue Kirk's reaction when he hears the transporter beam whine start immediately after this. (Don't worry ... it was the boot the Doc was having trouble with.)
• No Endor Holocaust : The ending implies that there won't be any anti-Zeonite sentiments left under the population, and that the army leadership will politely step down from power. Given Earth's many examples of what can happen when a political dictatorship is decapitated (as both the puppet leader and actual leader die), things could have gotten ugly very fast . Mind you, a civil war may be bad but might help it ease out of Nazification.
• Non-Lethal Deadly Weapon : Daras fires a gun at Abrom and kills him. After Kirk and Spock grab her, Spock takes her gun away from her. Abrom then gets up, revealing that her gun was filled with blanks. Spock points the gun at Daras, even though it can't shoot her. Perhaps justified by the fact that even blanks can cause serious injury from the range he is threatening her with it. (And from the look on her face when this happens, she agrees.)
• No One Sees the Boss : Because the boss has been drugged into catatonia, and The Dragon has taken over.
• No Swastikas : Averted.
• Percussive Pickpocket : Kirk stumbles into a guard in a corridor; after apologizing and moving on, he reveals to his companions that he lifted the guard's keys.
• Planetary Nation : Melakon is trying to make the planet this.
• Planet of Hats : People from the planet Zeon are identified and arrested because they wear civilian clothes. All the Ekosians we see on screen are Nazi officials.
• Pseudo-Crisis : Our heroes are surrounded by Nazis! (Ad break) But they're with the resistance, so it's okay!
• Puppet King : Melakon keeps Gill drugged and only trots him out to deliver the occasional speech.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated : While planetside, Kirk and Spock hear a news report claiming the Ekosians "utterly destroyed" the enemy spacecraft. Kirk jokes that Spock looks quite healthy for someone who's been utterly destroyed.
• Sdrawkcab Name : Chairman Eneg, probably .
• Shirtless Scene : Kirk and Spock when they get whipped. Spock's scars are tinted green.
• Staged Shooting : Used to see which side Kirk and Spock are really on.
• The Ekosian missile on the viewscreen is recycled footage of the Orion scout ship from " Journey to Babel ."
• Shots taken from the 1935 Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will are used in the Ekosian newsreel. Adolf Hitler is clearly visible, arriving in a car in one of these.
• Subterfuge Judo : When Kirk and Spock beam down, they steal some SS uniforms, and intend to waltz right into the Chancellery (Main Headquarters) undercover, except Spock and Kirk do not salute an SS Major properly, and...: SS Major: Lieutenant! Have you forgotten how to salute? [Spock salutes] Your papers. Kirk: Your orders, Lieutenant. He wants to see your orders in the jacket. [Spock begins to open the pocket on his uniform coat] The Lieutenant is a little dazed. He captured several Zeons note  (The persecuted ethnicity on the planet) singlehanded. One of the pigs struck him before he dropped. I promise that pig will never get up again. SS Major: Good work, Lieutenant. All: Hail to the Führer. Kirk: This is a day to remember, Major! [They start to walk away] SS Major: Lieutenant? Better see a doctor. You don't look well. Your color. Spock: Yes. I shall tend to it, Major. [A pause, the SS Major eyes Spock a bit] SS Major: [slightly more forceful, suspicious] Lieutenant! Your helmet. Remove it! Kirk: We have urgent business with the Führer. [starts to turn away to enter the Chancellery] SS Major: [steadfastly forceful] LIEUTENANT! Remove your helmet!!! [The entrance guards train their rifles right on Spock's head, and with no other choice, Spock slowly takes off his helmet, revealing his pointed ears.]
• Take a Third Option : When Ekosians launch the invasion fleet against Zeon, Daras, the Ekosian resistance fighter, pleads with Capt. Kirk to have the Enterprise destroy it to save Zeon, saying that the loss of Ekosian lives is the lesser of two evils. Kirk balks at that and manages to get Gill to cancel the invasion instead.
• McCoy and Spock both comment that Gill's speech sounds incoherent, just a babble of random sentences. And it turns out the Fuhrer was, in fact drugged. Thing is, it doesn't sound too different in structure from a real Hitler speech.
• Melakon is at one point invited to do racial analysis on Mr. Spock. All of his summations are hilariously wrong about Vulcans.
• Torture Is Ineffective : Chairman Eneg puts a stop to the SS Major torture interrogation of Kirk and Spock claiming that is because he knows it's inefficient (the real reason is because he's The Mole ). SS Major: Excellency, give me a few minutes with them. I promise you, I'll have— Chairman Eneg: You've had a few minutes without result. The trouble with you SS is that you don't realize that punishment becomes ineffective after a certain point. Men become insensitive.
• Trojan Prisoner : A couple of times when Kirk and Spock (and later Isak too) don't have enough uniforms to go around, they use the "just taking this prisoner for interrogation" method to get past guard posts.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist : Yes, Gill actually had good intentions when he recreated Nazi Germany. (As in, their society was considered to be in poor shape anyway , so why not model their government after a different society instead? It just happen to fall apart in a different way....)
• Whip of Dominance : The SS Major is a cruel and sadistic Nazi officer who carries a cat o' nine tails, and personally uses it on Kirk and Spock when interrogating them. He clearly wants to whip them more, but Chairman Eneg puts a stop to it while criticizing the Major for his sadistic inefficiency and saying that Torture Is Ineffective after a certain point.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! : Kirk is exasperated when Spock's Blunt Metaphors Trauma keeps him on Kirk's post-whipped back for a little too long. Kirk : I ... don't care if you aim at the broad side of a barn. Just hurry, please. Spock : Captain, why would I aim at such a structure? Kirk: [ Sighs ] Never mind, Spock, just ... get on with the job.

Video Example(s):

Star trek nazi planet.

Kirk and Spock discover a planet of human-like aliens who have adopted the aesthetic and the ideology of the Nazis.

Example of: Putting on the Reich

• Star Trek S2 E20 "Return to Tomorrow"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S2 E22 "By Any Other Name"

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Star Trek's Nazi Portrayal Got A Season 2 Episode Banned In Germany For Decades

In the "Star Trek" episode "Patterns of Force" (February 16, 1968), Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) visit the pre-warp planet of Ekos to find out what happened to John Gill (David Brian), an old history professor of Kirk's. Ekos, they find, has been culturally contaminated by Gill, as he taught them all about Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and the Ekosians have rearranged their society to match. They wear Nazi uniforms, praise John Gill as their Führer, and plan to exterminate their peaceful neighbor planet Zeon. The Zeon characters have names like Izak and Abrom. 

There is also a secret resistance that Kirk and Spock can hide out with, and they eventually find a way to confront John Gill. Gill, they find, has been propped up by one of the more zealously Nazi Ekosians, and has been kept in line with drugs. Gill admits that he landed on Ekos finding it to be disorganized and chaotic, and only aimed to put an efficient system into place. Shockingly, Gill came to the conclusion that Nazi Germany was the most efficient government he could think of, and implemented Nazism for practical reasons. I guess Gill was not a very good historian, otherwise he might have remembered ANYTHING ELSE about the Nazis. 

There are a few scenes of Shatner and Nimoy — both Jewish actors — wearing full Nazi regalia. It's a bleak episode to be sure. Actress Valora Noland, who played the resistance fighter Daras, reportedly retired from acting after having to wear a Nazi armband for the part. The Nazi imagery and the sentiment that Nazis were the most efficient system of government ever devised kept "Patterns of Force" off German television for many years. 

Postwar Germany

In Germany, the display of Nazi imagery, the flying of Nazi flags, and the vaunting of Nazi rhetoric are illegal, unless they are being presented in either an artistic or educational context. Indeed, only 11 countries around the world legally allow the display of Nazi images: Canada, Finland, Iran, Japan, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, Switzerland, and the United States. Germany has also made Holocaust Denial illegal, as did they the wearing of Nazi uniforms and participation in Nazi-themed websites. A portion of their laws called Section 130  has strictly criminalized hate speech, which bans, according to Dateline, "incitement to hatred and insults that assault human dignity against people based on their racial, national, religious, or ethnic background." 

Section 130 was written in the 1870s, but took on new life in the early 1950s to assure that Nazism remain silenced. It wouldn't be until 1994 that Holocaust Denial was banned explicitly. 

"Patterns of Force" may fall in the exception mentioned above for "artistic context," but the makers of the episode — director Vincent McEveety and writer John Meredyth Lucas — mishandled the episode's messaging. "Patterns of Force" may end with the defeat of the Nazi regime, but not before a character explicitly complimented how efficient the Nazi Party was. Dialogue complimenting Nazis was not allowed in Germany under Section 130, and the episode was banned from broadcast. It's the only "Star Trek" episode to have that distinction . 

Indeed, "Patterns" remained banned for many years. When "Star Trek" returned to German TV in the 1970s, "Patterns" was left out of the rotation. The episode wasn't dubbed into German until 1995 and only showed on pay TV in 1996. The first public German broadcast of "Patterns of Force" occurred in 2011. 

The Triumph of the Will

"Patterns of Force" also included film clips of actual Nazi rallies. While Kirk and Spock are investigating John Gill, they find a store of Nazi film reels depicting scenes of Adolf Hitler in his car. These were taken from Leni Riefenstahl's infamous documentary "Triumph of the Will," a widespread piece of Nazi propaganda. "Triumph of the Will" is about the 1934 Nazi congress in Nuremberg, and shows Hitler making speeches and soldiers saluting him. For many years in American film school, "Triumph of the Will" was taught as an example of superior film technique being wielded for immoral means, and the power of media to disseminate political ugliness. Studying the making of Riefenstahl's film may offer young film students some insight. No one ever needs to actually watch it. 

While "Star Trek" doesn't comment on the footage, audiences in 1968 would indeed have seen it as shocking and dark. It had only been 23 years since the end of World War II, and many people still remembered it first-hand. One can see the makers of "Patterns of Force" were trying to offer a critique of Nazism, and how easily a world can fall back into those, well, patterns of force. Fascism, the episode argues, can take hold more easily than you think. 

But "Star Trek" was perhaps too objective, ignoring the terrors of the Holocaust and fliply complimenting Nazi efficiency. It's like that old saw about how fascism "at least gets the trains to run on time." Perhaps the makers of "Patterns of Force" felt that enough time had passed that they could speak objectively about Nazism . Sadly, that involved dressing Jewish actors in Nazi uniforms, and that's a hard image to get around. 

In closing: punch Nazis.

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Nazi Star Trek episode finally broadcast on German TV

William Shatner, left, and Leonard Nemoy, two Jewish actors in Nazi uniforms

German fans of the original Star Trek series finally got to watch an episode that has been banned for almost 44 years.

