YMMV / Star Trek S2 E17 "A Piece of the Action"

• Fridge Horror:
  • While the Iotians are an intelligent and imitative race, the episode hints that their social evolution was stalled in mimicking the gangland culture of 1920s Chicago. The neighborhood residents are seen complaining about the failure of basic infrastructure repairs, because the gangs in charge of everything have gotten stuck in a cycle of violence and were unable to focus on civic needs. Without any other references to Earth history to show other philosophies or ways to live, the Iotians could well have fallen backwards into violent ruin.
  • The Iotian's highly-imitative nature leaves the implication that it actually could have been worse. Imagine if the Horizon had left, for example, a few books written by the Marquis de Sade...
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Kirk's bad driving in light of the fact he crashes a car into a canyon during the opening of the reboot's first movie.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reveals that fizzbin gets an In-Universe Defictionalization.
  • Good luck hearing Kirk called Spock "Spocko" and not think about a certain Saturday Night Live skit.
• Older Than They Think: Gene Coon's production of Trek was always more critical of the Federation than most, but this one is particularly knowing, likening it to the Mafia before DS9 started deconstructing it.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Jojo Krako is Mel Sharples.
  • One of the mob molls is played by Dyanne Thorne, who would later become famous as Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS.
• Theiss Titillation Theory: Oxmyx's gum chewing moll wears a red flapper dress cut high enough to reveal the gun strapped to her thigh by her garter. She's just there to look hot.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: It's been noted that though Gene L. Coon's Sigma Iota II has built a system of government based on organized crime, it looks a lot like representative democracy.
  “Listen, we pay our percentages. We’re entitled to a little service for our money. We pay our percentages and the boss takes care of us.”

---