What it’s mainly about
Called urgently to a space station for what seems like a very trivial reason, Kirk is confronted with various stuffed shirts and also a group of humorless Klingons, demanding their rights. The episode raises the question of what is worth taking seriously, and how should Captain Kirk treat people that mock, disobey, or otherwise undermine him? Should he lose his cool, at least for show? Or is keeping a sense of humor the better plan?
The ever-patient Captain Kirk — at least in this episode — contemplates tribbles, and wonders why they can’t behave.
Why it’s awesome
The tribbles — little animate balls of fur that purr when content but squeak quite shrilly when alarmed — are great fun, and so is the reaction of various people to them. Uhura is charmed; Spock is unsurprisingly nonplussed; McCoy understands their appeal. Kirk is perhaps less than thrilled about having them appear on his lunch, but these supposedly useless and over-multiplying creatures turn out to have a certain utility after all. The Klingons in this episode come across like greasy fifties rockers, full of themselves and spoiling for a fight — yet Kirk remains above all the acrimony on the space station.