The episode, titled “ Patterns of Force ,” features Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock (played by Jewish actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy) visiting a planet with an eerie similarity to Nazi Germany.

“Patterns of Force” was originally aired is February, 1968. In the episode, Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy search for a Federation historian (who used to be Kirk’s professor) on the planet Ekos. When they get to Ekos, they find out that everybody is dressed up like Nazis. To make matters worse, the Ekonians, led by the fuhrer (who is the professor they are looking for and the one who applied Third Reich principles to Ekos) is in battle with the peaceful, technologically advanced people of Zeon, who are considered an “inferior race” to the Ekonians.

In a disturbing chain of events, both Jewish actors dress up as Nazi officers to try and stop the fuhrer. The episode was never shown in Germany when the show was aired there in the 70s, nor was it shown in reruns. It was dubbed into German and offered on pay-per-view channels but this is the first time it’s available on regular television.

One of the content editors at ZDF, the channel airing the program, said the episode is rated 16 and over for viewer discretion, and was aired after 10pm so it will be available for viewers who “could comprehend the difficult questiions that are risen in the episode.”

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Star Trek : "Patterns Of Force" / "By Any Other Name"

It may be a stretch, but I'm starting to discern something of a theme emerging in the second season of Star Trek. We've got our Federation now, and we've got  the Enterprise dealing with less-advanced civilizations; and over and over again, we've seen both how difficult it is for our heroes to adhere to Starfleet's "non-interference directive," and how important it is that that directive remains in effect. Kirk's managed to do some good by punching his way through somebody else's problems, but in the past few weeks, we've been learning how it's nearly always better to leave well-enough alone.

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"Patterns Of Force" continues the trend, to a degree that may render all future lessons superfluous. Here we have another society modeling itself after old Earth cultures, but instead of a bunch of goofy, slang spouting hoodlums, we've got Nazis. I can't really imagine topping that, can you? A world of devil-worshipers would have more class. When I told a friend I was watching "Patterns," he said he kind of wished Kirk had just leaned on the Enterprise 's phaser button and wiped the whole lot of these evil mofos out. Having finished the episode, I'm inclined to agree. The tone here is darker than it was in "Piece Of The Action," and that darkness doesn't sit well with Trek' s essential optimism. There's something wrong about Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in Nazi uniforms, like we're supposed to take goofy pleasure in the juxtaposition of space travelling heroes and militaristic sociopaths. The Nazis here aren't just general purpose bad-guys like they are in the Indiana Jones movies; in "Force," we're reminded over and over of the hateful principles that defined the movement. We don't see any concentration camps, but we do see the German stand-ins hating on the Jewish stand-ins ("Zeons" with names like "Isak" and "Abrom"), and we even hear about a woman getting shot in the street and left to die while soldiers spat on her bleeding corpse. I can appreciate the honesty in not trying to white-wash what Nazis are capable of, but this is a bit much. The Enterprise is trying to find John Gill, a historian who was suppose to be a cultural observer on the planet Eko. The Federation has yet to make direct contact with the natives; Gill's job was to study the Ekosians without letting anyone know who he was or where he was from. (We've seen Kirk and Spock integrate themselves into local cultures before, but never for extended periods of time. Gill's been on Eko for years, which makes you wonder how good he must be at blending in. Hopefully not the lost in his own museum type.) But nobody's heard from Gill in a while, so of course we send the Enterprise to go check on him. Ekosians are supposed to be pre-space travel in their development, but when the Enterprise approaches the planet, a vessel is sent to greet them, un-manned, and carrying a nuclear bomb. Spock determines that the ship must've originated somehow from the nearby Zeon, a planet whose people have gotten into their launching things into the sky without having them explode phase. Of course, the bomb-vessel approaching the Enterprise is designed to explode, and it does just that, with Kirk and the others barely able to steer clear in time. It's been a while since we've had a good "ship in danger" episode—and, okay, "Force" really isn't one of those, as the Enterprise quickly leaves the area after depositing Kirk and Spock on Eko. But still, it's good to see everyone on the bridge just a little worried about the oncoming nuclear bomb; just as it's good to get that moment of horror when Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet (both wearing clothes that look a lot like the clothes they wore in "City On The Edge Of Forever") and see a group of Nazi officers beating up on a guy. Whatever else happens, I'll give "Force" points for those two moments of shock, and for the extra edge that runs through the episode as a whole. It goes too far by the end, mainly because the quick-fix ending doesn't jive with everything else we've seen, but it's a pleasure to realize that the show still has the power to get under your skin. Nazis, then. Kirk and Spock make an effort to infiltrate their ranks (Spock to Kirk: "You'd make a very convincing Nazi."), but fail miserably. Ostensibly it's because a commanding officer gets suspicious and has Spock reveal his pointy ears, but if I can critique the great James T.'s performance, he's really crap when it comes to undercover work. He never shuts up; it's like trying to make a spy out of Roger Rabbit. "Hi! Hi, guys? Guys? I'm a Nazi! I'm totally a Nazi! Isn't it great that we're Nazis? Guys? Go Nazis! Wooo! Hate rules ." Since everyone else appears to buy the act, I can only assume they all think he's some higher-up's brother-in-law, the one who keeps getting promoted in spite of having his head run over that one time. There's whipping, then, which would be graphic if the lash marks on Shatner and Nimoy didn't look like they were drawn in Crayon. (Spock's blood is green, in a nice continuity nod.) Surprisingly, the Nazis are a little into torture, and things might've got out of hand if a high-ranking officer named Eneg didn't step in a make up some excuse about giving it a rest. (Eneg is working for the Resistance, by the way.) Spock uses some mad science to laser open his and Kirk's jail cell, and they escape along with Isak, the Zeon they saw getting beat down in the street earlier. A quick stop to the laboratory for their equipment (Kirk tells a passing guard that he's taking Spock and Isak for "experimental work," which is freaky when you remember the  "experiments" the real Nazis got up to), and then Isak leads Kirk and Spock to meet the underground movement. Some more backstory, then: the Zeons had come to Eko to try and help the Ekosians out, but then the Nazi party sprung up and things got uncomfortable for anyone not native born. Eko stole Zeon's technology, and is now getting ready to implement it's Final Solution, which will involve launching attacks on the Zeon homeworld. John Gill is apparently the Fuhrer of the new regime, which surprises the hell out of Kirk, and increases his determination to meet with Gill face to face. He'll need help, though, and luckily help arrives in the form of a cute blonde Ekosian named Daras working with the Resistance. After a quick trick proves that Kirk and Spock are with the good guys, everyone agrees to bust up a government party that night, when Gill is supposed to give his latest speech. Things go about as you'd expect, with lots of running around and Kirk and Spock pretending to be a documentary film crew. McCoy eventually winds up on the planet, because Kirk and Spock have both seen Gill and they believe he's been drugged. (He actually delivers his broadcast from behind closed doors to a television camera, and, as Spock points out, his speech doesn't make any sense; it's just a random assortment of chest-pounding phrases.) Gill is eventually brought back to consciousness, and we find out that he brought Nazism to Eko because the society was divided, weak, and he thought that by taking out the anti-Semitic element, Nazis would be a perfectly peaceful way to bring everyone together. This was not a good call. Kirk argues at the end of the episode that the big problem with the movement is the cult of leadership at its center, which makes it too easy for unscrupulous men to take control. That's reasonable, but it doesn't explain why the Ekosians took so much to hating the Zeons—and that's the real trouble, I'd say. At the end of "Force," Gill is dead, having revealed that his treacherous second in command was responsible for all the bad stuff that's been going on. We're supposed to believe that things will be okay from then on, but I'm not seeing it. You can't resolve Nazis in 50 minutes, and "Force"'s biggest flaw is that it grafts a standard Trek structure onto a subject that's too unwieldy, too rusted and jagged, to fit. But hey, remember what I said about ship-in-danger episodes? Turns out we didn't have to wait that long after all. "By Any Other Name" puts the Enterprise at risk, in the face of a new threat that's looking for real-estate. Lots of real-estate, it turns out. A whole galaxy's worth. Using a distress call to pull Kirk and the rest to their locations, a group of aliens in humanoid form manage to take control of the Enterprise and everyone on it in a handful of minutes. They've got magic belt buckles (sure, there's a proper name, but let's be honest, that's what they are) that they can use to paralyze anyone who gets in their way, along with a whole host of other nasty things. (I assume it's a whole host, anyway. We only ever seem them do three things.) They all hail from a place called Kelvan, in the Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda is going to be uninhabitable due to radiation levels, and they've decided to take over our digs and move in.    Their leader is a Richard Burton lookalike named Rojan. Rojan's kind of a dick. He spends a lot of time lecturing Kirk on Kirk's obligations as a conquered person, and when Kirk has the temerity to try and escape captivity (he, Spock, McCoy, and a couple of red-shirts are being held on a planet while the Kelvans modify the Enterprise 's engines to fit their speed requirements), Rojan decides to take it out on the two red-shirts. First he has one of his men, Hanar, zap the pair with his buckle, turning them into polyhedron-ish sponges. Rojan explains to Kirk that the sponges represent the crew-members' "essence," and then he crushes one of them. Surprisingly, the crushed, and therefore dead, crew-member turns out to be the female red-shirt. Before she was taken aside, the crew-member told Kirk she didn't want to die—and while this is manipulative as hell, it doesn't seem cheap, and it's one of the few times on the series I remember actually being taken back by a minor character's death. This also makes Rojan look like more of a bad-ass. If there's anything "Force" and "Name" have in common, it's that they both have villains that come off as actual threats. But while the Nazis are threatening more for their historical significance than for anything we really see in the episode, Rojan is smart, determined, and merciless. Kirk comes up with a plan to get him and the others back to the ship—Spock fakes sickness by essentially putting himself into a brief coma—but nearly every other plan he comes up with doesn't go so well. Scotty and Spock can't interfere with the field generator that powers the Kelvans' buckles because the generator is protected by an indestructible metal; and when Scotty and Spock set up a way to blow up the entire ship, Kirk can't go through with it. It's hard to blame him. While it would be a small cost to lose four hundred people when weighed against the entire galaxy, (although given how often Kirk and the rest save that galaxy, I wonder how long it would survive without the Enterprise ) self-destructing would mean giving up, and that's just not in Kirk's wiring. Plus, it's going to be a long time before they arrive at Andromeda—a bit less than 300 years. The Kelvans have planned for this; it took them generations to get here, and it's going to take generations to get back. They don't seem to have a problem with this, because, as Spock notes after a brief, unsuccessful attempt to mind probe a Kelvan mind, the Kelvans have sacrificed everything that would get in the way of their superior intellect. Emotions and everything else that could distract is gone. Sounds like the Vulcans' end game, but the Vulcans aren't multi-tentacled, which, in their natural form, the Kelvans apparently are. The only reason we're not babbling like one of Lovecraft's scholars at the sight of them is that they've taken on human form to conquer the hell out of us. If you've seen much Trek before, you should be able to figure out what comes next. And really, it's telegraphed early on, when Kelinda, the hottie blonde Kelvan, talks with Kirk about how impressed she is with flowers. It's the old, "seduce the aliens with the wonderfulness of human sensuality!" gambit, and it knocks the episode down a few points for me because, while it's done well here, it's just not that interesting an idea at this point. Especially not when it involves Kirk yet again seducing another hot blonde. I mean, that's not really exciting anymore, is it? It's not impressive. It's like eating a candy bar and it cures cancer, and then expecting everyone to think you're awesome. (Although I guess if you ate a candy bar and it cured cancer, it would be very hard to deny your awesomness.) But hey, like I said, predictable or not, it's well done. While Kirk puts the movies on Kelinda (who, it must be said, is amusingly fascinated by the whole process; Shatner's surprised expression when she calls him on his technique is hilarious), Spock works to sow jealousy in Rojan, and McCoy starts injecting Hanar with something to make him really pissed off. The best of these bits is Scotty's attempt to drink one of the bigger Kelvans under the table. While Scotty collapses before he's able to bring Kirk the magic belt buckle, the succession of drinks he pawns off on the guy ("What is it?" "It's, it's um, it's green.") is terrific. There are other things to enjoy here as well. The energy barrier between the Enterprise 's galaxy and Andromeda is cool (also vaguely reminiscent of the barrier in Star Trek V , which is significantly less cool), and, as mentioned, the Kelvans are one of the better threats we've had. I like the dynamic that develops in the second half of the episode. Once the ship makes it through the barrier, the Kelvans decide that most of the crew is no longer necessary, and reduces everyone but Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty to the essence sponges. There's a great shot of Kirk turning a corner and finding a hallway littered with them. Stark, kind of silly, but kind of freaky, too. They're stuck in this big, nearly empty ship, with just some strangers and a bunch of blocks for company. I also like how the episode ends. After Kirk and Rojan have a fight over Kelinda—who, in traditional human girl fashion, stands off to one side looking concerned and then gets turned on by the violence—Kirk suggests that maybe this whole 300 year trip is a bad idea. The current Kelvans are running on orders given out centuries before they were born. Why should they obey? Who knows what's happened back home; why spend the rest of their lives on the ship just to save strangers who might already be dead? Plus, being human is totally kick-ass, and Kirk promises the Federation will help them find a place to call home. It's a win-win that doesn't end in a bunch of dead aliens, and I didn't actually see that coming. Lesson learned this week: never teach people how to be Nazis, but do teach them how to get drunk, get mad, and make-out. Grades: "Patterns Of Force": B "By Any Other Name": B+ Stray Observations:

