I've been watching old Star Trek episodes on Netflix during the quarantine, and got a kick out of episode 16 from season 2, The Gamesters of Triskelion, which featured the heavenly Angelique Pettyjohn. Shahna has popped up quite a bit in recent years, as persons joke that her character was an early incarnation of Lady Gaga. There is an uncanny resemblance, which makes you wonder if Gaga might be a Trekkie herself, picking up on some of the old costumes.
Angelique has long been a Star Trek favorite. It was unquestionably her most famous role as Shahna, the plaything of a group of unseen men's voice on a planet far far away. For those who might not be familiar with the story, Kirk, Uhura and Chekhov get bodysnatched while making a routine visit to a planet in one solar system only to find themselves transported to another solar system with three suns, hence Triskelion. Spock follows the faint vapor trail left behind, with McCoy and Scotty challenging his Vulcan patience.
By the second season, Gene Roddenberry and his crew were playing the series mostly for laughs, although there remained some more serious undertones. I thought this might have been the episode where Kirk is forced to kiss Uhura, but that came later in Plato's Stepchildren. It was the first interacial kiss on television.
The Gamesters episode fits the general theme of the show with Kirk forced into a situation he doesn't want to be in, fighting his way out of it, and ultimately giving the planet's cruel leaders a lecture on what it means to be civilized. What makes it different is that Shahna is one of the more memorable aliens, not just for her sexy outfit and green hair but the convincing way she succumbs to her kiss with the captain, seeming to really feel the moment, and ultimately giving us that heartfelt tribute to Jim as the Enterprise goes onto its next adventure. The director, Gene Nelson, chose to leave it that rather than provide a glib summary by Kirk or McCoy on the deck of the ship.
An interesting moment in the episode comes when one of the Thralls tries to rape Uhura. All we hear are her cries from her cell, but it is obvious what is going on. She manages to fend off her attacker, emerging defiant from her cell.
Chekhov is also a curious figure, not appearing until the second season and a rather obvious attempt to appeal to teenage girls with his Davy Jones haircut. He is a proud Russian in the series, always extolling the virtues of his home country, which fit with the space race at the time. In this episode he is not quite so fortunate in who he is paired with -- a transvestite figure in bright orange hair -- but tries to make the best of the situation, fearing what will happen to him if he doesn't.
You would think this would have been a big break for Angelique, but unfortunately she was not able to parlay her great moment into anything other than drive-in exploitation movies like The Curious Female and Stalag 69. She did pitch up in Otto Preminger's Tell Me that You Love Me, Junie Moon, but was far down the credits.
It wasn't until the early 80s that she was able to cash in on her Star Trek role by pitching up at conventions dressed as Shahna and selling photos of herself. This was largely thanks to the much anticipated movie that was released in 1979, kind of a ten's years after episode that was pretty much a dud, but led to The Wrath of Khan, which was much better received by Trekkies. In time, she became one of the headliners at the conventions, as the Enterprise crew rarely made appearances, which was wonderfully spoofed on SNL. Sadly, she never featured in the subsequent Star Trek movies, but did pitch up in Repo Man in 1984, another cult classic.
She probably would have been completely forgotten outside devoted Trekkies had not Lady Gaga appeared on the scene in the early 2010s. Some speculated that the new queen of pop had traveled back in time to play in Star Trek, rather than pondering the alternative that Shahna had been reborn in 2011. Anyway, a lot of comparisons were drawn. Someone even went to the trouble of making this fun mash-up. Alas, Angelique had passed away in 1992 and couldn't enjoy this newfound fame.
If anything comes out of this, maybe Gaga could incorporate the story into one of her videos, provided Viacom-CBS is willing to sell her the rights. Even better, it could become the theme for one of the reboots, starring Gaga as Shahna.
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