"The Broken Circle"

Running Time: 1 hour 6 minutes 19 seconds
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Assuring Spock that he’ll do fine commanding the Enterprise for three days while the ship is docked at Starbase 1, Captain Pike sets off to help Number One, who has been arrested for concealing from Starfleet that she is a genetically enhanced Illyrian. Soon after Pike leaves, Uhura receives a distress call from La’an Noonien-Singh. The crew find La’an and help uncover and stop the plot of a syndicate called the Broken Circle, who aim to restart the Federation–Klingon War so they can hike up prices and profit by selling the planet’s rich dilithium deposits to both sides. And along the way, Spock experiences emotions.

In this episode of Saddle Up! hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing kick off Season 2 with a discussion of “The Broken Circle.” We look at the unexpected start to the season, with Pike quickly heading off on his own mission, how the story focuses on Spock’s character development as he grapples with the emotional repercussions of Season 1’s encounter with the Gorn, plus the writers’ flirtation with canon, some confusion at the very top over where the series falls on the Star Trek timeline, and why it doesn’t really matter when you have stories that are so much fun.

Chapters

Intro (0:00:00)
An Unexpected Start (00:04:43)
Pike Has Left the Building (00:10:02)
Broken Characters (00:16:33)
A Vulcan Rhapsody (00:22:51)
The Search for Spock (00:27:21)
Playing with Canon (00:37:05)
Now THAT'S What I Call Klingons! (00:48:30)
Place and Time (00:50:21)
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:59:54)
Closing (01:02:25)