• That whole whipping scene in "Force" was a like a network-friendly version of Nazi-sploitation. (I was surprised that Daras's name wasn't Ilsa, but then, since she's really a good guy, that's probably for the best.)
• Nimoy spends a good portion of "Force" with his shirt off. Enjoy!
• I'll be on vacation next week. But be back for the first week of August for "The Omega Glory" and "The Ultimate Computer"

The Killing Game (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Story and script
• 3.2 Cast and characters
• 3.3 Production
• 3.4 Effects
• 3.5 Continuity
• 3.6 Reception
• 3.7 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest Stars
• 4.4 Uncredited Co-Stars
• 4.5 Stunt doubles
• 4.6 Stand-ins
• 4.7 References
• 4.8 Other references
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Captain Kathryn Janeway , altered to look like a Klingon , battles several other Klingons. A Hirogen , also dressed in Klingon garb, interrupts the battle and stabs her. Using a Starfleet combadge , he calls sickbay to tell them that Janeway needs medical attention.

Act One [ ]

USS Voyager has been commandeered by the Hirogen and they are using the holodecks to hunt the crew in various simulations with the safety protocols deactivated. While half of the crew have been imprisoned and forced into slave labor running the ship for their captors, others have been fitted with a neural interface that makes them believe they actually are the characters in the holodeck program. The Hirogen hunt the Voyager crew over and over again in various simulations. The wounded are treated in sickbay and then sent back to the holodeck to be hunted again.

The Alpha Hirogen , Karr , oversees Janeway being treated by a medic from her injury in Holodeck 2. He is briefly concerned with the possibility that Janeway might be partly resisting the effects of the neural interface, but the medic insists he's been monitoring and nothing is wrong. Karr has found a new program to try, and has Janeway transferred to Holodeck 1 this time. After she is treated in sickbay, she is sent to a simulation of World War II .

There, Janeway, Seven of Nine , Neelix , Tuvok and B'Elanna Torres are put in a simulation of the Nazi occupation of Sainte Claire , France . They are running a café , Le Coeur de Lion , but are secretly working for the French Resistance , while the Hirogen are working alongside the Nazis. Seven of Nine, or Mademoiselle de Neuf as she is called in the simulation, is a lounge singer, Janeway, or Katrine , is the café owner, and Tuvok is the bartender .

The first scene of the French simulation begins with Seven singing " It Can't Be Wrong ". ( Listen to Seven sing "It Can't Be Wrong"  file info ) Karr and the Beta Hirogen , Turanj visit the café, both dressed in Nazi uniform. Karr's character is of a Nazi Standartenführer newly assigned to oversee the city's occupation. He had worked under Rommel in Africa and Schmidt in Poland . Turanj is immediately eager to hunt and destroy the Voyager crew as prey, but Karr tells him to "play the game" and to leave when he starts to harass Seven's character. Katrine comes to talk to Karr, exchanging introductions. Katrine asks that they "keep the war outside" like she tells all her guests. Karr plays the character well, and announces his intentions to intercept Resistance forces who are sure to arrive. Turanj comes back to announce a problem that the warp plasma network has become unstable. Katrine doesn't know what that means, but Karr dismisses it and leaves her with a toast , "to the hunt" (for the Resistance).

When the café is closed, it serves as a secret base for the Resistance. Janeway's character is the leader of the Resistance cell in Sainte Claire, with Tuvok's character as her right-hand man. Seven's character is a munitions expert and an able singer , needed by the Resistance. However, Seven is tired of playing along with the Nazis and wants to prepare to fight. In a striking parallel to their own selves, she and Janeway's character argue on the course of action until Janeway pulls rank and orders her to stop, instead going to buy components for a radio so they can gather more information for the Allied High Command . Tuvok joins her after Seven leaves, and, in further analogy to their real life, they contemplate her increasing disobedience. Janeway has Tuvok get someone to follow her, suspecting a possible defection. If they can't count on her, they'll have to kill her.

Act Two [ ]

Neelix stopped in the streets by Turanj

The next day , Neelix' character is happily riding a bicycle through town with food when he is stopped by Nazi forces led by Turanj. He tears up his bread and pours out his wine looking for possible smuggling activity, but finds none. He threatens Neelix, but says it isn't up to him and lets him go. Meanwhile, the Resistance, now with B'Elanna Torres, or Brigitte , present, is in the café going over their intelligence. Brigitte is decoding messages from the Allies. She is pregnant with the baby of a Nazi Kapitän , with whom she is involved in a romantic relationship in order to gather information for the Resistance. Neelix serves as a courier for the Resistance, and soon arrives with a message on the other side of the label of a wine bottle containing the key to deciphering the latest radio message. It tells them that the Allied forces will arrive within days and they must assist by disabling the Nazi's communications. Torres' character has a plan, and Katrine approves, ordering a positive response for the Allies.

Later, Brigitte feigns illness in front of the building where her lover works to get in. Inside, the Kapitän is talking with his superior, Karr, relishing in his ownership of a painting . Karr challenges the Kapitän's feeling of superiority with his beliefs that he doesn't deserve any spoils if he conquered a weakened prey and, furthermore, will fail if he underestimates his prey further. When Brigitte arrives, Karr leaves them alone.

On the ground, Turanj gets dissatisfied with "playing the game" and complains to a fellow Hirogen that he has learned enough about their prey. Upon sight of Neelix, he shoots him and Seven when she retaliates. They are taken to sickbay.

Act Three [ ]

In sickbay, The Doctor is asked to attend to their injuries. He insists that they stop these brutalities because the bodies of the crew have not been designed for this kind of punishment. " For the past three weeks ," says The Doctor, " they have been stabbed, shot, beaten, phasered and bat'lethed " after which he is forced to attend to them just so they can be sent back for more. The Hirogen however, refuse to listen, even when The Doctor asks that they at least activate the holodeck safety protocols . It is decided that Neelix is to be sent to the Klingon simulation, and Seven back to the World War II simulation after their wounds have been treated.

Back on the bridge , the Hirogen are forcing Ensign Harry Kim (one of the few remaining crew not to have been sent into the holodeck or locked away) to expand the holodeck grids so that they can expand the holo-projectors into all surrounding sections. Kim joins Ashmore in a corridor to work. Kim has Ashmore distract one of the Hirogen guards so that he can transfer The Doctor out of sickbay (with newly installed holoemitters in the corridor) and tell him about his plan to get the crew back. Before they can begin to recover the crew, they need to disable the neural interfaces. He has found a way to tap into the sickbay diagnostic console but somebody has got to be inside the holodeck to engage the bridge control relays. They decide to use Seven's help for this task.

In the ready room , Karr tells Turanj that he has been studying Voyager 's database looking for their next simulation. He tells him that there are many to chose from because Humans have a violent history. When World War II is over, he plans to engage the Borg by recreating the Battle of Wolf 359 . However, this will be one hunt Turanj will never see if he continues to disobey him. Karr tells him that his lust for the kill has blinded him, like it has blinded many young hunters. He tells Turanj that if the younger hunters took the time to study their prey, to understand its behavior, they might learn something because each prey exposes them to another way of life while at the same time making them re-evaluate their own. He wonders what will become of the Hirogen when they have hunted this territory to exhaustion: a way of life that hasn't changed in a thousand years. He complains that they have lost their identity, that they have allowed their predatory instincts to dominate them – turning them into a solitary race, isolated, no longer a culture. He insists that their people must come back together, combine forces and rebuild their civilization. Karr believes the hunt will always continue but in a new way, for he intends to transform this ship into a vast simulation, eventually replicating the technology which will allow them to hold on to their past while they face the future. Turanj is convinced that Karr is right, albeit very reluctantly, for he knows that others might not agree with Karr's assessment.

