Episode Behind the Scenes

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This episode makes a fairly common TV mistake in dealing with Nazi Germany and its institutions. The black uniforms worn by the landing party and others are not Gestapo uniforms. The Gestapo (a German abbreviation for "Gestaat Polizei"-literally "state police") were national law enforcement, somewhat like the FBI, and they wore plain clothes, usually dark suits, not military uniforms. The uniforms in question are actually SS type uniforms.
   
In a few episode we'll hear about "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Development," but here Spock claims the odds of a planet developing similar to Earth's Nazi culture are "virtually impossible." Why was it so likely as to be easily accepted there, but impossible here?
   
In the prison cell, Kirk's left handcuff is obviously unlocked and nearly falls off several times as he and Spock are working on removing their transponders.
   
All of the camera transmissions of Gill show him from the front, but in the booth the camera is mounted on a side wall.
   
When Kirk is in the booth with Gill he slams the door but it starts to fall open again. The camera switches views before it can.
   
Due to it's frank depiction of national socialism, this episode has never aired on television in Germany, much like the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "The High Ground" has never been shown in Ireland due to a reference to Irish and Loyalist terrorism in Northern Ireland. It was finally shown in 2007, at a film festival in Belfast focusing on the troubles.