Act Four [ ]

In sickbay, The Doctor manages to wake Seven, explaining to her that he has found a way to disable the interface by remodulating one of her Borg implants to emit a jamming signal to interfere with her neural interface implant. Once she is back on the holodeck, the jamming signal will activate within seconds at which moment she must find the control panel inside the holodeck and engage the bridge access relays so he and Kim can deactivate all the neural interfaces. Unfortunately, she doesn't know anything about World War II, so she'll have to figure it out as she goes along.

Mademoiselle de Neuf

Back in the World War II simulation, Seven, as de Neuf, is singing " That Old Black Magic ", when the jamming signal activates. At that moment she quickly excuses herself and gets off the stage. Janeway is pumping commandant Karr for information, and wants him to stay so she quickly goes to order de Neuf back on stage. Seven refuses, and, since her character has shown resistance to Janeway in the past, suspicions that she is a Nazi sympathizer are coming to a head with her new unwillingness to continue to sing.

Meanwhile, the Allied troops are preparing to arrive in Sainte Claire, with Chakotay as Captain Miller and Tom Paris as Lieutenant Bobby Davis . Davis has been to Sainte Claire before the war and was involved with Brigitte. Davis briefly relates his longing to see her again to Miller.

" If something goes wrong and we're caught, destroy all evidence of the underground. "

The French Resistance finalize their plan to infiltrate the Nazi headquarters to disable the Nazi's communications and Seven assists them. Tuvok will keep watch while Katrine and de Neuf plant the bomb. Brigitte will wait in the café and destroy evidence if necessary. However, Seven doesn't prepare the bombs properly and Katrine questions her. Seven promises she does not have second thoughts about the plan.

Act Five [ ]

Kim, in the mess hall , brings The Doctor to him to coordinate their plan. They're interrupted by Turanj and another Hirogen, but Kim successfully convinces them he has to leave to go back to the bridge.

In Saint Claire, Seven and Katrine reach the Kapitän's office and subdue a radio operator. While Katrine looks at the most recent message from the radio transmitter, Seven ignores placing the bombs and finds a holodeck control panel. In the process, she trips an indicator that Kim notices on the bridge who, in turn, is able to give The Doctor, in sickbay, control over the neural interfaces. The Doctor successfully overrides the interface just as he is detained by the Hirogen medic. In the Nazi office, Katrine notices de Neuf has not yet planted the charges and sees her accessing the interface. She doesn't know what it is and assumes de Neuf is a traitor and has been sending messages to the Nazis. She points her pistol at Seven but when she is about to pull the trigger, Janeway's interface is disabled.

Karr, in the Klingon simulation with Neelix's character, is informed of The Doctor's actions and orders a team into the World War II simulation to remove Janeway while he confronts Kim on the bridge. Tuvok stays hidden outside and intercepts the Hirogen, not in Nazi uniforms but instead their Hirogen armor and weapons. Fortunately, the Americans arrive just in time. Miller's team helps Tuvok's character while Davis finds Brigitte at Resistance headquarters.

Soon, artillery barrages strike the Nazi headquarters and create a simulated explosion, blowing a hole in the holodeck wall. The Voyager characters do not know what to make of it because the program is still running. Miller believes it's a secret Nazi installation and orders all units to invade. Kim, on the bridge, says the controls don't work, and now Karr has a real war. Seven and Janeway escape through the hole and the troops begin charging into the "Nazi bunker", taking the war to the rest of the ship.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" When the Americans arrive and the fighting begins, I don't intend to be standing next to a piano singing "Moonlight Becomes You." "

" I must discontinue this activity. I am not well. "

" Our blood is pure. Our people lived and hunted on this land for a thousand years before the degenerate races brought their corruption. Europe must be purified. " " You, yourself. Are you stronger than these degenerate races? More cunning? " " Yes, of course. " " And if you were alone, without an army supporting you, would you continue the hunt? If your prey were armed instead of defenseless, what then? " " I...Colonel, I don't know what you're trying to-" " YOU ARE SUPERIOR TO NO ONE! Never underestimate your prey or disrespect its abilities. If you do...you will become the hunted."

" Straight from Allied High Command. " " It must be important. " " All messages regarding the war are important. It's only a matter of degree. " " I suppose you're right, but do you have to be so... logical about everything? " " In any covert battle, logic is a potent weapon. You might try it sometime. "

" You've circumvented our control! How? " " Go to hell! "

" We've got to stop meeting like this. "

" You wanted a war? It looks like you've got one. "

Background information [ ]

Story and script [ ].

• As evidenced by the final draft of this episode's script, this installment had the working title "Wargame".
• Writer/producer Joe Menosky had the original idea for this episode, having been affected by his experience of having repeatedly seen – while living and working in Europe – televised footage of the Second World War that was profuse there. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87) The plot concept was one of the first ideas that Menosky revealed to his fellow writing staffers on Star Trek: Voyager , upon returning to work on Star Trek from abroad. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , p. 12) He remembered, " When I got back from Europe, I wanted to do a World War II show [...] I thought it would be real cool to do a World War II episode with our characters, and have a little French town and tanks and our people in GI uniforms. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87) Menosky proposed this idea in 1996 . Neither he nor Voyager 's other staff writers could find a way of making the plot concept work. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87; Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , p. 13) " We just never knew how to work it, " Menosky admitted. " In the back of our minds, we figured it would be an arena-like story where a powerful alien race tosses us and somebody else down into a World War II scenario. We have to fight it out, like when a little kid throws red ants and black ants together and watches the results. " This initial concept stayed on hold for a long time. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , p. 13)
• The war-related idea was reconsidered after the Hirogen were conceived. Joe Menosky recollected, " Once we had the Hirogen, that seemed like a good time to resurrect this World War II thing. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87) The story was then added to by co-executive producer Brannon Braga , when he conceived of an idea that he thought was "cool" – having aliens in Nazi German uniforms. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87; Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , p. 13) Subsequently, the Hirogen were used to fill this role. Menosky commented, " I think [Braga's input is] what led to the idea of using these Hunters in that regard. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , p. 13)
• The specifics of how the characters would be transported into the World War II setting still had to be devised. " So, we were struggling with how this was going to happen, " Joe Menosky related. " In my original story, I had the Hunters have a kind of hunting scenario planet. It was like a planetary Holodeck, and we found ourselves down in a simulation because they drove us there. But in working out the story, when we were all together as a staff team, Ken Biller came up with the idea that it was on our own Holodeck. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , pp. 13-14) Menosky also stated, " Ken Biller had the good idea of putting it on a holodeck, and making this the big holodeck episode of the year. That was the last key to get things rolling in terms of actually starting to write an episode. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87)
• Beginning to pen the script for this episode, the writer/producers decided to start the episode's storyline with the starship Voyager having already been invaded by the Hirogen. Joe Menosky remembered, " We cut right to the action, didn't deal with the takeover of our ship, and got right into this holodeck story. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87)
• It was while scripting this episode that the writers began to create the character of the Alpha Hirogen known as Karr, whose motives were used as thematic material for the two-parter. " A lot of times, strangely enough (and this happened in The Year of Hell [two-parter], as well), you don't get the bigger theme until you've actually progressed with the plot, despite the fact that the theme might hold everything together, " Joe Menosky observed. " And in this case, through not only working out the story, but even the script of part one, Brannon and I arrived at the notion that one member of these Hunter aliens was starting to question the way his society behaved in terms of hunting and killing the species around them and what that would lead to. [It was] a metaphor for exhausting your resources. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 39 , p. 14) The writers recognized that such a notion had far-reaching consequences, such as imbuing Karr with a more life-like personality. Menosky offered, " Once we came up with that character thread, that this guy was using the holodeck to explore ways in which he might change this destructive hunting dynamic of his people, then suddenly that gives a bad guy some depth. " Brannon Braga concurred, " The Hirogen were not just the 'Hunter' villains. With any luck we managed to dimensionalize them a little bit more and say something about culture. It was more than just aliens in Nazi uniforms, I hope. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87)
• The exploding building near the end of this episode was thought up by Brannon Braga. He noted, " I always wanted to explode a building on Star Trek , and [had] never quite figured out how to do it. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87)
• In this episode's shooting script, Janeway's holographic persona goes by the name Genevieve. ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion  (p. 232)) This is possibly an inside joke referring to Genevieve Bujold , the actress who was initially selected to portray the role of Voyager 's captain. The name of Janeway's World War II character changed, thereafter, to Katrine.
• Brigitte's pregnancy was influenced by actress Roxann Dawson 's real-life pregnancy. " They worked that into the script, " Dawson noted, " so that the character I played – in the alternate universe, basically – was pregnant. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD )
• The fact that Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky were not, at this point in the series, particularly interested in the character of Harry Kim inspired their decision to make him the only main character who does not participate in the holographic war games of this episode's two-parter, a role that had to be accentuated in order to fill up the story. " We stuck his ass on the bridge, " said Menosky, blatantly, " and we just didn't care [...] We ended up being short in that episode. Because the World War II sets had been struck, and it was elaborate amounts of costume to do anything in the period anyway, we were stuck with a few minutes of scenes we had to write, and no one but Ensign Kim. " Menosky also commented that "no other character could have been used" in the same way as the brutalized Kim is, here. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 41)
• Brannon Braga enjoyed trying to make the Nazis historically accurate. " We really tried, " he said. " Joe Menosky was a big help with this, because he's really knowledgeable about historical things [....] It was fun to explore [although] it wasn't an episode about Nazism per se." ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 44 , p. 12)
• The final draft of the episode's script was submitted on 18 November 1997 . [1]

Cast and characters [ ]

• Being much more used to performing in classical theater elsewhere in the United States of America, actor J. Paul Boehmer classed this episode as "my first job in LA" and "my first job on television." ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 46 , pp. 70-71) Having been a keen viewer of Star Trek since his childhood, however, Boehmer was thrilled to be cast in the role of the unnamed Kapitän here. " I've followed it from the original series , so it was really cool to finally get to be on it, " he admitted. " Getting the opportunity to work is always great, but getting the chance to work on a show that you've loved since you were five is a blast. I was walking on cloud nine for months. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 46 , p. 70)
• J. Paul Boehmer found that his past in classical theater helped him with his pronunciations of his character's technical dialogue here, which he nevertheless thought was "hard to say" and "hard to memorize." Furthermore, the actor brought an historical understanding to his role of the Nazi Kapitän, aware of the pressures that such a person would actually have been under. " The Kapitan is participating in what was a really powerful movement at the time, " Boehmer mused. " At the time at which the program is set, the Nazis were losing, and the leadership was pushing even harder for them to win. " Such retrospection was important to Boehmer, as he was presented with the challenge of trying to find a moral root in a character that may outwardly seem archetypally villainous. " It's interesting, because it starts out as a love story for these two. [B'Elanna's character] has plans because she's part of the resistance, but my take on it when I played the character was that he was truly in love with her. He doesn't know she is in the resistance, and he would do anything for her. " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 46 , p. 71)
• Director David Livingston was pleased with this installment's selection of guest stars. He opined, " We had a wonderful guest cast. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD )
• Much to their surprise, Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky became delighted by this episode's depiction of Harry Kim, a development that Menosky referred to as "a really interesting thing." He went on to say, " Because [Kim] was messed up, because these [Hirogen] guys had been smacking him around, and he was rebellious but he still had to knuckle under, we saw this other side of Kim. It was a tough side of him that we had never seen before, and we really liked. That takes everybody by surprise, no one more so than us. You see him in dailies, and you see him in the episode, and you go, 'That's cool.' " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 41)
• Kim actor Garrett Wang was unhappy that he felt this was one of several important episodes that he seemed to miss out on, although Joe Menosky felt differently. " In some ways, Garrett was the perfect person for that episode, " Menosky stated. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, pp. 40-41)
• As Roxann Dawson's pregnancy had been written as a facet of the holodeck persona Brigitte, Dawson was relieved that she didn't have to hide her body while filming this arc. " I was able to let it all hang out there, " the actress laughed. " We didn't have to hide it. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD ) Dawson also remarked that not having to cover up her pregnancy, on screen, was "a lot of fun." ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 94)
• For the scene of this episode in which Neelix thinks he is one of the Klingons (as well as for many scenes of the second half of the two-parter), Neelix actor Ethan Phillips had to endure not only his usual Talaxian prosthetics but also Klingon makeup over that. " That was... hell, because not only did I have to have the Talaxian makeup, then I've gotta have Klingon make-up on over it, " Phillips recalled. " I mean, forget it ! That's a lotta rubber. It's hot with that make-up on, but this was like I was in a sauna. I felt like I was [in] an oven. " Other than this discomfort, Phillips enjoyed his turn as a Klingon. ( VOY Season 4 DVD easter egg)
• By the time she came to appear in this episode, Seven of Nine actress Jeri Ryan had become extremely stressed and exhausted. " I was sick with something almost every day of my first season – colds, sinus infections, bronchitis – and getting only four hours of sleep a night because of the schedule, so by the time we got to this really grueling, complicated two-parter set in World War II, I was totally wiped, " Ryan explained. ( TV Week magazine (Canada) of May 8-14, 1999, pp. 6-7, 9 from "Super Moms", an interview by Michael Logan) The actress nevertheless enjoyed this episode's two-parter, citing it as one of her personal highlights from the entirety of Voyager 's fourth season. " Of course, 'The Killing Game' was just a riot, " she enthused. " I got to play Seven as a totally different person. I got to step out of the corset and the cat suit for a while. " Ryan also liked the location work involved in the making of the two-parter. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 40 , p. 35) She did her own singing for this episode.
• David Livingston likened the identity that Janeway dons throughout much of the episode, Katrine, to Humphrey Bogart ; specifically, Livingston described Katrine as "Janeway playing Humphrey Bogart, basically, with a white tuxedo." ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD )

Production [ ]

• Upon starting the filming of this episode, the production crew were tired out. " When Joe and I wrote the two-parter, " Brannon Braga remembered, " the production team was exhausted. They'd just done '" Year of Hell "' and '" Prey "' and the other blockbusters. How in the world were we going to pull off this World War II epic? " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 87) Elaborating on the confusion of how the group would manage to create this episode's two-parter, Braga reflected, " Nazis, aliens dressed as Nazis, Humans and Klingons – all together in a European, small French village. And it [...] just seemed impossible. How could we produce that, with machine guns and phasers?! " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD )

Marvin V. Rush prepares a shot from the teaser of this episode

• Filming for the two-parter covered late November-early December 1997. The teaser sequence of this installment was shot on Paramount Stage 16 on 24 November 1997 and involved Director of Photography Marvin V. Rush using a tape measure, when preparing to film footage of the Klingon-looking Janeway, in order to keep a hand-held camera at the suitable focal length for the desired focus and frame. The Sainte Claire exteriors of the two-parter were filmed over three days, including 5 December 1997 , at Universal Studios ' "European Street" backlot. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 143 ,  ? ) The exteriors that were shot during this period of location filming included the outside of a building that served as Sainte Claire's Nazi headquarters, for which – on instruction from set decorator James Mees – Nazi swastika flags were especially created. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 88) The location shoot was generally enjoyable for the cast and crew. Roxann Dawson noted, " It was a great thing for us to be able to go out. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD ) Jeri Ryan also regarded the opportunity to go on location as "great." ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 40 , p. 35)
• During a break from filming some of the footage that features her as Mademoiselle de Neuf , Jeri Ryan stepped off the set, shod her spiked, high-heeled footwear and donned a robe before sitting down for an interview with Cinefantastique . ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 76)
• The Hirogen-decorated version of the captain's ready room in this episode features numerous weapons. In fact, according to the unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 228), this was "almost the whole stock of prop weapons."
• The shooting of this episode included some bluescreen filming of Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew and Seven actress Jeri Ryan, for the sequence depicting the destruction of the Nazi headquarters building. Ronald B. Moore , the visual effects supervisor on this episode, recalled, " We put up a big bluescreen, and they [ran], one on each side of the camera. They just [came] up to the camera and [dived]. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 88)
• J. Paul Boehmer enjoyed working with David Livingston on this episode, as well as with Victor Lobl on the two-parter's concluding half, and found both directors to be extremely helpful. The actor enthused, " The directors were very much aligned on what they wanted from the individual episodes. Both of them were very good at seeing where the thrust of the piece needed to go. I had a pretty clear vision of what it needed to be, too, so it was pretty easy to move that forward. They were terrific to work with, both of them. They were very supportive, very helpful. " Boehmer concluded that he also found both directors to be "really great to [him]" about the fact that the two-parter was his first acting job in television work. ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 46 , p. 71) A long-time Star Trek director, David Livingston himself was thrilled to direct this installment. " 'The Killing Game' is my favorite Star Trek episode that I've been able to direct, " he raved, " because it had everything in it. " After explaining that he was referring to the episode's unusual setting and variation of characters, Livingston continued, " They threw everything into it. I had the best time doing that episode, because it just had so much stuff in it. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD )

Effects [ ]

• Ronald B. Moore described the destruction of Nazi headquarters in this episode as "probably one of the biggest [effects] that we've ever done on any [televised] Star Trek ." To create this effect, Vision Crew Unlimited created a seven foot replica of the building. According to Ron Moore, Thane Morris – a pyro technician in the employ of Vision Crew – "helped get the design of the building right." The same people who created the swastika flags for the exterior of the full-scale building replicated them, again in accordance with instructions from James Mees, at one-fifth scale. Mees then provided Moore with the flags, before the building was set to destruct. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 88)
• To film the model exploding, a trio of high-speed cameras was utilized; two of these cameras ran at 360 frames per second, while a third ran at 120 frames per second. Additionally, the model and the full-size building were lit alike, for the sequence. Ron Moore remembered, " [Marvin V. Rush] was able to match the lighting on the model. I transferred it, and then cut things together. " In Moore's estimation, the mixture of footage of both the miniature and the full-size building was highly effective. " You can't tell [the difference], " he reckoned. " The model is up there and most people see it and think it is the real building. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 88) Brannon Braga, for one, was thrilled with the explosion. " Of course, it was just a model, " he remarked, " but it was great! " ( Star Trek Monthly  issue 44 , p. 12)
• It was after the explosion was filmed and edited together that the bluescreen footage of Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan, running and diving, was filmed. The final edit of the sequence involves a shot of Janeway and Seven exiting the building and running towards the camera, two quick shots of the miniature blowing up and a final shot showing the pair of women diving out of sight, backdropped by more footage of the exploding model. Initially, however, Ron Moore was somewhat worried about how the final edit would look. He took his concerns to executive producer Rick Berman . " [I] said, 'I really think the people are going to cover the explosion up a little bit,' " Moore recounted. " 'You've got two quick cuts when they are not there, and then suddenly they pop on.' Berman said, 'I don't care if it covers up the explosion.' " In the end, Moore found that he indeed need not have worried. " I did a rough roto around [the two actresses], and put them over the explosion. I had to shift their sync a little bit, so they were together as they went. It worked beautifully. Berman was right. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 88)
• The breach in the holodeck, created by the explosion, was modeled entirely in CGI by Digital Muse . Mitch Suskin , who served as visual effects supervisor on the concluding half of the two-parter, commented, " Greg Rainoff (at Digital Muse) created the whole blend between the holodeck and the Voyager piece, with the flashing of the lights at the edge. It actually played a lot better once we had all the elements together. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 88)

Continuity [ ]

• Nazi Germany had been referenced several times before on Star Trek . The Nazis were first mentioned in " The City on the Edge of Forever " and " Patterns of Force ", with additional references to Germany's leader Adolf Hitler in several episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation . This episode featured the first appearance of Human Nazi characters, albeit only holographic ones. Actual Nazis did not appear until " Storm Front ", although even those were Nazis from an alternate (and for them much more successful) timeline.
• Both Captain Janeway and Neelix are seen wearing Klingon uniforms in this episode. Tom Paris later wears one in " Prophecy ".
• This two-parter marks the only episodes where Roxann Dawson's pregnancy is intentionally shown on screen. Dawson herself noted, " '[The] Killing Game' is the only episode where my pregnancy was allowed to be seen. " ( Braving the Unknown: Season Four , VOY Season 4 DVD )
• The Doctor confirms in this episode that the Voyager crew has suffered a fatality, though the victim is unidentified. This death brings the total number of confirmed crew deaths since the series premiere " Caretaker " to 15, the previous one having occurred in " Scientific Method ". This would put the crew complement as of the end of this episode at 146, given the crew complement of 148 that was most recently established in " Distant Origin " and " Displaced ", and the deaths that have occurred since.
• Holographic emitters are installed throughout the ship in this episode. This effort was previously started in " Persistence of Vision " to allow The Doctor to appear outside of Sickbay, but malfunctions prevented it ever being completed and the mobile emitter eventually made it redundant.
• When talking about previous conflicts that have involved Humanity, Karr references the Battle of Wolf 359 , depicted in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine pilot episode " Emissary ".
• The songs that Mademoiselle de Neuf sings in the course of this installment are " It Can't Be Wrong " and " That Old Black Magic ".
• The text that appears on screen when The Doctor accesses Janeway's profile is a summary of the events in the Season 2 episode " Resolutions ".
• In the German version of this episode, one of the two women in the street scene offends B'Elanna Torres (as Brigitte) by saying " Naziflittchen " ("Nazi slut"), whereas in the original version, the woman says " Collabo " ("Nazi collaborator") in French, before spitting in front of Torres.
• The car driving on the square of Sainte Claire is a Citroën 2CV Charleston built in 1983.
• The map used by Captain Janeway and Chakotay to devise the resistance plan is a map of the city of Toulouse, in the South West of France. ( citation needed • edit )
• According to dialogue, Karr's character had "served with Rommel in North Africa and Schmidt in Poland". The former is a bit incongruous however, as no SS unit had, historically at least, served under Rommel in Africa.

Reception [ ]

• This episode aired back-to-back with " The Killing Game, Part II " on its first airing. Even though these two episodes were originally intended to initially air on two separate nights, the decision to first broadcast both parts on the same night as each other was made by UPN , surprising the producers. Brannon Braga commented, " It was actually their idea. We planned it as a two part episode, and it was their idea to air it on the same night as a Voyager movie of sorts. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 89) Indeed, it was also originally planned that the two parts would first air as a single, feature-length edition (and promotional trailers for the episodes advertised them as such). However, these plans did not materialize, and each episode aired as a separate entity. A feature-length version was broadcast by the BBC on its first airing on 5 September 1999 , and formed part of the UK VHS release Star Trek: Voyager - Movies .
• The way in which the two-parter originally aired was a Star Trek first, because – although there had been feature-length episodes in the past (with Star Trek: Voyager 's own pilot episode, " Caretaker ", included among them) – this was the first time when both halves of a two-parter aired on a single night. Tuvok actor Tim Russ noted, " Again, here we go with defying convention, breaking the rules once in a while. That's what keeps people interested. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 100)
• Both Brannon Braga and Tim Russ were ultimately happy with the ratings of the "Killing Game" two-parter, as well as the fact that both segments of the two-parter were first aired on the same night as each other. Russ observed, " I think it was received quite well [...] To put on a two-hour show like that in one night was just great. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 100) Similarly, Braga said, " It really worked out well. The ratings were quite good. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 89) In fact, this episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 4.3 million homes, and a 7% share. [2] (X) The two-parter also ranked number 89, well above numerous series on the television network ABC . ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 89)
• This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series.
• Cinefantastique rated this episode 3 out of 4 stars. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 101)
• Star Trek Monthly  issue 43 , p. 57 scored this episode 5 out of 5 stars.
• The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 230) gives the installment a rating of 9 out of 10.
• The success of this two-parter's first airing influenced two-hour, feature-length episodes in subsequent seasons. ( Beyond the Final Frontier , p. 316) The first of these was " Dark Frontier ", of whose development Joe Menosky said, " Because of the success of airing 'The Killing Game' in a single night, the network and the studio were really interested in doing a Voyager movie, a two-part episode that was aired on a single evening. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 32)
• The success of how this installment depicts Harry Kim influenced the character to be featured in the anniversary episode " Timeless ". " In a funny way, the future Kim in 'Timeless' was directly inspired by the belted-around Kim and edgy Kim from 'The Killing Game', " explained Joe Menosky. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 41)
• Robert Beltran disliked this episode and its followup, considering the idea of "space Nazis" silly and describing the installments as "a kick in the face to the German fans." He furthermore felt that the episodes were not well-written, shallow and not very dramatic. [3]

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 4.9, catalog number VHR 4630, 7 September 1998
• In feature-length form, as part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek: Voyager - Movies : Volume 3 (with "Equinox"), 5 February 2001
• As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Chakotay
• Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• Garrett Wang as Harry Kim

Guest Stars [ ]

• Danny Goldring as Karr
• Mark Deakins as Turanj
• Mark Metcalf as Hirogen medic
• J. Paul Boehmer as Kapitan
• Paul S. Eckstein as young Hirogen

Uncredited Co-Stars [ ]

• Afra as French citizen
• Alcazar as French citizen
• Sam Alejan as French citizen
• Walter Altman as Nazi officer
• Anderson as French citizen
• David Keith Anderson as Ashmore
• M. Andersson as nightclub patron
• Apler as American GI
• B. Augustinski as nightclub patron
• John Austin as Hirogen hunter
• T. Baxter as Nazi officer
• Brett Bell as Voyager crewman/nightclub patron
• Benard as French citizen
• Benson as French citizen
• Bentley as French citizen
• Bernie Bielawski as French citizen
• Richard Bishop as Hirogen SS officer
• Vladimir Blokh as nightclub patron
• Harry Boykoff as nightclub waiter
• T. Brader as nightclub patron
• David Brett as nightclub patron
• Broge as French citizen
• Elizabeth Carlisle as nightclub patron
• E. Chase as nightclub patron
• Paul Chipello as Claude
• Coe as French citizen
• Robert Cox as American GI
• Alexander Denk as American GI
• Chris Doyle as holographic Klingon
• Etheridge as American GI
• Fasig as French citizen
• Robert Ford as nightclub waiter
• Ford as French citizen
• Gabler as American GI
• G. Gardner as nightclub patron
• Jim Gogolos as American GI
• Goodman as French citizen
• J. Goss as Nazi officer
• Ken Gruz as SS Radio Corporal
• Hanks as French citizen
• Hayward as French citizen
• Hedden as French citizen
• Heisler as American GI
• J. Hirschmann as Nazi officer
• Mitchell Holden as Nazi guard
• Dieter Hornemann as Nazi guard
• Reneé Huberstock as nightclub patron
• Janek as French citizen
• V. Johnson as French nun
• Jorgenson as American GI
• Beth-Ann Joyner as French citizen
• R. Kempel as nightclub patron
• Kohan as French citizen
• Korda as French citizen
• J. Lahman as nightclub patron
• Lake as French citizen
• Leigh as French citizen
• Lerill as American GI
• H. Levine as nightclub patron
• Laird Macintosh as American GI
• Lisa Madigan as nightclub patron
• Mastogiovanni as American GI
• May as American GI
• McCoy as French citizen
• G. McKnight as Nazi officer
• Meurel as French citizen
• Marie Micheaux as Voyager crewman / French citizen
• Wade Miller as Klingon-appearing Voyager crewmember
• Teresa Molinari as nightclub patron
• Money as American GI
• Monteleon as French citizen
• Morett as French citizen
• Tom Morga as Klingon
• Nachbauer as American GI
• Jenny Navarro as nightclub patron
• Nelson as American GI
• Chris Novicki as Voyager crewman/GI
• Beth Persky as nightclub patron
• Quinn as American GI
• A. Reeves as nightclub patron
• Ricci as French citizen
• Roach as French citizen
• Fred Romming as French citizen
• Irving Ross as nightclub patron
• J.M. Salamon as nightclub patron
• Schell as American GI
• Shull as French citizen
• V. Simone as nightclub patron
• D. Smith as nightclub patron
• Soares as French citizen
• Steve Stella as American GI
• Janine Stillo as nightclub patron
• Szostak as American GI
• Tommon as French citizen
• Valli as French citizen
• P. Van Poppel as nightclub patron
• D. Vouvoudakis as French nun
• Weitzman as French citizen
• John Wilkie as Hirogen hunter
• A. Wolfe as nightclub patron
• Wyler as French citizen
• Alice Younger as French citizen
• Zarider as French citizen
• Ashmore (voice)
• Reginald Smith (voice)

Stunt doubles [ ]

• George Colucci as stunt double for Ethan Phillips
• Lynn Salvatori as stunt double for Kate Mulgrew

Stand-ins [ ]

• Richard Bishop – stand-in for Danny Goldring
• Tarik Ergin – stand-in for Mark Metcalf and Mark Deakins
• Sue Henley – stand-in/ hand double for Kate Mulgrew
• Clynell Jackson III – stand-in for Danny Goldring
• Susan Lewis – stand-in for Roxann Dawson
• Brita Nowak – stand-in for Jeri Ryan
• Lemuel Perry – stand-in for Tim Russ and Danny Goldring
• J.R. Quinonez – stand-in for Robert Picardo, Robert Beltran, and Chris Doyle and utility stand-in and photo double for Robert Picardo
• Robert Rasner – stand-in for Ethan Phillips
• Keith Rayve – stand-in for Robert Duncan McNeill, Tom Morga, Mark Deakins, and J. Paul Boehmer and utility stand-in
• Joey Sakata – stand-in for Ethan Phillips
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Robert Beltran
• John Tampoya – stand-in for Garrett Wang and Danny Goldring and utility stand-in
• John Wilkie – photo double for Mark Metcalf
• Unknown actor – stand-in for Paul S. Eckstein
• Unknown actress – hand double for Roxann Dawson

References [ ]

14th century ; 20th century ; 1926 ; 1929 ; 1936 ; 1939 ; 1940 ; 1944 ; 2344 ; 2358 ; 2371 ; 2372 ; Al-Batani , USS ; Allied High Command ; Allies ; American ; armor piercing grenade ; armored unit ; army ; arterial rupture ; artillery unit ; assassination ; baguette ; baker ; bat'leth ; battalion ; Battle of Wolf 359 ; bicycle ; biolab ; black magic ; blood sport ; boarding party ; body odor ; Borg ; brain ; bridge ; Brigitte ; British Intelligence ; British Radio Network ; bridge control relay ; bulkhead ; bullet ; bunker ; captain ; Caretaker ; centimeter ; charge ; Channel ; Charlie One ; Château Latour ; cigarette ; Citroën 11 B ; Citroën 2CV Charleston ; code key ; Coeur de Lion, Le ; collaborator ; colonel ; Concert, The ; cottage ; countryside ; courier ; cranial trauma ; cranium ; crater ; crosswind ; Crusades ; Davis, Bobby ; Delta Quadrant ; de Neuf, Mademoiselle ; detonator ; Devonshire ; dizziness ; division ; doctor ; Dover ; dozen ; dry season ; dynamite ; Earhart, Amelia ; Earth ; emergency ration ; Europe ; Fifth Armored Infantry ; feet ; first lieutenant ; fog ; franc ; France ; fräulein ; French language ; French Resistance ; German ; German language ; Germany ; Gestapo ; Gewehr 98/40 ; gold ; Goulot ; Grande Odalisque ; Greece ; hauptmann ; Hertfordshire ; Hirogen ; Hirogen philosophy ; Hirogen's Klingon simulation ; Hirogen ship (aka Hirogen vessel ; unnamed ); holodeck ; holodeck safety protocol ; hologram ; hologrid ; hour ; House of Mo'Kai ; hunter ; Indiana ; infiltrator ; internal bleeding ; Intrepid class decks ; jamming signal ; Janeway ; joke ; June ; Katrine ; kick ; kilo ; kilometer ; kiss ; Klingon ; Klingonese ; laceration ; launcher ; leader ; Leda and the Swan ; limp ; logic ; London ; lung ; M1 Garand ; master race ; McNulty, Jazzy ; mek'leth ; memory center ; meter ; Miller ; monsieur ; munitions expert ; Nazi ; neural interface ; New Earth ; North Africa ; oscillator ; Paris ; patrol ; Pel, Danara ; Peugeot 402 B Conduite Intérieure ; piano ; pig ; plasma network ; Poland ; pool ; postcard ; power nodule ; Praxiteles ; pregnancy ; protein ; province ; puncture ; radio ; radio transmitter ; rain ; reconnaissance mission ; reconnaissance team ; Reichsmark ; replicator system (aka replicators ); Rommel, Erwin ; rot ; Sainte Claire ; Saturday ; Schmidt ; sculptor ; Second World War ; September ; shoulder ; skull ; sky ; snail ; soldier ; Solentshire ; spell ; square meter ; spine ; staring ; strategist ; strudel ; submachine gun ; summer ; Sunday decryption sequence ; surgery ; swell ; tank ; targ ; temperature ; Third Reich ; Thompson submachine gun ; train ; triage ; trophy ; tuesday ; unit ; university ; US Army ; vacuum tube ; vertebra ; Vidiian ; War Merit Cross ; water ; weather report ; weave ; wind ; wine ; wine cellar ; witchcraft ; yard ; Zündapp KS750

Other references [ ]

• Crew Manifest 74656 : Berman, Rick ; Biller, Ken ; Braga, Brannon ; DeMeritt, Michael ; Dorton, Louise ; Drapanas, Wendy ; Fernandez, Kristine ; Fleck, Jerry ; Fukai, Arlene ; Genovese, Cosmo ; Howard, Merri ; James, Richard ; Kozlowski, Andrzesj ; Lauritson, Peter ; Leong, Jessica ; Livingston, David ; Mees, James ; Nesterowicz, John ; Overdiek, Diane ; Piller, Michael ; Ragan, Karen ; Rossi, David ; Rush, Marvin ; Sena, Sandra ; Shimizu, Suzi ; Simmons, Adele ; Sims, Alan ; Smutko, Alex ; Taylor, Jeri ; Yacobian, Brad

External links [ ]

• "The Killing Game" at StarTrek.com
• " The Killing Game " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Killing Game " at Wikipedia
• " The Killing Game " at the Internet Movie Database
• " The Killing Game " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Star Trek's 'Nazi episode' aired for first time in Germany

Controversial episode aired, 43 years after its creation; contains nazi uniforms, plans to annihilate "planet zeon" with "final solution.".

Star Trek: Patterns of Force

9 comments:

I love the Space Nazis episode! I haven't seen it in a long time, but I'm looking forward to rewatching it. I like the sheer, simple daftness of these episodes (I love the Space Romans one as well) and they make for a nice change of pace, and I grew up on 50s British war movies and stories about the Resistance, so it's nice seeing Star Trek revisit those themes. Having said that, maybe when I do re-watch it I'll feel differently!

I know this episode seems rather simplistic but, as a teenager learning history, I found it did augment some of my understandings at the time about the motivations of Nazi ideology. And it also showed me what 'resistance' was. Plus it gave me a bit of an embarrassing-to-admit crush on anyone in a Nazi uniform... The Shat would have made a great goose-stepping white supremacist - that hair; those eyes ;) The real epiphany for me was (not that I am superficial or anything, and not that I didn't get the importance of the message) Leonard Nimoy had an awesome bod! Hairy or not, he actually succeeded in making Kirk look a bit tubby.

Hairy Spock is pure Squick. Sorry, probably not a popular opinion, but I had to say it. Shatner was so kind to viewers by staying clean-shaven. Too bad Nimoy didn't take after him in that regard. I don't want to see people's body hair. I guess because it's a tertiary sex trait, it's gross and embarrassing to see. I wonder if in the future we'll extend this to include beards as well. Someone probably studies trends like this.

Roddenberry wanted both actors to be clean-shaven. Nimoy refused. Shatner agreed, but he really didn't like having his shirt off. Roddenberry's concept was that the bare chest made him look more like a strong leader. Shatner didn't agree and then there was the problem of his weight, which did suffer when he had no time to exercise. I wondered too how difficult it must have been for either man to appear in a Nazi uniform when they were both Jewish.

Jews dressing as Nazis as a send-up was EXTREMELY "in" in 1967. Martin Landau as Martin Bormann in Mission: Impossible. The Producers Hogan's Heroes By the way, count me in the "Yay for Spock's chest hair" camp.

Oh, THAT'S why there was all the slash fic.

Mikey, my theory is that the slash fic got its real start in "Requiem for Methuselah," but it was probably accumulative.

I'll eagerly anticipate that one :)

I find reading this one a bit jarring considering what's happening in the world today. Just reading Musk's comment about the ADL 'ruining' the ad revenue of 'X' (gawd, Musk is an idiot), last night on people I follow, including the ADL, makes me concerned for things right now. But let's focus on this episode. I liked it quite a bit, although I wouldn't rank it too highly compared to better, perhaps less obvious, classics that we've already discussed a few times now. The moral here is as obvious as it can get, but it's also an important one for all that. It could of course been made a bit less on the nose, but Genesis of the Daleks is my all time number 1 Who story (classic or new), and it isn't exactly subtle with its take on how Nazis are bad either. Of course, one should not need to be told that Nazis are bad in the 1st place, since it's pretty darn obvious!

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.

On Planet Auschwitz

Holocaust Representation in Science Fiction and Horror

Network Nazis: Star Trek’s “Patterns of Force”

The original Star Trek series laudably promoted inclusiveness and provided progressive social commentary during the turbulent late-1960s. With an international and diverse crew, the USS Enterprise travels the universe guided by the Prime Directive prohibiting the Starfleet from interfering in the development of other civilizations and imposing its will on others. This principle was put to the test in the February 16, 1968 episode “Patterns of Force.” Investigating the disappearance of a prominent historian named John Gill (David Brian), the Enterprise arrives at the planet Ekos where it is immediately attacked by a weapon supposedly too advanced for the primitive civilization. The Enterprise deflects the missile easily, but the crew is baffled by Ekos’ evolution and that of its more peaceful neighbor Zeon, which developed interstellar travel. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) suspects Gill violated the directive by assisting one or both planets.  Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam down to the surface of Ekos to investigate. The duo encounters Ekosian soldiers in Nazi stormtrooper uniforms, swastikas draped on every building, film footage of massive Nazi rallies, and Nazi rhetoric.

The so-called “Final Decision” is designed to eliminate the poor Zeons, who only wanted to share their culture with the Ekosians.  An Ekosian news report declares, “the Führer has ordered our glorious capital to be made Zeon-free.” Kirk and Spock soon learn the fate of Gill – he is the Führer of this neo-Nazi civilization. After stealing uniforms, the two try to infiltrate Ekosian headquarters, but are caught by Party Chairman Eneg (Patrick Horgan) and imprisoned with some Zeon resistance members. Kirk and Spock learn Deputy Führer Melakon (Skip Homeier) is the actual leader and Gill is kept in a drugged state. Gill explains his misguided initiative to introduce Nazism on Ekos to jumpstart its development, calling the Third Reich the “most efficient state Earth ever knew,” a statement Spock verifies as historical fact. [i] Predictably, the experiment failed and now the Zeons face extermination.

The Enterprise crew defeats Melakon and frees Kirk, Spock and Gill.  Unfortunately, Gill is killed in the struggle, but not before denouncing the Final Decision to the people who once regarded him as their Führer. The episode ends when the Enterprise leaves the system, entrusting Ekosians and Zeons to rebuild their worlds together.    Kirk and Spock’s investigation on Ekos reveals a society can learn to hate and conform even without any discernable history of prejudice or external trauma such as war or depression. Physically indistinguishable from the Ekosians, the Zeons are analogous to German Jews, who were perceived as somehow more progressive, educated, and timid than their fellow Germans. The comparison is even more explicit with names like Isak, Davod, and Abrom.  The Zeons (like Zion) explain to the crew why the Ekosians hate them: “Because with no one to hate there would be nothing to hold them [Ekosians] together. So the party build us into a threat, a disease to be wiped out.” While Kirk can pass in this society, Spock, whose “otherness” must be concealed, lives in fear of discovery. Spock quips that Kirk “makes a very convincing Nazi” in his uniform.  Kirk replies the helmet covering Spock’s distinctive ears “hides a multitude of sins.” The fact Leonard Nimoy is Jewish reinforces the association between the Holocaust and the “Patterns of Force” storyline. Interestingly, the episode’s detailed recreation of Nazi rhetoric and uniforms prevented the episode from airing on German television for twenty years. [iv] Like other Astrofascist narratives, “Patterns of Force” implies exterminationist ideologies are not bound by Earth’s atmosphere and historic contingency. Kirk reduces the Third Reich to a simplistic cautionary tale, telling Spock the Nazis were the result of giving one person too much power.

Dehistoricizing the Holocaust and Third Reich is an American tradition, and while the motives may be commendable, such as addressing contemporary racial prejudice and political corruption, the resulting normalization hides a multitude of sins.

[i] Star Trek , “Patterns of Force,” Season 2, Episode 21, directed by Vincent McEveety, February 16, 1968, YouTube.

[iv] “‘Raumschiff Enterprise’: ZDF neo zeigt umstrittene Nazi-Folge,” Das Bild , November 4, 2011, https://www.bild.de/unterhaltung/tv/raumschiff-enterprise/zdf-neo-zeigt-umstrittene-nazi-folge-20803514.bild.html [accessed May 18, 2018].

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Published by brian e. crim.

Brian Crim is professor of history at the University of Lynchburg and author of Planet Auschwitz: Holocaust Representation in Science Fiction and Horror Film and Television. Other books include Our Germans: Project Paperclip and the National Security State and Antisemitism in the German Military Community and the Jewish Response, 1914-1938. View more posts

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Patterns Of Force Stardate: 2534.0 Original Airdate: 16 Feb, 1968

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Patterns of force (1968).

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Screen Rant

All 18 marvel easter eggs & references in x-men '97 episode 8.

The first chapter of X-Men '97's three-part season finale is here, featuring a large collection of exciting references and epic Easter eggs.

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for X-Men '97, episode 8

• Bastion is revealed as the season's mastermind, a merging of Master Mold and Nimrod who creates the X-Men 97's Prime Sentinels.
• Cameos from Doctor Doom and Baron Zemo show their involvement in the conflict with OZT.
• Magneto's power surge prompts Spider-Man's reaction and Nightcrawler wields swords in battle just as he does in the comics.

X-Men '97 episode 8 is the first chapter of the season's three-part finale, featuring several exciting references and epic Easter eggs. With the show's primary villain having revealed himself, battle lines are being drawn between humanity and mutantkind. To that end, the global crisis results in some very exciting cameos along the way as well (including some friendly neighborhood ones).

As seen in X-Men '97 episode 8 , Bastion is confirmed to be the season's true mastermind. His dark origins are also revealed as the dark merging of both Master Mold and Nimrod, representing the entirety of Sentinel existence both past and future as the next evolution of mutant killer. Having created Operation: Zero Tolerance to exterminate mutants once and for all, the X-Men are featured defending themselves as best they can against Bastion's new Prime Sentinels. To that end, here are 18 of the biggest Easter eggs and references to be found throughout X-Men '97 episode 8 .

Every Upcoming Marvel Movie: Full MCU Phase 5 & 6 List (& Beyond)

18 cable’s computer cube, epic future tech.

Having returned to the present from his life in the future, Cable joins with the X-Men to prevent his future from taking place . Unable to change events prior to the Fall of Genosha, Cable joins with his father Cyclops to take Bastion down before he grows to powerful with Operation: Zero Tolerance. To that end, Cable's cube computer is briefly featured at the beginning of the episode , the advanced AI that provides him with time stream navigation and knowledge and was first seen in the original X-Men series.

17 The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj

A major mcu connection.

During the X-Men's conversation with Cable about the Fall of Genosha and his failure to stop it, Beast references the "sorcerers of Kamar-Taj" and their studies of absolute points in time. Not only does this connect with the idea of fixed moments in the timeline as was seen in Marvel's What...If? , the Kamar-Tag reference on its own is pretty exciting , confirming another key aspect of this Marvel Universe beyond the X-Men and mutantkind. Seeing as how both Doctor Strange and Wong were featured in the original animated series, it follows that they're likely still around as well.

16 William Stryker on TV

Seen on the television at the Da Costa residence, William Stryker is featured speaking on the news about the inevitability of war between humans and mutants. A core part of the Weapon X program, this version of William Stryker mirrors the comics. That said, William Stryker has been played by three different actors in live-action since 2003's X2 where the colonel was portrayed by Brian Cox. Younger versions of Stryker were subsequently played by Danny Huston in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Josh Helman in the more recent X-Men films beginning with Days of Future Past .

X-Men: Days of Future Past

The fifth installment in the X-Men movie franchise, X-Men: Days of Future Past, is a time-traveling superhero film that takes place between two points in time in the series. With mutants (and almost humans) on the brink of extinction due to the Sentinel robot menace, the last remnants of the X-Men send Logan back in time to stop the assassination of the man who created the Sentinels to save their future from certain doom.

The Nazi "Angel of Death"

At Bastion's base of operations for OZT, Valerie Cooper refers to Mister Sinister as "Bastion's very own Doctor Mengele" . Bastion counters that he knew Mengele and that while he could have been so much more, he settled on being nothing but a Nazi puppet. During WWII, Mengele was indeed a member of the Nazi Party who experimented on the Jews imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camps. To that end, this real-life monster was given the nickname "The Angel of Death".

14 Magneto's Tattoo

From the auschwitz camps.

Having been captured by Bastion and Sinister after the Fall of Genosha, Magneto is imprisoned at the OZT facility. As Valerie Cooper speaks to him, his arm is shown with his tattooed identification number given to him by the Nazis when he was a child in Auschwitz. To that end, they're the same numbers seen in Fox's live-action X-Men movies and the original numbers Magneto had in the comics . However, 214782 was later retconned to 24005 as the former couldn't have been a legitimate number used at Auschwitz in real life.

13 Stark Expo

From iron man 2.

While investigating Bastion's childhood home, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Cable find old toys along with a poster promoting the Stark Expo and a feature on robotics . In the MCU, the Stark Expo was a massive celebration of science and innovation put on by Howard Stark as early as the 1940s and was later revived by Tony Stark's Iron Man as seen in 2010's Iron Man 2 . The Stark Expo was where War Machine made his debut as well as where Stark and Rhodey defeated Whiplash.

The third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man 2, is an action-superhero film that occurs six months after the original film's events. After outing himself as the heavy metal superhero known as Iron Man, Tony Stark goes to great lengths to avoid demands from the government for his tech. But, unfortunately, the technology Tony used to save his life is beginning to impact his health inversely - just in time for a man named Ivan Vanko to arrive, who creates his version of the Iron Man tech to settle a decades-long score with Howard Stark's son.

12 Doctor Doom

Major marvel villain.

In X-Men '97 episode 8, Doctor Doom is revealed to be a member of OZT . Speaking with Bastion via a video conference, Doom confirms his collusion while also implying that he didn't know about the massive war crime against Genosha, a mutant nation that had been officially recognized by the UN. This does make a certain degree of sense, seeing as how Doctor Doom is the sovereign leader of Latveria . As such, if his involvement were to be exposed, it could result in negative geopolitical consequences for the supervillain dictator.

11 Baron Zemo

A member of ozt.

The classic Captain America villain Baron Zemo is revealed to be a member of OZT as well . Following Doom's comment, Zemo warns that Bastion's Prime Sentinel program can't go wide so long as the President of the United States and other leaders see the X-Men as heroes and allies to humanity. In agreement with the iconic Marvel villain, Bastion confirms that he already has plans in the works to wipe the X-Men out with hordes of Prime Sentinels already waiting for activation.

10 Morph Takes On Juggernaut's Form

Xavier's half-brother.

Following the twist that reporter Trish Tilby was secretly one of Bastion's sleeper Prime Sentinels, the X-Men still in the mansion take the fight to the hordes of mutant killing cyborgs. This includes Morph who takes on the form of Juggernaut . Having been featured multiple times in the original X-Men series, Cain Marko's Juggernaut is Xavier's human half-brother who was imbued with incredible size and strength by the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak.

9 "Done With Malls"

Calling back to og x-men series.

X-Men '97 episode 8 also features the activation of several sleeper Prime Sentinels who quickly surround both Jubilee and Sunspot. Having been shopping, Jubilee and Sunspot flee the mall while avoiding incoming fire. Naturally, Jubilee declares that she is "so done with malls" , a reference to the premiere episodes of the original X-Men series from the 90s where a group of original model Sentinels attacked her before she was rescued by the X-Men before ultimately welcoming her into their ranks.

8 James Bond

Multiple references to 007.

As confirmed on Twitter by X-Men '97 creator and head writer Beau DeMayo , i t's confirmed that various James Bond movies served as some key inspiration for multiple moments in X-Men '97 episode 8 . This includes Moonraker inspiring Wolverine's free fall fight, Goldmember inspiring the Summers' Family car chase, and You Only Live Twice for Bastion's OZT headquarters. Likewise, DeMayo confirmed that there were many more nods to 007 within the episode as well.

7 Nightcrawler Wielding Swords

A teleporting swashbuckler.

An epic nod to his swashbuckling fantasies in the original comics, Nightcrawler is seen wielding swords just as he often does in the comics . However, X-Men '97 ups the ante by giving Kurt Wagner three swords to wield simultaneously thanks to his prehensile tail. Additionally, Nightcrawler gets to add his three blades to Wolverine's six, joining back-to-back as they take on an entire group of Bastion's new Prime Sentinels (while also nodding to their strong friendship in the comics).

6 Atlas On Bastion's Car

A "burden" protecting the world.

Bastion was about to visit the ruins of the X-Mansion before he had to return to the OZT facility to deal with Valerie Cooper who'd released Magneto. However, Bastion's car is briefly featured with a hood ornament of Atlas , the Greek titan burdened with carrying the world on his shoulders. As such, this likely symbolizes how Bastion sees himself and his mission to end all mutants, a task and heavy burden only he is capable of shouldering.

5 Magneto Was Right

Put it on a t-shirt.

As Magneto amplifies his powers via the North Pole (mirroring the comics' Fatal Attractions storyline), Valerie Cooper confirms her belief that "Magneto Was Right" . Having realized that Magneto knew the truth about humanity's inability to coexist with mutants, the "Magneto Was Right" line is a classic slogan from the comics that emerged following his presumed death after the original Fall of Genosha on the page, appearing on shirts worn by students at the Xavier School. It's a major moment in X-Men '97 that shows Magneto is done playing by Xavier's rules and is ready to go to war.

4 Spider-Man

Does whatever a spider can.

Feeling Magneto's major surge of power across the globe, none other than Spider-Man himself is featured reacting to the Master of Magnetism's declaration of war . This is very exciting following the premiere episode's Daily Bugle newspaper tease, as well as Spider-Man's past crossover with the X-Men as seen in his own Spider-Man animated series from the '90s . To that end, this is hopefully a tease for future crossovers in X-Men '97 as well.

3 Silver Samurai

Classic wolverine foe.

The Silver Samurai is also featured reacting to Magneto's power surge at the end of this episode. Having been featured in the original X-Men series, Silver Samurai is a classic Wolverine villain who also made his live-action debut in 2013's The Wolverine. As such, it will be exciting to see if he makes any future appearances beyond this short cameo in X-Men '97 .

The Wolverine

Based on the 1982 comic event "Wolverine," The Wolverine takes place after X-Men: The Last Stand and follows Logan on a journey to Japan at the behest of a former acquaintance. Living in isolation after the world-changing events in the prior movie and haunted by the death of the woman he loved, Logan is found and asked to travel to Japan to meet with a man named Ichiro, who he had saved during World War II. At the end of his life, Ichiro offers Logan a chance to free himself of his healing abilities to finally die by taking them for himself. However, Logan soon learns that Ichiro's intentions for immortality are far less honorable than he had expected, leading him to struggle to face off with a former ally.

2 Omega Red

Another classic wolverine foe.

With Magneto's global wave of power shutting down several machines and power sources beyond the Prime Sentinels, it's revealed that Magneto inadvertently set loose none other than Omega Red . A creation of the Soviet Union, Omega Red was a living weapon not even the USSR could control , resulting in his frozen suspension. Likewise, Omega Red would be freed and subsequently frozen on more than one occasion as seen in the original X-Me animated series.

1 To Me, My X-Men

Xavier's back baby.

Having finally returned to Earth following his time with Lilandra and the Shi'ar Empire, Professor Xavier is back and ready to help set things right . To that end, Xavier naturally calls his children using his telepathic abilities with his most classic line from both the show and the original comics: "To Me, My X-Men". As such, it's a very exciting way to end X-Men '97 episode 8 and the first chapter of the show's three-part season finale.

New episodes of X-Men '97 release Wednesdays on Disney+.

X-Men '97

X-Men '97 is the direct continuation of the popular 1990s animated series X-Men: The Animated Series. Taking up where the third season left off, Marvel's revival brings back famous mutants such as Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Beast, Magneto, and Nightcrawler, who fight villains like Mr. Sinister, the Sentinels, and the Hellfire Club.